Thursday 9th
Met up with my mate Ronan at Stansted and had the misfortune of sitting in front of the most pissed up, loud and obnoxious beer boy on the flight
. We were relieved in more ways than one to touch down in Ibiza.
September meant no taxi queue so straight into a taxi and "Es Vive, por favor" - what joyous words
Very impressed with the hotel - friendly staff, lovely pool area, rooms smallish but comfortable. Quick shower and change and then down to the Experience bar in the hotel for the first of many! Hop in a taxi to Underground, looking forward to Craig Richards. Taxi pulls up at the door at about 1am and it transpires that Thursday night is invitation-only Either that or the door guy was pruning. After thinking better of trying Buckley's magic entrance, we taxied back to the Rock Bar in Ibiza town.
On the way got a text from Robo with the bad news that the Bora Bora soundsystem had been confiscated by the police. Gutted is not the word - I'd never been and this weekend I was planning a daily pilgrimage there!
Back in Ibiza town, met an old Scouse friend about a canine, and lo and behold also got 2 passes for Deep Dish closing at Pacha thrown in for free Pacha was just nicely full and we took the opportunity to explore the club! Met some lovely folk and had a good old boogie. I wasn't sure if it was first-night syndrome or the night itself but overall I found the music and atmosphere strangely lacking. Nonetheless we stayed til near closing, picking up a regular taxi home outside afterwards -- I do like September! 8)
Friday 10th
Next day we rose after midday and headed down to PDB. Had a delicious tuna nicoise lunch washed down with a great smoothie at Passion (cheers Barbie!). Afterwards we wandered around to Bora Bora and confirmed our worst fears - no music, just a basic beach bar. Had a couple and then back to Figuretas. At Es Vive, a pool party was in full swing with a live baleric band playing some choice summer sounds . The crowd were really going for it, with people dancing on tables and jumping into the pool 
. However the police decided that too much fun was being had so they shut the party down!
On the recommendation of the barman, we ate in Sa Punta, a Pacha restaurant in Talamancas. Fantastic resturant in a gorgeous setting down on the beach, across the bay from Ibiza town. Had a couple of mojitos, then a great dinner with roasted pepper stuffed with goats cheese followed by chicken in a mushroom sauce. Divine. 8)
Back to the Rock Bar afterwards to meet up with some friends from London. Being dog-lovers like ourselves, we again hooked up with our contact and also managed to get ourselves on the guestlist for Defected at El Divino . Took the boat which is just the coolest way to travel to a club 8). Inside had filled up nicely with Andy Daniell on the decks. Introduced myself and was invited into the DJ booth with him 8) -- respect. He was busy working the decks, playing both vinyl and CDs. What a great DJ and thoroughly nice guy. Just as I was leaving the booth, met the lovely IbizaLisa and later on her boyfriend Paul. Andy told me that S Express was also in the house and it didn't take long before I ran into him and Sam on the dancefloor. When Sandy Riviera came on, I expected Andy to hand over the reins but no - he went B2B with Sandy for the next few hours. What a night - the music was dirty, chunky and funky and I danced for hours. It doesn't get much better than this, I thought.
Saturday 11th
The night was too good to wrap up so off we went with some workers from Defected and the Rock Bar to Martin's, a cafe not too far from Pacha, which was rapidly filling up with like-minded people Met Pacha Funky Room residents Tomas and Matt, the latter who hadn't been to bed for 4 days Formed a posse with these guys and Alex and Nic and taxied back to Es Vive for the Hed Kandi pool party. Because of the Friday night shutdown, the volume levels were very restricted which didn't help the vibe. However, I thoroughly enjoyed some synchronised swimming to Brad Carter's "Morning always comes too soon" . A lovely chicken risotto washed down by a few strawberry daiquiris helped revive my flagging body.
After a few hours sleep, we got up and headed to the bar, running into BBS + Kang, Drew + Ange. Took it easy that night with a pizza and quick beer in Ibiza town, saving ourselves for Sunday.
