Sasha & Digweed at the House of Blues Review

My ears are still ringing, and my body is exhausted, and I plan on spending the entire day on the couch.



Venue:

The show took place at the House of Blues in Chicago, which is a great venue to see DJs and live acts in general. In the past, I've seen Richie Hawtin and Ziggy Marley there, so the venue is able to accommodate a wide variety of music. The DJ booth was set up towards the front edge of the stage, promoting a sense of intimacy between the DJ and crowd.

Sound System:

I don't know the specifics of the sound system. The bass was deep, but didn't overwhelm the rest of the sound. The sound engineer seemed to turn the music up when Sasha and Digweed took the stage, so my ears are still ringing, but in a good way.

Crowd:

As with most concerts, you will always have to put up with the random dbag that popped some pills, and doesn't know how to walk straight. That being said, the place was absolutely packed for the first 4 hours. It was one of those situations where you get to know your neighbors, and I had a great time wandering around the crowd, getting to know random folks. The crowd started thinning out around 2 am, and that's when things started getting nutty. Overall, can't complain about the crowd. It was a good time.

Music:

Perhaps the most important aspect of the evening....the DJs. The opening acts (don't remember their names off the top of my head) did a great job of setting the table for Sasha & Digweed. The first guy started with down-tempo house, and slowly increased the BPMs, and got the crowd into it. The next guy continued where the first left off, and is probably ready to start headlining his own shows.

Sasha started the duo's set with a nice 1 hour session, filled with his customary buildups and whatnot. Diggers took over, and threw down some dark dark beats...again, the place was rocking.

The duo tag-teamed the remainder of the show, playing about 30 minutes each, before switching.....

To recap - great venue, impressive sound system, relatively cheap drinks, knowledgeable and friendly crowd...and fantastic beats...all added up to a fun night.

I'm jealous that Jeremy gets to see them again on Tuesday!