Anastasia’s shows are celebrations of good music. Her sax is the centre of attention, along with the performer’s fantastic choreography and stage presence. But oftentimes there is another remarkable stage presence: the DJ. In Anastasia’s preferred style of music, the DJ plays a crucial role in much of the show, providing the backing track, mixes, and arrangements upon which the female saxophonist takes the lead and plays her trademark licks. For this special blend to work as it should, Anastasia and the DJ must be in very good sync. Although every show is carefully prepared prepared and meticulously rehearsed according to a predetermined setlist, there is always plenty of room for improvisation, too. Improvisation is key, especially on evenings when the performer does not click with the audience that well or the people seem more distant or indifferent despite an artist’s best efforts. Before Anastasia sets her foot on stage, she cannot know how she will be received. Much of the audience can be people who have followed the saxophonist’s career and love her style, or it can be largely composed of random music aficionados who have not yet been exposed to an Anastasia show and do not know how to react to her special musical blend.
ACHIEVING THE REACTION IS ANASTASIA AND THE DJ’S THING
Experience with live performances is what makes it possible to achieve perfect communication between audience and musician, for them to become one. This oneness also requires that the musician and DJ work in a similarly perfect communion. They often have to understand one another in the blink of an eye, to change the order of songs in the evening’s setlist, or to know when to hold back or give an extra zealous performance throughout the night. However, it all comes down to one thing: getting the reaction, connecting with the audience, make them feel the music and slowly get carried away and lose themselves in the magical show of Anastasia. The audience must become an accomplice, and work with the artist as one. And Anastasia knows very well how to reach out to her audience and also to her DJ so they dive into the music together, capturing the audience’s hearts as they expertly mix musical themes. Each one of them must be at the top of their game and contribute to the experience: the DJ mixing and laying the beats down and Anastasia, centre-stage, playing live to the delight of the audience, who can clearly tell the difference between a burning-hot live performance and a stale canned lip-sync. They know that what they get is real, and that’s the secret behind Anastasia’s success.