Back to Paradise, 13th to the 25th of September 2003

fusion

Active Member
Short Background:
This year was my third time in Ibiza, as i've also been on the island in the end of August 2001 and then a year later in the end of August 2002.
This by far has been the best vacation among all my 3 visits.

I'm mainly gonna focus on the clubs me and my friends been to, cause during the daytime we more or less did the same things as everyone else from here did (Sangarias & Pre Parties @ Mambo, Sunsets @ Cafe Del Mar, Road Trips, Restaurants, Bars/Pubs, Ibiza Town, Bora Bora, Ses Salinas, etc).

Saturday - 13/9:
Late night arrival to our fabulous apartment situated in Playa Den Bossa, 100 meters from the Burger King there.
We hit the local bars to check whats going on, and on the way we purchased tickets for Sundays @ Space.

Sunday - 14/9:
A quick entrance to Space at around 17:00 to find out Jonathan Ulysses is tearing the roof down in the terrace with some new and old tunes, where the highlight (for me at least) was 'David Guetta - Just A Little More Love (Wally Lopez Remix)'.
Later on Phat Phil Cooper came to spin and did surprisingly well, considering it was Derrick Carter we were expecting to (who was a no show as already been mentioned on this board).
And to close the terrace session it was what some may call the undisputed king of space - Steve Lawler - who played his usual funky house, terrace style, filled with drums and tribal sounds.
Off we go to the apartment at about midnight and back to the inside session an hour later, Only to catch a very happily wasted Lee Burridge and his Tyrant collaboration - Craig Richards.
As jumpy and smiling as Burridge was, i still couldn't connect with his set, as it was not so dance-able and filled with too many breaks and broken beats IMO, However his team mate Richards managed to pick up where Burridge left off and made me go on dancing until the bitter end.
(Note to Burridge: cut down on the amount of whatever is that u r taking/using :D)

Monday - 15/9:
Arriving to Cocoon @ Amnesia and Richie Hawtin is already techno'ing his way stright into the croud, with what i call Minimal Techno.
After him goes up to spin a man that should be put behind bars - Sven Vath - who constantly jumps up and down the DJ booth and seems like having the time of his life. He plays a harder style of techno with some electro glitches, and in the early morning hours enters a few melodic cuts into his set... amazing!
As we feel we had enough and our body isnt responding to us anymore, we decided to leave at around 9:00, where hundreds of crazy people are still left on the dancefloor, dancing in that hour like there's no tomorow!
Too bad we werent aware of the fact there's gonna be a secret after party on one of the beaches, and thus we missed it... ah well, better luck next year ;)

Tuesday - 16/9:
Early arrival to Underwater @ Pacha which enabled us to catch Jon Carter spinning to a rather empty club, However he was spot on and played a very good warm-up house music.
After him Josh Wink takes charge of the DJ booth and plays various styles that move in between acid house, a few breaks, some tech house and even techno.
For some reason the croud didnt react so well to Wink's music and most of it prefered to lay near the bars instead of tear down the dancefloor.
Eventually Emerson came up and proved everyone why he rightly holds a weekly residency, as he could move Pacha's croud better than any other guest DJs did.
Close to the end Emerson and Wink were pulling a Back2Back set where they switched one another every few minutes.
At 7:30 aprox the party ended and we were thrown to our apartment.

Wednesday - 17/9:
Tonight it was time for La Troya's closing party @ Amnesia, and our excitement was pretty high as we've never been to a La Troya party before.
We arrived at around 3:00 and entered directly to the main room where one of the residents played a dark progressive and tech-house to a mostly latin croud (aka spanish and italian croud). The atmosphere there wasnt sky high, but still many people danced and good vibes were sensed in the air.
Outside on the terrace DJ Oliver was giving it bigtime to the croud while mixing alot of house styles and combining many summer anthems in his set.
He surely knew how to rock the croud, who seemed to be more into dancing than into the silly shows they put on there.
Meanwhile in the main room the resident (Mar T ?) finished off his set with 'Kosheen - All In My Head' and the croud sang along. In 7:00 the foam (Espuma!) party started there, and since we didnt wanna get all soaked up to our bones we decided to leave for the terrace and stay there until its close.
The atmosphere in the morning hours on the terrace was great - everyone were smiling and seemed to be having a great time!
DJ Oliver finished off his set with an overly played (this summer), yet wicked version of 'The Aztec Mystic - Knights Of The Jaguar'.
At the end, some La Troya diva goes up and babbles a few words in spanish, which got the croud even more thrilled.
Party ended at around 9:15 and we were thrown to the apartment again :)
All in all a great night which might of not lived up to our expectations, but still one not to be missed!

