Mexico, D.F.
A Friend of Sasha
Mexico City is probably my favorite city in the world, and Sasha and Digweed are big draws there so back in 2003, I decided to be a Chilango for a weekend and see him spin there. Everything seemed sorted so I got on a plane in Los Angeles, cleared customs by sunset, found my good friend Michelle Button, who used to be a DJ and club force in the D.F. before she found yoga, the new age and philanthropy and we crawled away across the city to the club.
It looked like a Hollywood mob scene, with one beleaguered door person and a list that looked like it had started out shredded I knew any number of people hanging around the door and when Michelle and my name weren't on the list, they spontaneously started protesting that I was a friend of Sasha's. But the person just looked at me. "Sasha has thousands of friends."
Over the din of people, all of whom were in the same boat, arguing that I was indeed "un amigo," I tried in broken Spanish to explain that I had come a long way just to see one of my favorite DJs in my favorite city. He was having none of it. The owner of the club tried to help as well but he told me that they had suspended his right to let people in (smart since like Sasha, Pedro has lots of friends).
I had exhausted every argument I could and was seriously considering giving up and leaving. That in the end would have made for a better story. But I did finally track down one of the promoters, who got us in. So while the heartrending ending may be compromised, the evening was saved. And I learned a big lesson: If you pull the "I'm with the DJ" line, you'd better be standing right next to him.
