dancemaster
Active Member
Second year on the row for me and my girlfriend at the magic island of Ibiza and first time so late in the summer.I was really curious to see how it could turn out crowd and weather wise.
Anyway off we go from Athens airport with Vueling which is now the only Spanish airline connecting to Barcelona.Flight delayed for 30 minutes but somehow arrived on time at 5am which was perfect as the connection to Ibiza was departing on 7.25.This flights was on time too but unexpectedly not busy...the first thoughts of crisis hitting the island are now crossing my mind!
Sunday 23rd August
We arrived at Ibiza on 8.30,found a taxi immediately outside the airport which got us near Pacha where we stayed at a friends apartment.After he quickly showed us the house we took a bath and left to pick up the quad bike i had arranged to rent.Now i'm a big lover of quads but this guy was asking total payment in front plus 300 euro guarantee which wasn't mentioned from the start.I was in no way going to give 300 euro as a guarantee as there was nothing to ensure me that he was going to give it back at the end of the rent.So after some negotiations we left without getting the quad.
By that point we were really tired and without any sleep so we decided to hang out at the pool with our friends which was nice since i took some small naps with some small breaks to swim!Evening came and all together we went to a nice argentinian restaurant besides Pacha called Feixes or Faces,i can't recall right now.Dinner was really perfect and we were told that most of the Pacha staff eat there.We finished early almost around 22:00 and the plan was to hit Space for We Love as we didn't want to miss Steve Lawler and Miss Kittin.Unfortunately the small nap that we intended to take before going turned out to be really big and we woke up on Monday morning around 10.00.
Monday 24th August
After a quick lunch and coffee at the house we took a taxi to Salinas.I love this beach...i just love it!!!We sat in front of Malibu for 4 or 5 hours,i didn't want to leave at all but hunger was knocking on our door.So went upstairs at the Malibu restaurant to grab something to eat.I found the setting and the service quite good but the food was not so nice.We paid 70 euros for a paella and a starter with shrimps which i found excessive comparing to the quality of the food.
Back to the apartment again for some sleep and to get ready for the night...now this can't be missed,it's Cocoon with Marco Carola,Karotte,Sven Vath & Reboot !!! We got at the club around 02.00 and walked straight in.The guest list queue was big but nothing compared to last year in July plus there were many people waiting with prebought tickets.The terrace was packed,really packed and Reboot was dropping some great groovy house tracks.It was so packed though that it got us nearly 20 minutes to get from the door to dj booth at the main room.When we got there Karotte was going nuts and the crowd too as he had just dropped the Age of Love.We stayed in out and around the dj booth until almost 3.30...Karotte was on top form but it was so busy that people were kicked out even from the dj booth.I must admit the thought of leaving crossed my mind too.Around 4.00 Marco came on with Paco Osuna always being by his side and finally there was some room to dance.He played techno with some tech house and minimal breaking in.For some reason i can't remember any of the tracks being played but the crowd was loving it.We were loving it too...good times!!! At 6.00 and while Marco was smashing the main room his Macbook began to crash for some reason.He was resetting for more than 30 minutes but it kept crashing so the main room had to be closed around 6.45.We catched the last two songs of Sven's set at the terrace but again i can't remember any of them.The terrace closed packed to capacity at exactly 7am.We stayed for a bit outside Amnesia with the usual madness after Cocoon going on and we decided not to go to the after party as our friends had to work the next day.Instead we did some manoeuvres around the island to avoid guardia civil and did a small after party at the apartment which lasted until 9.30 and finished with Christmas songs !!!
Tuesday 25th August
We woke up on Tuesday at 15.00 and found the weather cloudy so we didn't get to the beach.By that time i was starting to feel a bit ill but didn't say anything to anyone.We stayed at the apartment until the afternoon when we did some shopping around the port.I was still not feeling good though and had to get some paracetamol.After we finished shopping we went to Jesus at a nice sushi restaurant.I'm not a big sushi fan but our friends are so i thought what the hell! For one more time i can't remember the name of the restaurant and obviously the names of the dishes and although i had no appetite i liked some of them.Only thing i remember is that it was situated in a corner,there was another restaurant next to it (probably italian) and its sign had some black colour.We paid around 65 euros each and headed back to apartment.I was feeling more bad so had to get some sleep while the others where drinking wine outside.I woke up at 2.00 and at 3.00 we went to Amnesia were Roger Sanchez and Armin were on.
