When you consider the problems British pop acts
have encountered in trying to conquer America, it's
easy to forget that DJs have been trying to do exactly
the same for some time. There has been some qualified
success of late, but not many have hit the level of
Sasha and John Digweed. The pair's
monthly residence at New York's Twilo club opened the
door, and this documentary looks at the way they
capitalised on this success with their Delta Heavy
tour of 2002.
With eight weeks on the road, playing at twenty
venues from Miami to Houston and San Francisco, this
is the mother of all road trips. But it's not exactly
rock & roll - as Digweed notes mischievously; "One of
us is quite used to missing gigs - not me!" And so
Sasha finds that should he go AWOL and miss a gig as a
result of an extended bender, he'll be clobbered for
£150,000. A sobering thought!
As the two prepare for their opening 'gig' in Miami
there are valuable insights behind the scenes. The
superb lighting show comes from the same man
responsible for the opening credits of Seven,
and his style of graphics blends superbly with the
music.
The music, of course, is key, and is what you'd
expect of the pair - rolling breakbeats blended with
tight house, spacey synth loops and highly atmospheric
washes of sound. That's not to render it
predictable, however, as there's always something
fresh, a new slant on the style.
It's why Sasha spent
£3,000 on acetates in preparation for the tour, and as
he sorts them ahead of the Miami gig there's a real
frisson of nervous tension, the only time you sense
he'd rather the crew weren't around.
As the weeks unfold the importance of the stage
crew becomes ever more apparent, as does the mostly
good-humoured banter between the leading pair. Digweed
in particular is extremely amiable, and neither of the
DJs suffer from the oversize egos or superstar
tantrums that occasionally afflict their peers.
For
them it's all about the music, and they even retain a
likeable self conscious quality when taking the
applause and cheers that inevitably come at 2am with
the end of another storming set. You only have to
observe the expressions on the clubbers' faces to
realise how much of a musical high this pair can
induce.
The tour's mastermind, Jimmy Van M, gets the
right amount of credit for his part in orchestrating
the gigs, although it would have been good to see more
of his warm-up sets. Still, there is a four track
visual mix that accompanies the main feature, an
outstanding blend of Bedrock and Sasha productions,
all widescreen and moody. Delta Heavy is certainly a
cut above your average tour DVD, a captivating view
and an essential piece of history for dance music
aficionados.
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