sound engineer | Food | Fernando Llort | El Salvador

Later, when Oakenfold arrives at the venue for a sound check, the sound engineer is nowhere to be found. Scrambling occurs around a frenzy of cell phone calls, and the engineer is eventually tracked down at a nearby restaurant. It turns out he has secured the wrong mixer (a Pioneer instead of a Rane) and, as a result, nothing is working properly. Oakenfold is visibly convinced the sound engineer is out of his league - a notion that is confirmed after it takes the guy an hour and a half of fumbling with the wire before he gets it right.

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a rock star on the road, here's a glimpse: The promoter pays for everything - hotels, food, alcohol, work visas, and whatever else one might need. The rock star doesn't spend a cent. With this in mind, we hit a local joint called Típicos Margoth for pupusas and beer. We feast like vultures on the local specialties and never see a bill. Afterward, Oakenfold wanders over to a next-door gallery housing work from El Salvador's most famous painter, Fernando Llort. He purchases five crosses, which he happens to collect (though he's not überreligious, some parts of his home look like a church sanctuary). With that, we're whisked back to the gig, where Guatemalan rum and Russian vodka await.

After an hour or so of imbibing, Oakenfold goes on around 11:15 p.m. - early, by his standards. For the next two hours, he masterfully toys with the Salvadorans in attendance like an audio puppet master, slowly building the beats per minute (BPM) - used to calculate the timing of a song - from a methodic space trip at the beginning to a frantic blitzkrieg by show's end. Every time Oakenfold seamlessly marries two songs together, there is a collective shriek from the audience that rises in volume along with the crescendo of the music. The whole thing is like one long tantric manipulation of sound. The buzz of the show makes sleep nearly impossible, so afterward, we head off to a VIP after-party at a nearby restaurant. More rum. More food. It's nearly five a.m. before we arrive back at the hotel.