Well,contrary to last year both rooms were nicely busy i'd say around 1200-1500 people.We stayed at the terrace and Roger Sanchez was playing commercial mostly tribal house with many remixes of classics and acapellas dropped in and although i'm not big fan of this kind i think it fitted the terrace.Around 5.30 i was really bored and we headed to the main room as my gf wanted desperately to see Armin.To her dissapointment Francesco Rossi was playing with Armin staying by his side trying to cheer up the crowd.I won't make any comments about the music as i don't like trance at all.We stayed until 6.15 and then went back to the terrace to find it almost empty...Roger was playing to a crowd of 100 people.He played 3 more songs,said some things in Spanish on the mic and closed it...he had to! As you can imagine we went to the main room which was still going although utterly boring and stayed there till the end when we got to the apartment.Unfortunately i had managed to drink only one drink the whole night and was feeling really not good.
Wednesday 26th August
We woke up on Wednesday around 15.00 to find the weather again cloudy.We were not going to the beach even if it was sunny though as i had a fever but we were determined to hit Luciano at Ushuaia.So i tried to recover at the apartment until 21.00.I took two paracetamol pills to feel better and we left for Ushuaia.When we got there we found a massive queue outside the door and people coming and coming.Now,there are two ways of getting in Ushuaia on Wednesdays...first guest list and second personal invitations.With personal invitations you walk straight in but with guest list you have to wait in line.Fortunately we had the invitations,we showed them to the doormen and got in immediately.I have to say the interior of Ushuaia looks chic for a beach bar and we found the staff contrary to most bars/clubs on the island really friendly.Partywise,the club was packed packed packed with an atmosphere similar to Cocoon.We catched the last tracks of Reboot and then Luciano came in which cause havoc to the dancefloor!!! Many Cecille,Diynamic,Cadenza tracks played plus Luciano classics such as Thrill Me and Age of Love...his set had a very good flow and was always groovy...i have to point out again that the atmosphere was very similar to Cocoon! Despite my illness we had a great time but had to call it a day around 00.00 due to fever issues.
Thursday 27th August
Woke up around 14.00 to find the weather and my illness greatly improved but...my girlfriend feeling bad now...despite all this we went to the port and ate at Sam's! Service was nice,the portions were big but the taste was so so.We paid 30 euros each for a salad and two main dishes.We were feeling better by that time so we decided to hit the shops again...magically my girlfriend had no sign of illness now!!!We literallly went into almost every shop around the port and Vara De Rey and returned home happy!!! We had scheduled to go see the Arpiar guys at Underground but we decided not to go out and recover as tomorrow was going to be a long Cocoon night!
Friday 28th August
We woke up around 10.00 but my gf was again not feeling nice and had a fever...she thought of going to the hospital but our friends have a good friend who is a doctor and he suggested to take Ibuprofenol or something like this.This is not an antibiotic but its stronger than paracetamol.I was afraid that we were going to miss Cocoon but it worked and by 21.00 she was feeling great.
We were supposed to go to Amnesia at 22.00 but we were informed that it was empty so we headed there around 23.30.Again we walked straight in although there were no queues at all.The terrace had around 300 people in but the music was great.We stayed there for a bit and moved to the main room where Mar-T was playing at a totally empty room...we didn't care though as were around familiar faces and friends,we drank some hierbas to start the night and generally had fun.
Due to the club being empty until that time the schedule went behind one hour.As soon as Mar-T finished his set we all went to the terrace at the corner of the VIP area where there was a place reserved for some people,not a table or something just the corner bar.This was really close to the stage so we had great views.Around 1.00 the terrace was really really busy,i could see people squeezed and there was any room to move around the room.It was obvious that everybody was waiting for Underworld since the main room was still totally empty! When they came on the place went off !!! As Grego said on his review they played most of their hits but for me highlight of the night was when they played Born Slippy...they threw some huge plastic balls to the crowd...everybody was going mad!They finished around 3-3.30 and Sven came on.He played a classics only set but the crowd didn't seem to get going for some reason plus the main room was empty for the whole night.We went to say hi to Josh Wink and he was playing to almost nobody!We immediately went back to the terrace and this time stayed at the dj booth...Sven was really not in a good state...at around 6.15 he couldn't mix anymore but the terrace was still full.He had to be dragged outside of the club for 5 minutes to make him feel better but this had no result.The club was supposed to close at 8.00 but Sven couldn't make it and closed at 7.00.He finished with Reboot-Caminando which was a proper hands in the air moment...i'll never forget it!Club closed at 7.00,the usual madness going on outside Amnesia...the official after party happened in Sven's house with around 50 people only invited...we were going but one of our friends fell asleep in the car while we were on the road so we had to go back.
