19 – 25 July 2012

Im not a robot

Active Member
July 19


After a bone crushing 26+ hours and 4 legs of flights, my fiancée and I arrive in Ibiza from Kabul Afghanistan. To say we were tired and disgruntled would have been a joke except we were not in the mood for jokes.

Dismissing all the **** experience of getting to the Island, we get to Jet Apartments in PDB, checked in stowed our stuff and were at the beach in about 30 minutes of touching down… all in all, excellent experience once we left the Nazis at Ryan air behind. I had stayed at the same apartments last year and knew what to expect. Everything was well situated, clean, great location, etc… The door to the closet was in the hall which was a bit odd and the water outlet to the wall mounted air conditioner in the living room appeared to be blocked as it dripped if left on for a while… Whatever… after living in a war zone these things are easy to take in stride. The repair guy did try to come in and fix the door at some point but while it was a reasonable working hour, we were fast asleep so told him to go away… and stay there.

We settled in for a nap before going out as we had planned to hit up Cream that night and wanted to get a bit of rest. As nap time wore on, I realized I was incredibly hot and thirsty… the being hot was odd as the air conditioning in the bed room was on and seemed to be working great but I was far too tired to be bothered to go get water and, despite other opinions, drinking the local water is never an option for me as I just don't trust it. I put myself to sleep again and woke up feeling more tired than when I started napping… In fact, I felt sick… turns out, I had a slight fever. A quick death march to the store on the corner for water and, blessedly a bit of Gatoraid, and I was back in bed hydrating the best I could short of a IV bag. Access to medical equipment would have been great but short of that, I was left to drinking as much as my stomach would hold, then lying still with a damp towel on me. That helped bring the fever down a bit eased the headache and eventually got me to the point I could sleep. I suspected it to be a case of dehydration from 26+ hours of air travel and hoped desperately it was not a real viral infection. At some point I woke up and was drenched in sweat… That was great as I knew it meant the fever had apparently broke and more importantly, the water had filtered into my system enough that my body had enough to start sweating it again. I happily went back to sleep for a few more hours.

My memory is hazy for the rest but at some point, I got up, got showered and dressed and, operating purely on spite and denial, we went to Cream around 1AM. Tickets at the door for the suck and no party crutches (would never try them after being dehydrated anyway) put us in one of my favorite clubs salvaging the night. A few Vodka/Fantas and several waters and I was happy enough. The details are still foggy but the groove was good… hell, it was great to be back and after the past few hours, I was happy to be vertical.

We were in the main room mostly prior to PVD. The groove was good, with Eddie Halliwell smashing it properly and the crowd, sparse at first, continued to build and everyone was having a great time. I was keeping it low key not wanting to burn the precious reserves I was running on. But I really must say that Eddie was spot on and I thoroughly enjoyed his set. We took several trips out to the Terrace to see what was being offered out there before the passage of death started getting choked up with people not moving. While Eddie was playing, there was nothing interesting enough to hold my attention or even keep me awake which was getting problematic.

Back in the main, after Eddie, Paul Van Dyke came on to a full house of cheers. The floor was packed. The set started out and I immediately noticed that PVD was loud!!! The crowd was loud too but the overall volume was atrocious. I had forgot my ear plugs back at the apartment and had a hard time finding somewhere in the main room that was not pressed bodies and not earsplitting loud. Without plugs, there is only so much of that level of volume I can take and so had to retreat to the terrace several times during his set through the solid mass of bodies which, after one or two passes, I must admit that I am now of the opinion that it's ok to be of the extremely pushy people in that area. It's the worst possible design, much too small, and on the order of things, people standing in the way are, in my opinion being more rude that I am when I push them out of the way. At least I am also helping others get through as I swear that if no one would get pushy almost rough about it at some point, no one would be able to get through at all.

