Sasha to headline Renaissance 20th anniversary parties

Pioneering club night Renaissance celebrates its 20th anniversary in April with two very special parties in Birmingham and Leeds, featuring none other than the legend that is Sasha.

The original superstar DJ will headline at both Birmingham's Gibb Street Warehouse and Leeds' Vox Warehouse on Sunday 8th April; two venues that evoke the spirit of Renaissance by combining the edgy charm of the acid house era with a modern sheen and professionalism provided by state of the art soundsystems. Indeed, the Birmingham venue will now act as the brand's permanent home in the Midlands as Renaissance sets out to break new ground regionally.

Joining Sasha at these milestone events will be techno stalwart Guy Gerber and London's rising star Jozif, while the historical impact of the music will also be commemorated at both events, with the second room at each bolstered by a Renaissance Classics series which will explore the pivotal records and sounds form the full twenty year spectrum of the club. 

Renaissance are known for having altered the face of clubbing in the early 90s, when they upped the stakes venue-wise with their series of parties in decadent Stately Homes as opposed to the warehouses and reclaimed spaces with which the genre had become synonymous. They also pushed an exciting new genre, which combined the epic and ethereal trance and techno coming from mainland Europe with the rolling house grooves from over the Atlantic: Progressive House.

This wasn’t the only revolution they coordinated. A young man by the name of Sasha already had a fervent following as a DJ, but it was Renaissance who put him on the pedestal that provoked Mixmag to announce him as the first ever Superstar DJ. His residency at their Mansfield home completely transformed what clubbers expected and wanted from a DJ, and the mix CD that he, Renaissance and new kid on the block John Digweed pushed forward launched a new era of clubbing. Quite simply Renaissance ploughed dance music into territory it had never been before - they were essential in establishing the modern idea of the cult of the DJ.

20 years later and they are still at the forefront of dance music; as is Sasha, the DJ that they will celebrate this achievement alongside. Sasha remains revered across every continent of the planet for his gloriously well crafted DJ sets, remaining at the forefront of everything through his constant surge for new technology and a creative edge amongst his peers. In the nineties it was his mesmerising mixes across three decks that caused the hero worship; blends which rarely had only one record playing. Then as an early Ableton adopter he pushed forward the idea of a DJ as a live musician, reassembling the music as he went along. Always ahead of trends, always ahead of every other DJ; Sasha remains dance music’s indisputable global icon.

As a record label that can boast over fifty releases from talents as diverse and heralded as Hercules & Love Affair, Yousef, Hernan Cattaneo, Nic Fanciuilli, Satoshi Tomiie and James Zabiela alongside its clubnight career, expect a glorious journey through a kaleidoscopic snapshot of the last two decades of electronic dance music.

Tickets for both venues are available below:

Renaissance 20th Anniversary Birmingham, Sunday 8th April 2012, Gibb Street Warehouse, 10pm - 7am. BUY TICKETS

Renaissance 20th Anniversary Leeds, Sunday 8th April, Vox Warehouse, 10pm - 6am. BUY TICKETS