Saturday 29th August
On Saturday we woke up around 13.00 as we were going to the hippy market at Es Canar.I'm not a big fan of these stuf but the missus is,so she loved it and we stayed there until 17.00.We then went to Es Figueral for a quick swim and back to the apartment as we had to go to the super market.We had planned a ''family'' dinner with our friends at the apartment and had promised to cook them some traditional Greek dishes.The dinner was ready around 22.00 we drank some wine had a good laugh and we all went to bed early.We were dead from Cocoon!
Sunday 30th August
Sunday it is and we wake up at 11.30.Quick lunch and off to Salinas again in front of Malibu.The sun was hot so we bought some fresh juices from the bar...miam miam!!!you got to taste it to believe it...!!!We left around 17.00 for the apartment where we chilled some more in the pool! On the night our friends took us to a nice Italian restaurant in the port called Pinnochio,nice pizza and very nice pasta!Our plan was to hit We Love Space as i wanted to see Radio Slave...we got there around 3.00.I can't comment on tickets as we were on the guest list.Got in without being searched and headed straight to terrace.It was very busy i'd say,and the crowd mostly British many of them ****ed up from drugs or alcohol and with their shirts off.I saw many clueless people who had nothing to do in there and were just standing or walking around.We moved at the discoteca where Boys Noise were playing and got they were really noisy!The discoteca was half full and these guys were playing electro at 140bpm...we didn't stay there for longer than 10 minutes and headed to the Red Box where Pier Bucci was playing...he was playing nice but again people there were off their faces.We finally settled down on the terrace to hear Radio Slave who was playing a mixture of techno and house.We left around 6.00 dissapointed a lot by Space...
Monday 31st August
Monday...last day!We woke up at 12.00 and headed to Salinas...this was the last time to see this beach for this summer.We sat as always in Malibu and didn't move from there until 17.00.We grabbed some nice juices from the bar and enjoyed the sun.Many parades passed from Mondays Calling,Tiesto and Jamie Lewis...no sign of Cocoon!The best and most noticeable was Mondays Calling but nobody seemed to want their free tickets!In the afternoon we went again to the the port for our last shopping therapy and around 02.00 we went as you can probably assume to Cocoon!The terrace was so so so busy again...so we stayed at the dj booth...Zip was playing some nice tech house tracks to warm up the night and then at 2.30 Guilaume & The Coutu Dumonts came on.This guy did a live performance and oh my god...this was probably the best set i heard throughout our holidays...he played many of his productions and he totally rocked the terrace...Ricardo came on at 4.00 and played a proper techno set with no sign of melody!Totally different to last year and the people again like at the Cocoon Classics party didn't seem to get the music...we had fun however!We decided to call it a day around 6.15...the terrace was still reaaaaally busy!
Conclusion
Crisis - It definitely has hit the island and you can see it everywhere.From the airport,to the restaurants and the clubs.It's noticeable even on the big nights.I see much less promotion also this year,not so many flyers and posters around.Club nights are closing earlier than expected and it remains to see how many people are gonna be there for the closings.
Clubs - I think Cocoon is the winner again this year followed closely by David Guetta.As for Tiesto they might be full i don't know but they offer a lot of freebies instead of the other two.Cocoon has also failed twice to make people go early at Amnesia and i think that this is mostly from bad promotion and too much arrogance.They need to watch this part a bit...Space needs a change,a big one and specially on Sundays...Something will change probably next year(not Sundays though) but i don't know if it will be enough...From what i heard Pacha also suffers and prepares some changes at next year's line ups...
Music - The latin vibe is very slowly now fading away.Cecille and Cadenza tracks are being played everywhere and this is the sound of the moment.Luciano is probably the hottest name this summer as a dj and Reboot as a producer.