Going in, I was looking forward to Calvin Harris as I do like some of his songs (I even admit to liking Guetta songs really) and the song “We'll Be Coming Back” is honestly the song that will remind me of this summer and is, for mainstream music, good. In reality though, I did not care for his set at all. Either it was just that my mood soured trough being tired and having to fight through a solid wall of people combined with not being able to enjoy PVD, or I was just not into it at that point in the night, or it was really a jumbled set that sounded good in the beginning and completely came apart at the end. When he dropped Niggas in Paris (a song that I admit a guilty liking of) I thought “this is not what I expect from an Ibiza club” and went back into the main room for PVD and some more ear torture.

By now, I'm sure it was my mood coloring the experience so I will be fair and say that the crowd was loving it. Overall, given the past 48 hours, cutting near the end of the PVD set was a smart move. A cab had us back to the apartment for a quick swim and off to bed.
July 20
The plan for today: Get ‘sorted out' as seems to be the popular slang on here for picking up some narcotics so that and go to the west end for some easy bar action, sunset, and We Are Rockstars followed by Festival Del Augua. That turned top **** as I was still massively under the ill effects of whatever was trying to ruin my holiday and needed rest. Got moving late… real late. Once the sun went down, I was getting back to life and feeling, if not 100%, at least functional, hungry, and in need of a drink.

A resurgence of the fever from the previous day had me completely off the idea of pills tonight anyway so we headed down to Bora Bora to get a bite and a few drinks. Wristbands for free entry to Space for Beat & Raw sounded like a good plan as we could always bail if it was lame and, foolishly, I distinctly remember thinking “well… it's Space after all… how bad could it be?” Drinks went down smooth and as our free entry was good only before 12 or 1 (can't remember, we went over 15 mins prior. The Sunset Terrace (I guess) was a nice intimate little bar scene early on before the doors opened and a good place to grab a drink or two grooving to, I think, some chick playing decent house.

When the main room opened, Allan Ramirez was on and I must say that apart from a Gyote spin (forgiven as it's a diverse crowd and he's warming up) the set was great to me. The jump to reggae, normally a deal breaker for me, was not that bad and, his lead out of it and into some bass thumping heavy beat stuff was brilliant. He also dropped a Personal Jesus remix which I can hardly complain about as it just felt great for the moment. All in all, I would have loved him to keep going a bit more even before I heard the next act but not so as my luck in getting sick the first day would soon seem fortunate to the audio assault to come.

I can't properly say who exactly it was as the place was confusing I was drunk and it was so bad, my mind has erased large parts of the evening to protect itself. It was a live act with some kind of instruments and someone making noise that sounded a lot like a French cat getting raped by a meat grinder. The overall noise effect was horrendous in the extreme with a sickening screeching to the noise which honestly had me thinking that the sound system had blown. Turns out, this was the sound they wanted to make I guess… other people did not seem offended (though to be honest, there were not many people there at all).

I have since looked up Zombie Nation and, indeed everyone else on the schedule for that night so I know who to blame but nothing sounded that bad on the internet. Maybe it was a joke or a bad trip from not taking any drugs. We retreated out to the little bar area which I guess is the Sunset terrace (damned place was never that confusing last year) and didn't even notice that another area was open. Chilled there as there was nowhere else we were going and headed home after a tame night.

July 21


Saturday was always planned to be a chill day and to be honest, it was much needed anyway. We woke up earlyish and headed over to Formentera. Flat out one of the nicest places I have ever been to. We had both left our driver licenses back at the apartment and a passport was no good for a car rental so bikes and were off to the beach. We got lost for a bit on dirt roads looking at random and enjoying the freedom of being on a bike. Eventually, we found Cala Saona. The water was too beautiful for words and I enjoyed a massive bout of snorkeling (this was prior to my exposure and subsequent paranoia of jelly fish) and all in all had a wonderful day in the sun.

We got back to PDB around sun down and stepped out for dinner and to finally get ‘sorted out' for tomorrow night. I think we ate at Bora Bora or something… can't really recall as it was more about substance than quality. I meet my guy and sorted out we were with a handy amount of Purple Stars.

