Party number one...DC10......
Aside from the fact it’s a one-off 14 hour party that marks the pinnacle of the winter months’ clubbing calendar, there’s something unique about the way people come together at DC10 to celebrate New Year in Ibiza.
Firstly, it’s the only time you’ll hear the same people who in summer normally party for three or four days straight, say “I know it’s New Year’s Eve, but I want to save myself for tomorrow,” referring to the marathon that is the legendary Circo Loco, from 4.30pm on New Year’s Day until 6am, January 2nd.
Arriving at around 11pm – we couldn’t resist going out the night before and hence, needed some sleep – we walked into find the Martinez Brothers on the terrace, with around half of Ibiza behind them in the DJ booth, hands in the air.
Pulsating beats ripped through the packed former aircraft hangar as techno lovers lapped up the underground sound, and as we hit 2am on the terrace, you could actually see people catching a second wind in anticipation for Willie Graff who started his set at around 2.30am.
In the main room, where there were even some old school tunes flying around, Cirillo wound up the last hour with a lighter sound, although nicely rounding off with some deeper grooves before finishing at 3am.
Back onto the terrace which was open until 6am, with feet firmly stuck to the dancefloor, we saw Graff push the button and drop the beat even deeper, peeling away any thoughts of tiredness.
He rocked the whole place until it absolutely shook.
On to a little after-party at Shardana in the disco/art gallery downstairs, and some of Ibiza ’s best known faces were there – including pretty much all the DJs that had played in DC10.
It was the perfect way to round off the start of the year and the first special party. With (almost) everybody on the island coming together to have a good time and looking forward to 2012 – it really felt another step closer to summer.
Happy New Year everyone!!
Sahara and Sidekick saved our Saturday - November 2011
For those who have never visited Ibiza outside the high season, Pacha in winter is when you’ll spot lots of island ‘faces’ who can finally make time to let their hair down after a manic season. It’s also a time when many DJs slip out the tunes that will be dominating the dancefloors the following summer….but keep that to yourself…..
Last Saturday night, Pacha saw the return of the AMAZING Graham Sahara – superhero puns all round thanks to the Pacha resident and Seamless Records’ label manager’s love of the phrases Kapow, Yeehaa, Come On!! and other such like sayings – as he took over the Global Room and slammed down some funky hot tracks, including a few vintage tunes.
His sidekick and partner in crime (can you see where I’m going with this….?) Rufus White, warmed-up rather nicely by throwing out more than a few big beats which had Ibiza’s residents dancing their little socks off – not bad for his first gig in Pacha.
Overall, it was a nice winter warmer that saved our Saturday from what would have otherwise been a wet November weekend
Catch me if you Can…cos I´m off to Cadenza - November 2011
Four big name DJs playing in two different clubs on the same night – just one of the reasons we love Ibiza in the winter.
We headed to Bubbles, Marina Botafoch, to see Jo Mills and Ryan O’Gorman for ‘Catch Me If You Can’ – and the venue was packed.
Jo effortlessly lifted the crowd with her smooth mixes of classic quality house tracks accompanied by what we can only describe as fat Balearic beats, and hats off to her because the atmosphere was seriously alive.
Ryan was up next and set the next tone with a deeper beat as he spinned out some darker tunes in the intimate little club that has been kicking ass since it opened.
Next, we swung by Pacha for a special night with Vagabundos. Club resident Andy Baxter sucked up the bass and blew it out big style with his signature sexy grooves, framed by a tech-house edge in honour of the Vagabundos being back in town. At this point Pacha was at bursting point and that’s something you don’t often see on a Friday night in winter.
Cadenza DJ Ernesto Ferreyra was headlining and took over from Andy at around 4am. We were slightly disappointed that Ernesto’s set lacked the special little pieces of magic we’ve become accustomed to from the likes of Luciano and other Cadenza artists. It wasn’t that bad but it wasn’t that special either and it took him far too long to try and save a situation that became apparent very rapidly it wasn’t going too well.
He did pull it back towards the end and slapped out some juicier bass lines and something we could get into, but unfortunately by this point, it was to an almost empty room and many of the clubbers who had turned out especially for Vagabundos, had left.
Those that were still there turned back onto the dancefloor and when Andy Baxter returned to the decks, he made a seriously good job of keeping them there.
Overall, did we enjoy it? Absolutely, but we hope next time Vagabundos do a winter special they’ll keep something special up their dirty little sleeves.
November 2011