Sunday 12th
Woke up to a clear blue sky with the sun shining and I knew that it was gonna be, gonna be, gonna be a lovely day. Stocked up with a big lunch by the pool and then taxied it down to Space, getting there at around 3pm. Bought our tickets from the Spotlight website so straight to the empty guestlist entrance, showed my work id and got in just ahead Buckley and Anna who were in the regular queue -- result 8). The sun was shining, there was plenty of space, the tunes were pumping -- I was grinning ear-to-ear . Had my first vodka limon of the day and hooked up with Kang + BBS, Drew + Ange, Buckley + Anna, Alan Helps + Andy. Shortly afterwards met up with Fergie19 and his brother Chris -- top guys . Introductions were made with men and their furry friends. S Express joined us and the Spotlight Space party was in full swing. Happy days, happy days . We all piled over to the terrace to the right of the DJ booth and boogied for the next few hours, seeing cookie, Bubble, Barbie and TMT giving it large. Out of the crowd, a guy appears and asks if I'm SuperD -- it was James from Spotlight. I've no idea how he found me but what a nice guy and I know that I want his job -- living all year in Ibiza running the Spotlight website. Nice work if you can get it. We felt obliged to ring rustywoo at this stage, returning the favour when he rang me a few weeks before!
Nipped out to Ibiza town, under duress, to meet some friends for a couple of hours and we're back on the terrace by 9 in time for Groove Armada. What a set, what an atmosphere -- the Space terrace was untouchable. If heaven is a place on earth, then Space is that place. Holly G + the hens had joined Barbie's crew and I briefly caught up with Mambobirdette. Met Matt from Pacha again who had had a whole 5 hours shut-eye in as many nights at this point . Then it was hands up in the air all the way with Fergie19, Chris and Alan Helps. Stand out tracks included "Superstylin", "Strings of Life", "White Lines", "Promised Land" - magic, pure magic. Afterwards, we all headed up to the upstairs terrace -- a great addition to Space -- how cool is the submarine? Ran into Swiss Taff and his sister at the Bar -- turns out that he is best mates with Matt from Pacha -- what a small world!
After chilling for a while, we headed down inside with Fergie19 and Chris for Felix Da Housecat -- wow, that indoor soundsystem is something special. Left at about 4 as we were heading to Pacha to hook up with Matt in the Funky Room. We got way-laid in the Es Vive Bar and never made it which was lucky as Pacha was shut down at 5am due to a bomb scare . Finished up at 9, having spent the last few hours of my last night boozing with Alan Helps.
Monday 13th
A couple of hours sleep, then quickly packed and checked out. Had lunch by the pool and were later joined by some of the Spotlight crew who were all looking forward to the So...Ibiza pool party the next day. Unfortunately for us it was not to be and we flew out that afternoon having had the best 4 days of my life. 8)
Met up with my mate Ronan at Stansted and had the misfortune of sitting in front of the most pissed up, loud and obnoxious beer boy on the flight
. We were relieved in more ways than one to touch down in Ibiza. September meant no taxi queue so straight into a taxi and "Es Vive, por favor" - what joyous words
Very impressed with the hotel - friendly staff, lovely pool area, rooms smallish but comfortable. Quick shower and change and then down to the Experience bar in the hotel for the first of many! Hop in a taxi to Underground, looking forward to Craig Richards. Taxi pulls up at the door at about 1am and it transpires that Thursday night is invitation-only Either that or the door guy was pruning. After thinking better of trying Buckley's magic entrance, we taxied back to the Rock Bar in Ibiza town.On the way got a text from Robo with the bad news that the Bora Bora soundsystem had been confiscated by the police
. Gutted is not the word - I'd never been and this weekend I was planning a daily pilgrimage there! Back in Ibiza town, met an old Scouse friend about a canine
, and lo and behold also got 2 passes for Deep Dish closing at Pacha thrown in for free Pacha was just nicely full and we took the opportunity to explore the club! Met some lovely folk and had a good old boogie. I wasn't sure if it was first-night syndrome or the night itself but overall I found the music and atmosphere strangely lacking. Nonetheless we stayed til near closing, picking up a regular taxi home outside afterwards -- I do like September! 8) Friday 10th
Next day we rose after midday and headed down to PDB. Had a delicious tuna nicoise lunch washed down with a great smoothie at Passion (cheers Barbie!)
. Afterwards we wandered around to Bora Bora and confirmed our worst fears - no music, just a basic beach bar. Had a couple and then back to Figuretas. At Es Vive, a pool party was in full swing with a live baleric band playing some choice summer sounds . The crowd were really going for it, with people dancing on tables and jumping into the pool . However the police decided that too much fun was being had so they shut the party down! On the recommendation of the barman, we ate in Sa Punta, a Pacha restaurant in Talamancas. Fantastic resturant in a gorgeous setting down on the beach, across the bay from Ibiza town. Had a couple of mojitos, then a great dinner with roasted pepper stuffed with goats cheese followed by chicken in a mushroom sauce. Divine.