With nothing going on worth bothering for it was another quiet night enjoying each other's company. That honestly makes 3 easy nights and only one proper club… I was a bit sad about this and feeling very much in need of a balls to the walls night as I went to bed…

July 22


Up early and it was a very easy night and down the beach to the old pirate tower at the southern end where we snorkeled a bit more swimming over to the little cove with what I would guess are little hippy shacks. Makes me think there is this whole underground culture of people living a near tribal life on the Island…

More beach time and relaxing, some day-drinking mixed in and before we knew it we were waking up from a nap around 1AM and on our way to the Foam Party, one of my absolute favorite nights on the island. I was loaded and ready to go. Tickets at the door again (completely forgot to pick up any earlier) got us in with plenty of time to spare. There was much sign throwing in evidence and many people clearly enjoying a chemical transcendence of their own. The Foam Party is not really about the music but I have found that the music is actually rather good as, I believe, is part tribute to Amnesia having good house DJs (Caal Smile and Les Schmitz) and being smart enough to let them have the night just between them… Beats any bar in Afghanistan for sure and, if I do say so, beats going out in DC or Tampa (two places I'm familiar enough with to feel comfortable making the remark about).
In the Terrace, there was some random crap… not bad really but not my thing and nothing worth listening to in my opinion. Inna looked hot but was wearing far too many clothes and the music was less than inspiring to be honest. Meh.. I stayed almost entirely in the Main.

Now, being cautious, especially when I'm not in an experienced group, I tried ½ of my first Purple Star. I had eaten earlier and I guess that had greatly slowed the onset as after 30 min it was nothing street. My guy had said that it was probably best to take 2 (for the price I can hardly complain) so I dropped a whole one getting up to 1.5 total figuring that I can always switch to coke if the harvest is bad this year. Another 30-45 mins in (about an hour and half after my 1st half) it was barely going… Now at this point, I was feeling a bit down on them as by all my history I should be well on my way full stomach or not damn it. Hell on a good pill the 1st half was half done by my calculations (normally I get about a 2 hour peak time after 20 minutes then it starts the up and down peaking). So I drop another full pill figuring that 2.5 wouldn't leave me slobbering as they were well spaced out and seemed to be a bit dodgy anyway.

Wrong. Whatever it was that slowed the come up, it did nothing to stop the train from wrecking into my brain with monster truck force about 10-15 mins after the last one. MDMA does not specifically have a blood level concentration requirement which some meds do to start being effective so I have no idea why it took so long or hit so hard but a friend who only took one was perfectly happy with one. On 2.5, my legs did not work so well and I was incredibly warm. Some very friendly Spanish girls yelled at me smartly for using water as a mini shower and not drinking it but I knew what I was doing and drank about 3 bottled in 30 mins to try and even out the ride. All said, I was rocked for no more than the 30 mins and, with the aid of significant quantities of water, was back in the game about 15 mins before the foam.

The night was apparently a porn star night which was interesting though I must say that this late in the game of life, and after enough experience to almost completely desensitize me, the act seemed boring. Tits, ass, even the little sex show was interesting and I'm sure some rather enjoyed it. Basically, unless I'm a participant anymore, it's all rather old hat. Damn you internet porn.

The foam cannon bedecked as a giant penis was comical for sure and, unless I miss my mark, I remember being swamped by far more foam last year. This year, I did not feel like I was about to die of foam inhalation but damn sure if it was not some of the best fun ever. The Ms enjoyed it immensely as well and will again be a never miss event on our next trips.

Later that night, to my horror and the Ms's dissapointment, I discovered that the pills had an unfortunate side effect… maybe I did not need to blame internet porn after all… my cock was now useless. Terrible feeling and I truly have real empathy for guys that have this problem now. Devastating.

July 23rd


Despite the previous evening's anticlimactic ending, I woke up feeling excited (not properly excited still) for A State of Trance at Privilege. I love trance and Privilege is really the best place I can imagine for it. Damned place is like a cathedral.

