The tour kicked off on March 23 2002 in Miami. Having gotten into the guys too late to be cool this tour for me was peak Sasha & Digweed. Instead of 1995 or something. Also having internet at home for the first time around then probably helped a lot. No way you could access the mixes and whatnot without internet in Finland. Sasha also played his first gig in Finland only later that year, Digweed the next year.
20 years from Delta Heavy
Everyone has their ‘peak Sarsha’ era, I suppose it depends a lot on when you got into them.
For me, it was 1998-2001, spanning that Expeditions and that absolute banger of a Sarsha Essential Mix:
To me, that was their real era of drop the hammer power prog. I saw a lot of djs around that time and although Seaman, Warren, Cattaneo et al seemed to play a lot of the same stuff, it was Sasha and Digweed who always had the most upfront tunes, best sequenced, best mixed with the best journeys.
Two young to see Sarsha and/or Diggers at their best - stuck with raves rather than nightclubs (should’ve done Twilo as it was 18+ but c’est la vie) - but Delta Heavy was fun. Doesn’t sound great now (or even any good) but Rui Da Silva’s Fire brought the house down.
Homegrove Having gotten into the guys too late to be cool this tour for me was peak Sasha & Digweed
Yes I do remember that you only got in to them just as they and prog in general started to rapidly turn to shit. Seems rather fitting.
Not seen that doc before though, so thanks for the link at least.
jonattonyeah (should’ve done Twilo as it was 18+
Was it? Thought it was 21… Didn’t manage to go there for that reason.
bosstrabs Everyone has their ‘peak Sarsha’ era, I suppose it depends a lot on when you got into them.
For me, it was 1998-2001
1998-2001 was the peak Sasha era - he released his two solo GU CDs, his biggest tune, had the Twilo residency, it was the height of the superclub era etc. etc.. I don’t see how it’s even a debate.
jonattonyeah Doesn’t sound great now (or even any good) but Rui Da Silva’s Fire brought the house down.
Are you saying that ‘Fire’ doesn’t sound great now, or in general the music from that era?
Prog was def on the slide then while ‘Fire’ was one of the few quality tunes from the time - I still think it sounds pretty good though.
Really Prog was dead the minute Pete Tong started playing prog-heavy sets.
Yeah 18 and up
A bit of both but more about “Fire”. It’s just so….long. I can’t imagine how anyone would fit it into any set outside of the year 2002. Did anyone other than Sasha even play it?
- Edited
bosstrabs the Shelley’s stuff is mostly cheese.
With the NE era so much of it seemed to be together with Diggers? Could it be that Sasha came in to his own even more as an individual from 98?
Anyway, people may still prefer other eras, but if you’re objectively talking his “peak” then it still has to be 98-01, in that it was when the clubbing scene was at its most booming and he was at his most successful and the height of his popularity within that. The only time he ever topped the DJ Mag top 100 DJs readers poll was 2000 for instance (although tbf he was at least 3rd in 1997).
That’s super, Hugo.
- goes to Trabs thread *
jonattonyeah
Open with Embracing the Sunshine, close with Fire.
1 mix, job done 
- Edited
Found this video the other week.
Circa 2000
jonattonyeah yeah he played it the Redbox in Dublin mixed into slacker scared, finished the night off with cosmos - take me with you , please was going mental , one of the best nights I was at
Am I wrong to say that NYE set is one of the worst mixes they’ve ever put out? I’m sure it was great live with that sound system and all but for home listening it put the F in BSPF. The sort of tunes your non-dork friends would be like, you listen to this for fun!?!??
ScottBailey it’s Johnny Marr in his Electronic days
My brother, god rest his soul, went to Twilo and saw Sasha and Digweed, said it was absolutely off the chain.
Cheers!
jonattonyeah A bit of both but more about “Fire”. It’s just so….long. I can’t imagine how anyone would fit it into any set outside of the year 2002. Did anyone other than Sasha even play it?
The intro is def too long, though once the main part kicks in I think it’s quite hypnotic and so I don’t mind that it just keeps on going.
I also think it could have worked in earlier prog sets from 98 or so, and would have fit on say Tenaglia’s London, or even the building up parts of Sasha’s San Fran. But for sure I do struggle to think how someone might fit it in to a contemporary set. I still like listening to it regardless of that.
As for others playing it - it seems to have been included in John Kelly’s Essential Mix in 2002 for at least one, ha. Surely jocks like Tenaglia and Moshic must have done as well.
jonattonyeah I like the first hour of it, just saying he played a few of the tracks of it, moved up a fair few gears by the end,
alistair BT at 03:50 looking like Iceman from Top Gun 
ScottBailey Running down the way up!
bosstrabs that was it for me too. first time i saw them was june 2000 on the ne3 tour with jimmy van m. 10 hours of madness, i’d be hard pressed to come up with a night where i had more fun. looking back, it felt a bit like the stars aligning with great music, djs, friends and at an age where not much else mattered.
Sasha coming into his own as an individual from 98? Lol, drivel. Sasha was an individual before John even had a gig at Renaissance, for the clueless amongst us.
FYI, If you didn’t know about Sasha in 92, you’re vermin according to Dermo.