That's all from me...Had a really amazing time at this unexpected trip this year and will definitely be back next year!
Anyway off we go from Athens airport with Vueling which is now the only Spanish airline connecting to Barcelona.Flight delayed for 30 minutes but somehow arrived on time at 5am which was perfect as the connection to Ibiza was departing on 7.25.This flights was on time too but unexpectedly not busy...the first thoughts of crisis hitting the island are now crossing my mind!
Sunday 23rd August
We arrived at Ibiza on 8.30,found a taxi immediately outside the airport which got us near Pacha where we stayed at a friends apartment.After he quickly showed us the house we took a bath and left to pick up the quad bike i had arranged to rent.Now i'm a big lover of quads but this guy was asking total payment in front plus 300 euro guarantee which wasn't mentioned from the start.I was in no way going to give 300 euro as a guarantee as there was nothing to ensure me that he was going to give it back at the end of the rent.So after some negotiations we left without getting the quad.
By that point we were really tired and without any sleep so we decided to hang out at the pool with our friends which was nice since i took some small naps with some small breaks to swim!Evening came and all together we went to a nice argentinian restaurant besides Pacha called Feixes or Faces,i can't recall right now.Dinner was really perfect and we were told that most of the Pacha staff eat there.We finished early almost around 22:00 and the plan was to hit Space for We Love as we didn't want to miss Steve Lawler and Miss Kittin.Unfortunately the small nap that we intended to take before going turned out to be really big and we woke up on Monday morning around 10.00.
Monday 24th August
After a quick lunch and coffee at the house we took a taxi to Salinas.I love this beach...i just love it!!!We sat in front of Malibu for 4 or 5 hours,i didn't want to leave at all but hunger was knocking on our door.So went upstairs at the Malibu restaurant to grab something to eat.I found the setting and the service quite good but the food was not so nice.We paid 70 euros for a paella and a starter with shrimps which i found excessive comparing to the quality of the food.
Back to the apartment again for some sleep and to get ready for the night...now this can't be missed,it's Cocoon with Marco Carola,Karotte,Sven Vath & Reboot !!! We got at the club around 02.00 and walked straight in.The guest list queue was big but nothing compared to last year in July plus there were many people waiting with prebought tickets.The terrace was packed,really packed and Reboot was dropping some great groovy house tracks.It was so packed though that it got us nearly 20 minutes to get from the door to dj booth at the main room.When we got there Karotte was going nuts and the crowd too as he had just dropped the Age of Love.We stayed in out and around the dj booth until almost 3.30...Karotte was on top form but it was so busy that people were kicked out even from the dj booth.I must admit the thought of leaving crossed my mind too.Around 4.00 Marco came on with Paco Osuna always being by his side and finally there was some room to dance.He played techno with some tech house and minimal breaking in.For some reason i can't remember any of the tracks being played but the crowd was loving it.We were loving it too...good times!!! At 6.00 and while Marco was smashing the main room his Macbook began to crash for some reason.He was resetting for more than 30 minutes but it kept crashing so the main room had to be closed around 6.45.We catched the last two songs of Sven's set at the terrace but again i can't remember any of them.The terrace closed packed to capacity at exactly 7am.We stayed for a bit outside Amnesia with the usual madness after Cocoon going on and we decided not to go to the after party as our friends had to work the next day.Instead we did some manoeuvres around the island to avoid guardia civil and did a small after party at the apartment which lasted until 9.30 and finished with Christmas songs !!!
Tuesday 25th August
We woke up on Tuesday at 15.00 and found the weather cloudy so we didn't get to the beach.By that time i was starting to feel a bit ill but didn't say anything to anyone.We stayed at the apartment until the afternoon when we did some shopping around the port.I was still not feeling good though and had to get some paracetamol.After we finished shopping we went to Jesus at a nice sushi restaurant.I'm not a big sushi fan but our friends are so i thought what the hell! For one more time i can't remember the name of the restaurant and obviously the names of the dishes and although i had no appetite i liked some of them.Only thing i remember is that it was situated in a corner,there was another restaurant next to it (probably italian) and its sign had some black colour.We paid around 65 euros each and headed back to apartment.I was feeling more bad so had to get some sleep while the others where drinking wine outside.I woke up at 2.00 and at 3.00 we went to Amnesia were Roger Sanchez and Armin were on.
