Still, the rest of the machine cranks on. To wit: The Alize Oasis at the Raleigh, one of two separate booze company-sponsored, VIP-only lounges going during this conference. (The other is sponsored by Belvedere and hosted at the W.) I stopped there early yesterday afternoon for a Kaskade listening party put on by Ultra Records, and the swag was pretty crazy. Among the "gifting suites" you could get a haircut, a manicure, a rainbow-color selection of Penguin polo shirts (with the $70 price tags still on), even some kind of artfully designed "personal massager." There was Cafe Bustelo-branded coffee ice cream, a menu of cooked-to-order food from the Raleigh kitchen, and, of course, an endless river of Alize-spiked fruit juice concoctions. What recession?

After that, it was time for another recession-proof annual WMC tradition: the Bedrock/Creations VIP Sunset Cruise, featuring both Sasha and Digweed this year, aboard the posh Lady Windridge yacht. 

While it was mostly invite-only, a number of people did shell out a couple hundred bucks a person to float at sea with the DJ titans, eating a full catered dinner spread, complete with a meat carving station, and drinking endless premium liquor. Oh, and Red Bull, which also sponsored the event. One thing you can never be after being stuck at sea with a Red Bull sponsorship: tired.

Tommie Sunshine warmed up the crowd, as he's done in the past, with a chilled-out opening set of classics and even disco. Sasha went up next, solo, taking things from the vaguely ambient and pushing them into deeper prog-house territory. John Digweed, who headlined, though, was the one who got things really jumping. His set meandered through lots of tech-y and even New Wave-sounding stuff, touching on surprising selections like one remix of the xx's "Crystalised." And Digweed fans are fanatic. Even after the boat docked, everyone stayed dancing for at least half an hour, and at what was supposed to be the end of the set, clapped until he agreed to play one more track. Maybe it was the Red Bull.