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Sasha (24th May 2024, Düsseldorf)

I so far featured the German pop artist Sasha only once, with his children album Toto und der Mann im Mond. Even though I loved that release, I was really looking forward to a very different show in Dusseldorf on 24th May 2024. His This is my Time – Die Show tour has originally been scheduled for 2023, but had to be postponed due to illness. The show is regarded being a very special “one man show”. The artist announced to also have a really personal touch in this special project – here are my thoughts about it.

This posting comes with 365 major size pictures as part of the concert gallery.

 

Mitsubishi Electric Halle – About The Venue

The Mitsubishi Electric Halle is one of the largest venues in Dusseldorf. Located in the Southern borough of Oberbilk, it has a capacity of up to 7,500 people if the ground is used for a standing audience. For this show, the whole audience was seated and the upper ranks not used. The venue is very conveniently located for public transport. The Düsseldorf-Oberbilk stop features two underground lines (U76, U79) as well as S-Bahn commuter rail services (S1, S6). You can also reach the place by bus (line 817). For Dusseldorf traditionalists, this place was originally named Philipshalle, before Mitsubishi Electric took over the rights of naming in 2011 and have them at least until 2027.

 

Sasha – About The Artist

Sasha, civil name Sascha Schmitz, was born in Soest on 5th January 1972. In Germany only, he sold some 2.6 million records during his career. Apart from his pop albums, he also did rockabilly recordings with his Dick Brave & the Backbeats project. This also lead to his biggest chart success, the album Dick This!, which was a chart-topper and double platinum album in Germany (release in 2003). However, only one of his ten non-children studio albums did not make it to the German Album Top 10. On the singles’ side, his biggest hit was If You Believe. The 1998 single release went Top 4 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and was a platinum record in his home county. In this period, Sasha was also a big international star touring globally.

 

Sasha – This is My Time – The Show

The show started right in time at 20:00. In line with the announcement, the show was like a chronology of his life. Thus, the first part, featuring his childhood and youth life, featured a lot of cover versions. After a band intro and Showtime, Sasha for example sang Return to Sender by Elvis Presley. There were a lot of stories Sasha shared with the audience. For example, he told how he became friend with Howard Carpendale after covering his Nachts, wenn alles schläft. One song later, he talked about his first kiss before Hello, originally by Lionel Richie.

Other songs featured later in this part were Der Kommissar (originally by Falco) or The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News. Some songs iike To Be With You (Mr. Big) were rather teased in short versions, while his Alive by Pearl Jam was leaning towards the full song. The screen showed many childhood and youth pictures and memories. Right before the intermission, the show reached his first career steps like his first appearance in former German music TV Viva. This part of his story was told by a medley of big Sasha songs like If You Believe or Rooftop after some 1:15 hours.

 

2nd Part of the Show with more Originals

The second set started after a 25 minute break. The story of Sasha went on. Before the first song I Feel Lonely, which he performed in a slowed down version, he told stories about his big international success. For example, he told when he landed in Thailand without knowing that his Owner of My Heart was a chart-topping song there. Thereafter, the show featured Dick Brave songs. Like during the whole set, he told his stories with humor and irony, which lead to a very entertaining evening. He also told about how the rockabilly project became reality, when he and his guitarist visiting Memphis and exploring all the Elvis Presley places like Graceland or the Sun Studio.

This part featured more original songs like Lucky Day or Lighthouse, but also had covers like I’ve Got You Under My Skin (Frank Sinatra). The audience was now standing up more frequently and partying the artist and the amazing evening. Not too surprisingly after a bit less than three hours (including the break), the encore was the tour-titling song, This Is My Time.

 

Sasha – The Gallery

Here are 365 major size pictures of the show. They are located in the concert gallery:

 

Sasha – My View

Sasha hosted an amazing evening. The show was very personal, almost intimate, versatile high level entertainment. The artist lead through his autobiographic evening in a charming, but also humorous way. Last, but not least, Sasha, the band and the dancers gave an absolutely fabulous show on stage. Not just from a photographic perspective, I absolutely loved spending this night with Sasha in Dusseldorf – hope I am able to cover this amazing artist one day again.

 

Postings with Gallery 2024

Here are postings coming with a major size photo gallery published in 2024:

 

Spotlight – Flyctory.com Interviews

Here are all postings of my interview section Spotlight:

 

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