Well,contrary to last year both rooms were nicely busy i'd say around 1200-1500 people.We stayed at the terrace and Roger Sanchez was playing commercial mostly tribal house with many remixes of classics and acapellas dropped in and although i'm not big fan of this kind i think it fitted the terrace.Around 5.30 i was really bored and we headed to the main room as my gf wanted desperately to see Armin.To her dissapointment Francesco Rossi was playing with Armin staying by his side trying to cheer up the crowd.I won't make any comments about the music as i don't like trance at all.We stayed until 6.15 and then went back to the terrace to find it almost empty...Roger was playing to a crowd of 100 people.He played 3 more songs,said some things in Spanish on the mic and closed it...he had to! As you can imagine we went to the main room which was still going although utterly boring and stayed there till the end when we got to the apartment.Unfortunately i had managed to drink only one drink the whole night and was feeling really not good.
Wednesday 26th August
We woke up on Wednesday around 15.00 to find the weather again cloudy.We were not going to the beach even if it was sunny though as i had a fever but we were determined to hit Luciano at Ushuaia.So i tried to recover at the apartment until 21.00.I took two paracetamol pills to feel better and we left for Ushuaia.When we got there we found a massive queue outside the door and people coming and coming.Now,there are two ways of getting in Ushuaia on Wednesdays...first guest list and second personal invitations.With personal invitations you walk straight in but with guest list you have to wait in line.Fortunately we had the invitations,we showed them to the doormen and got in immediately.I have to say the interior of Ushuaia looks chic for a beach bar and we found the staff contrary to most bars/clubs on the island really friendly.Partywise,the club was packed packed packed with an atmosphere similar to Cocoon.We catched the last tracks of Reboot and then Luciano came in which cause havoc to the dancefloor!!! Many Cecille,Diynamic,Cadenza tracks played plus Luciano classics such as Thrill Me and Age of Love...his set had a very good flow and was always groovy...i have to point out again that the atmosphere was very similar to Cocoon! Despite my illness we had a great time but had to call it a day around 00.00 due to fever issues.
Thursday 27th August
Woke up around 14.00 to find the weather and my illness greatly improved but...my girlfriend feeling bad now...despite all this we went to the port and ate at Sam's! Service was nice,the portions were big but the taste was so so.We paid 30 euros each for a salad and two main dishes.We were feeling better by that time so we decided to hit the shops again...magically my girlfriend had no sign of illness now!!!We literallly went into almost every shop around the port and Vara De Rey and returned home happy!!! We had scheduled to go see the Arpiar guys at Underground but we decided not to go out and recover as tomorrow was going to be a long Cocoon night!
Friday 28th August
We woke up around 10.00 but my gf was again not feeling nice and had a fever...she thought of going to the hospital but our friends have a good friend who is a doctor and he suggested to take Ibuprofenol or something like this.This is not an antibiotic but its stronger than paracetamol.I was afraid that we were going to miss Cocoon but it worked and by 21.00 she was feeling great.
We were supposed to go to Amnesia at 22.00 but we were informed that it was empty so we headed there around 23.30.Again we walked straight in although there were no queues at all.The terrace had around 300 people in but the music was great.We stayed there for a bit and moved to the main room where Mar-T was playing at a totally empty room...we didn't care though as were around familiar faces and friends,we drank some hierbas to start the night and generally had fun.
Due to the club being empty until that time the schedule went behind one hour.As soon as Mar-T finished his set we all went to the terrace at the corner of the VIP area where there was a place reserved for some people,not a table or something just the corner bar.This was really close to the stage so we had great views.Around 1.00 the terrace was really really busy,i could see people squeezed and there was any room to move around the room.It was obvious that everybody was waiting for Underworld since the main room was still totally empty! When they came on the place went off !!! As Grego said on his review they played most of their hits but for me highlight of the night was when they played Born Slippy...they threw some huge plastic balls to the crowd...everybody was going mad!They finished around 3-3.30 and Sven came on.He played a classics only set but the crowd didn't seem to get going for some reason plus the main room was empty for the whole night.We went to say hi to Josh Wink and he was playing to almost nobody!We immediately went back to the terrace and this time stayed at the dj booth...Sven was really not in a good state...at around 6.15 he couldn't mix anymore but the terrace was still full.He had to be dragged outside of the club for 5 minutes to make him feel better but this had no result.The club was supposed to close at 8.00 but Sven couldn't make it and closed at 7.00.He finished with Reboot-Caminando which was a proper hands in the air moment...i'll never forget it!Club closed at 7.00,the usual madness going on outside Amnesia...the official after party happened in Sven's house with around 50 people only invited...we were going but one of our friends fell asleep in the car while we were on the road so we had to go back.