8)Back to the Rock Bar afterwards to meet up with some friends from London. Being dog-lovers like ourselves
, we again hooked up with our contact and also managed to get ourselves on the guestlist for Defected at El Divino . Took the boat which is just the coolest way to travel to a club 8). Inside had filled up nicely with Andy Daniell on the decks. Introduced myself and was invited into the DJ booth with him 8) -- respect. He was busy working the decks, playing both vinyl and CDs. What a great DJ and thoroughly nice guy. Just as I was leaving the booth, met the lovely IbizaLisa and later on her boyfriend Paul. Andy told me that S Express was also in the house and it didn't take long before I ran into him and Sam on the dancefloor. When Sandy Riviera came on, I expected Andy to hand over the reins but no - he went B2B with Sandy for the next few hours. What a night - the music was dirty, chunky and funky and I danced for hours. It doesn't get much better than this, I thought. Saturday 11th
The night was too good to wrap up so off we went with some workers from Defected and the Rock Bar to Martin's, a cafe not too far from Pacha, which was rapidly filling up with like-minded people
Met Pacha Funky Room residents Tomas and Matt, the latter who hadn't been to bed for 4 days Formed a posse with these guys and Alex and Nic and taxied back to Es Vive for the Hed Kandi pool party. Because of the Friday night shutdown, the volume levels were very restricted which didn't help the vibe. However, I thoroughly enjoyed some synchronised swimming to Brad Carter's "Morning always comes too soon" . A lovely chicken risotto washed down by a few strawberry daiquiris helped revive my flagging body.After a few hours sleep, we got up and headed to the bar, running into BBS + Kang, Drew + Ange
. Took it easy that night with a pizza and quick beer in Ibiza town, saving ourselves for Sunday.Sunday 12th
Woke up to a clear blue sky with the sun shining and I knew that it was gonna be, gonna be, gonna be a lovely day. Stocked up with a big lunch by the pool and then taxied it down to Space, getting there at around 3pm. Bought our tickets from the Spotlight website so straight to the empty guestlist entrance, showed my work id and got in just ahead Buckley and Anna who were in the regular queue -- result 8)
. The sun was shining, there was plenty of space, the tunes were pumping -- I was grinning ear-to-ear . Had my first vodka limon of the day and hooked up with Kang + BBS, Drew + Ange, Buckley + Anna, Alan Helps + Andy. Shortly afterwards met up with Fergie19 and his brother Chris -- top guys . Introductions were made with men and their furry friends. S Express joined us and the Spotlight Space party was in full swing. Happy days, happy days . We all piled over to the terrace to the right of the DJ booth and boogied for the next few hours, seeing cookie, Bubble, Barbie and TMT giving it large. Out of the crowd, a guy appears and asks if I'm SuperD -- it was James from Spotlight. I've no idea how he found me but what a nice guy and I know that I want his job -- living all year in Ibiza running the Spotlight website. Nice work if you can get it. We felt obliged to ring rustywoo at this stage, returning the favour when he rang me a few weeks before! Nipped out to Ibiza town, under duress, to meet some friends for a couple of hours and we're back on the terrace by 9 in time for Groove Armada. What a set, what an atmosphere -- the Space terrace was untouchable. If heaven is a place on earth, then Space is that place
. Holly G + the hens had joined Barbie's crew and I briefly caught up with Mambobirdette. Met Matt from Pacha again who had had a whole 5 hours shut-eye in as many nights at this point . Then it was hands up in the air all the way with Fergie19, Chris and Alan Helps. Stand out tracks included "Superstylin", "Strings of Life", "White Lines", "Promised Land" - magic, pure magic. Afterwards, we all headed up to the upstairs terrace -- a great addition to Space -- how cool is the submarine? Ran into Swiss Taff and his sister at the Bar -- turns out that he is best mates with Matt from Pacha -- what a small world!After chilling for a while, we headed down inside with Fergie19 and Chris for Felix Da Housecat -- wow, that indoor soundsystem is something special
. Left at about 4 as we were heading to Pacha to hook up with Matt in the Funky Room. We got way-laid in the Es Vive Bar and never made it which was lucky as Pacha was shut down at 5am due to a bomb scare . Finished up at 9, having spent the last few hours of my last night boozing with Alan Helps.Monday 13th
A couple of hours sleep, then quickly packed and checked out. Had lunch by the pool and were later joined by some of the Spotlight crew who were all looking forward to the So...Ibiza pool party the next day. Unfortunately for us it was not to be and we flew out that afternoon having had the best 4 days of my life.
8) 