First things first though. I needed medicine. I was in a bad way down below and needed a fix. Off to my guy with a strange request… “got any Viagra?” My guy is awesome and, along with some more of the purple people eaters, I was, after a few calls and a quick jog somewhere else, sorted out with some jelly like substance that tasted absolutely rancid but gave me the rock hard physique I needed. Funny but that stuff is harder to get than pills and coke.

With that off my mind, we headed to ASOT right at 1200 and were maybe the 5th in. I have no problem going early when I know I'm going to like the music from beginning to end. I could give a damn about the names of the DJs as long as the music is good and I knew that Armin would not put someone he did not think capable of holding their own even in the starting seat… especially on the only night he would not be there. Jochen Miller did not let me down and my foot was moving to the beat as I was trying to walk in the door. The whole set from him was seamless and went perfectly. Dropped about a half hour in after showing the Ms around the place (and to be honest, seeing for the first time really myself as I was rocked from start to finish last time I was there).

Tonight I made no dosing mistakes and had a great rise, leveled off and maintained all through the night with regular half doses.
Cosmic Gate was up next and keep the place alive and a truly great crowd formed. Seriously, I never saw one face not smiling and even the staff seemed friendly, cool, and laid back. The place was a bit empty but with a space so big, that doesn't mean a lot. Plenty of room to get a groove on and much groove was had. The progressing for Cosmic Gate's set was spot on, and had the crowd perfectly poised for Markus Schulz. I saw a review elsewhere that had him being sloppy as a 2nd room act but tonight there was no such BS. He was perfect. The place was alive and electric. I admit to losing track of time and space for a while as is the point at some point of trance so he could have played for 1 hours or3 I have no idea but never once did I feel a second of it pass as I was completely in the moment with the beat. At some point though he brought it down and closed his set. Having lost time, I was afraid the closer was on and it would be morning soon… a very sad prospect as I was still very much on it and did not want the night to be over at all. Thankfully, and I must say I was surprised, Dash Berlin (whom I had not heard of prior) came on to what honestly seemed like more crowd anticipation than Marcus got…

Almost instantly I knew why. Dash Berlin ****ing blew me away. The transition between him and Markus was awkward and left everyone flat but he picked it up shook it about and with personal energy and enthusiasm that I think really makes a live DJ worth it, put forth an amazing show certainly winning the night for both personal and crowd favorite. I'm bad at remembering songs generally but I know for certain his drop into and out of Deadmau5's “Raise Your Weapon” left me with goose bumps (granted a fortunate timing of the ice cannon probably helped but still, it cemented itself in my drug addled brain).

Instant fan of Dash Berlin.

The real closer came on with the impossible task of keeping the ears happy after the triple threat of the previous acts. I had never heard of TyDi before but his set was well thought out, clean, and, while lacking the manic energy Dash Berlin was able to produce still had a die hard floor crowd going to the very end.

We left feeling completely satisfied on the musical front, hopped the bus back and, with a chemical friend, satisfied everything else till noon… Ecstasy + Viagra = Wild!

July 24th


Our last day on the island and we knew that nothing could top the previous night so decided to go to San An for a nice sunset dinner and drinks. Enjoyed an evening stroll before the madness set in. Ended up looking for Kumharas, failed and found Miramare Sunset Cocktail Bar instead. Fine enough. Good chill atmosphere great food, beautiful sunset, good drinks. Spanish service but meh... I'm used to that.

A walk back to San An and an evening drinking around PDB capped of a rather calm but fulfilling visit.
The flight out on the 25th was unremarkable on Air Europa and efficiently got us to Berlin for our swap to Riga. The 4 week cross Europe road trip delayed the writing of this review considerably.
 
Great summary, as I expected after reading your last one :)

Have to say that I completely relate with your experience with delayed onset of pills. On my last trip out I was at Godskitchen in Eden and had taken 3 in the space of 1.5-2 hours before they all hit me at once! Now that was an experience!!! My friends had a good laugh at my state and declared that I was hands down the most messed up person in the club, I hardly need to stress that the competition was stiff :twisted:
 
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