Saturday 29th August
On Saturday we woke up around 13.00 as we were going to the hippy market at Es Canar.I'm not a big fan of these stuf but the missus is,so she loved it and we stayed there until 17.00.We then went to Es Figueral for a quick swim and back to the apartment as we had to go to the super market.We had planned a ''family'' dinner with our friends at the apartment and had promised to cook them some traditional Greek dishes.The dinner was ready around 22.00 we drank some wine had a good laugh and we all went to bed early.We were dead from Cocoon!
Sunday 30th August
Sunday it is and we wake up at 11.30.Quick lunch and off to Salinas again in front of Malibu.The sun was hot so we bought some fresh juices from the bar...miam miam!!!you got to taste it to believe it...!!!We left around 17.00 for the apartment where we chilled some more in the pool! On the night our friends took us to a nice Italian restaurant in the port called Pinnochio,nice pizza and very nice pasta!Our plan was to hit We Love Space as i wanted to see Radio Slave...we got there around 3.00.I can't comment on tickets as we were on the guest list.Got in without being searched and headed straight to terrace.It was very busy i'd say,and the crowd mostly British many of them ****ed up from drugs or alcohol and with their shirts off.I saw many clueless people who had nothing to do in there and were just standing or walking around.We moved at the discoteca where Boys Noise were playing and got they were really noisy!The discoteca was half full and these guys were playing electro at 140bpm...we didn't stay there for longer than 10 minutes and headed to the Red Box where Pier Bucci was playing...he was playing nice but again people there were off their faces.We finally settled down on the terrace to hear Radio Slave who was playing a mixture of techno and house.We left around 6.00 dissapointed a lot by Space...
Monday 31st August
Monday...last day!We woke up at 12.00 and headed to Salinas...this was the last time to see this beach for this summer.We sat as always in Malibu and didn't move from there until 17.00.We grabbed some nice juices from the bar and enjoyed the sun.Many parades passed from Mondays Calling,Tiesto and Jamie Lewis...no sign of Cocoon!The best and most noticeable was Mondays Calling but nobody seemed to want their free tickets!In the afternoon we went again to the the port for our last shopping therapy and around 02.00 we went as you can probably assume to Cocoon!The terrace was so so so busy again...so we stayed at the dj booth...Zip was playing some nice tech house tracks to warm up the night and then at 2.30 Guilaume & The Coutu Dumonts came on.This guy did a live performance and oh my god...this was probably the best set i heard throughout our holidays...he played many of his productions and he totally rocked the terrace...Ricardo came on at 4.00 and played a proper techno set with no sign of melody!Totally different to last year and the people again like at the Cocoon Classics party didn't seem to get the music...we had fun however!We decided to call it a day around 6.15...the terrace was still reaaaaally busy!
Conclusion
Crisis - It definitely has hit the island and you can see it everywhere.From the airport,to the restaurants and the clubs.It's noticeable even on the big nights.I see much less promotion also this year,not so many flyers and posters around.Club nights are closing earlier than expected and it remains to see how many people are gonna be there for the closings.
Clubs - I think Cocoon is the winner again this year followed closely by David Guetta.As for Tiesto they might be full i don't know but they offer a lot of freebies instead of the other two.Cocoon has also failed twice to make people go early at Amnesia and i think that this is mostly from bad promotion and too much arrogance.They need to watch this part a bit...Space needs a change,a big one and specially on Sundays...Something will change probably next year(not Sundays though) but i don't know if it will be enough...From what i heard Pacha also suffers and prepares some changes at next year's line ups...
Music - The latin vibe is very slowly now fading away.Cecille and Cadenza tracks are being played everywhere and this is the sound of the moment.Luciano is probably the hottest name this summer as a dj and Reboot as a producer.
That's all from me...Had a really amazing time at this unexpected trip this year and will definitely be back next year!