IN PHOTOS: Sasha Grey spins for Manila crowd

Thursdays aren’t exactly the busiest for clubs, but a good-sized crowd of partygoers turned a weekday evening into Saturday night at Hyve in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig last night, November 13. A special performer was taking over the DJ booth. Her name: Sasha Grey.

Most people know her for her work in the adult film business, but Grey, whose real name is Marina Ann Hantzis, has made it quite known that she has left behind her days doing porn. She has reinvented herself as an actress, advocate, entrepreneur, author, model and now, DJ. And she’s only 26 years old. (WATCH: Sasha Grey on her first big failure, moving on from adult films, new projects)

See the photos here:  

All photos by Rome Jorge 

Sasha arrived in the club at past midnight accompanied by a heavy security retinue. Manila was a stop in her Here I Am tour that will take her all over Asia and Australia. Everywhere she went, bystanders had their arms extended with their mobile-phone-clutching hands, hoping to catch that elusive digital keepsake. 

Sasha herself spent a few minutes at the neighboring restaurant Vyne before stepping inside Hyve and making her way towards the DJ booth. She walked past ladies in form-fitting strapless dresses and stiletto heels, and guys just hoping to get a lucky pic before an announcer boomed out the requisite “Make some noise for Sasha Greyyyy!!!”

There was a chorus of “woohoos” from the crowd, but most threw their fists with their camera phones into the air, documenting Grey’s every move. It took a while for her to get the hang of the space; when finally she was ready, Grey put the headphones on and started blasting her mix to the audience. 

“Manila!” she screamed. “I want to see you f*****g dance!” To which the reply was a resounding “Yeah!”

Grey’s playlist included popular club anthems like “City Of Dreams” by Dirty South and Alesso featuring Ruben Haze, Latch (Lost Kings Remix) by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith, and “Bad” by David Guetta and Showtek featuring Vassy. 

The natural instinct was to move the body and dance, but as she played track after track, hardly anyone moved. It could have been that the club was just too jampacked, but a sizable majority had their mobile phones out and were too busy taking snapshots or video.

Grey may have had her DJ hat on, but there was no doubt that most people were there to satisfy their curiosity about seeing a former adult film performer, well, in the flesh. Sasha has her work cut out for her if she wants people to really focus on the artist she’s now trying to be. But to her credit, she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself as she performed, flashing a wide smile and clapping along to the beat. 

Strategically timed wind machines and confetti heightened the visceral experience. Judging by the countless photos and videos uploaded on social media during and immediately after her set, a good time was had by all. And knowing Grey’s impressive work ethic (see her interview with Rappler here), that’s really what it’s all about.  – Rappler.com