When many music fans hear the name Sasha they automatically think of the English DJ who has had major success throughout the world, but this is a completely different Sasha. This Sasha is in fact the German singing sensation who has achieved major success in his homeland and throughout Europe.

He began singing backup on hits for Young Deenay and soon embarked on a solo career, making his debut with the top 20 hit I’m Still Waitin’ in 1998. His first album, Dedicated To…, went platinum, selling 750,000 copies in Germany alone. His next album Alone entered the charts at number two and further established his popularity with the German and European public.

Recorded in Offenbach on March 26, 2002 in a beautiful theatre, this concert is a great showpiece performance from this talented artist. There are many similarities between him and Ronan Keating, but Sasha is a little more harder edged than the Irish boy-band refugee is. All songs are performed in English and viewers would have no idea this was a German artist until hearing him speak. He is backed by a more than able band and the energy from the audience is returned with interest from the performers. There is also an unplugged section in the show that shows good versatility from the entire band.

Track Listing:

There is nothing new musically with Sasha, but he is a very talented singer and this is a terrific show. For this show he is sporting a blonde tipped David Beckham mohawk, but no doubt his image will change over time, a look at his previous album covers will testify to his need to change his appearance as the mood takes him. He has a great stage presence and looks like he will be around for some time to come and perhaps his popularity will expand outside the boundaries of Europe.

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and 16x9 enhanced, this transfer is very good. Being a concert, there are the usual issues encountered such as colour bleeding and a loss of detail but these are very minor problems. There is also the odd occasion of aliasing, but again this is not a major problem. Picture is generally sharp throughout and colours used are reasonably true. Blacks are also very good and synch is never a problem. The layer change occurs at 80:39 and is not intrusive at all. Subtitles are supplied in English, but these are only used for interview segments and not for banter with the audience during the concert.

Audio options for this release are Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 and DTS. All are of very good quality, but the track of choice is definitely the DTS, providing a much fuller sound. Spoken dialogue is clear throughout, even though it is in German and the English vocals are also very clear. Surrounds are used well to provide a good concert feel and also for some individual instruments. Overall the music and audience noise are very well balanced. The subwoofer gets a little action, but is not really needed for this style of concert.

A few nice extras accompany this release in an easy to navigate menu.

Key Mode
At the start of each song during the concert an icon appears allowing the viewer to click and select an interview with Sasha. He talks about the particular song and its origins and provides some interesting information.

Biography
This feature contains several text pages of information on the German pop star.

Interview
Broken up into the segments of About The Tour, On His Music and Sasha on Sasha, this feature runs for a total of 15:48.

Picture Gallery
A series of nice pictures of Sasha in concert, very well presented and some good shots.

Discography
Covering the albums released so far by Sasha, this feature also contains some other nice extras. One of the features is a link directly to the unplugged version of We Can Leave The World from the concert itself, a good idea but not really an extra. However, under the page for the album Surfin’ On a Backbeat there is also a Bonus Video for Here She Comes Again along with a Making Of feature for that video.

Backstage Impressions
Running for 4:16, this is simply a montage of footage from the build up to this concert.

The Band
A list of all the band members is available here and each can be selected for a brief comment, as well as a statement from Sasha on that particular member of the band. These are only brief, but are supplied in interview format and a very good extra for fans. They are all in German but do have subtitles.

Overall this is a very good concert from a very talented artist. He may not be too popular outside of Europe just yet, but he is surely destined for international success in the future as he is a very marketable person. Containing a good selection of extras, very good audio and video transfers and an enjoyable show from an enjoyable performer, this is great for fans and worth a look for pop lovers.