Thursday - 18/9:
Cream night's tonight and we knew we're gonna experience a great closing party, and boy how were we right...
Entering at around 2:00 and the place is already jam packed!
Louis Osbourne (?) is in the booth and playing pounding hard house to a croud that is very up for it.
DJ Tiesto goes up to spin at around 2:30 and plays his usual melodic trance set filled with many club anthems, such as 'Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)', 'Paul Oakenfold - Southern Sun' and so on.
The croud seemed to have it big time as all hands were up in the air and people were singing all along the tracks' vocals.
On one of my long walks across the club i've bumped into the beautiful Martine ('Martine Amsterdam')... was great seeing u, even if just for a short while :).
At around 4:30 god of trance Paul Van Dyk arrives into the DJ booth, hugs Tiesto and takes the lead. Then he shows the world why he's considered one, if not the best, Trance DJ/Producer of all times.
His set combined a mixture of progressive hard trance along with many known melodic anthems such as 'Andain - Beautiful Things (Gabriel & Dresden Remix), 'Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Armin Van Buuren Remix)', etc.
He also debuted a few tracks from his new album 'Reflections', such as whats soon to be a massive hit IMO; 'Paul Van Dyk - Time Of Our Lives' (which he played twice in his set).
The cream of the crop were however the many classic cuts he also played such as 'Planet Perfecto - Bullet In The Gun (Dub)', 'Robert Milles - Children', 'Rank One - Airwave', 'Chicane - Saltwater', etc. At 8:30 aprox PVD ends up the set with his summer mega hit - 'Nothing But You' to the delight of a few hundred smiling faces.
Needless to mention this night was awesome, and though it was too packed at times, the atmosphere was so good as most of the night all hands were up high in the air and people were really having it large!

Friday - 19/9:
As there was no other real known/popular nights on the island we decided to check Pacha 30th Anniversary @ Pacha and arrived there at about 2:30.
Instead of the well respected Danny Krivit and Zouk's Aldrin we find Sarah Main to be spinning, and although she played very well, considering she's the resident and knows Pacha's croud the best, still i was disappointed cause of the 2 no shows that night.
Pete Tong came up to spin an hour later and played his usual set filled with new and old club anthems such as 'Paul Jackson - The Push', 'Coldplay - Clocks', 'X-Press 2 - Muzik', etc.
A bit later came to spin one of the UNKLE DJs, who played a mixture of boring breaks and even some trip-hop (wtf?!), Then an hour later Tong took over again and spun until the end.
Pacha was packed until the late hours of the morning, and the croud chanted for more when the party came to a close at 7:30.

Saturday - 20/9:
The Hed Kandi boys are back in town tonight for thier closing party, and in a venue we've never been to before (El Divino, doh), so its about time we'll give it a try.
We entered the club at about 2:00 to discover a beautiful cosmopolitan croud, which is kinda relaxed when compared to the usual Space/Amnesia maddening croud, but was still up for it and as the night procceeded people showed that they can also get down on the dancefloor!
The terrace with the seaport view and fresh air is great and all, however it attracts too many people to go off the dancefloor and into sitting on the terrace for too long.
Paul Wilkins was first in the DJ booth giving his disco house flavor to the croud, who was loving every minute of it.
After him came Matt Collins who played a similar funky disco'ish house style like his other Hed Kandi mate.
We even managed to catch the DJs for a short chat and they seemed to be very nice and pleasent people.
Overall, there's no wonder Hed Kandi was proclaimed as the best clubbing option for saturdays this year on the island, as the music is amazing, the DJs are great, the croud is lovely and the atmosphere is astounding.
Big thumbs up for the Hed Kandi boys for pulling such a fabulous night :!:

Sunday - 21/9:
Need i say we went to Sundays @ Space closing party? 8)
We arrived to Space at 17:30 to discover a long queue. Obviously we were lucky enough and managed to snag in and get a wristband when the clock showed 17:59 (phew).
Tania Vulkano was spinning on the terrace, however we didnt catch much of her, cause a few minutes after we entered Rooty (Frank Tope & Tayo) went on to spin a decent set that combined a few anthems and many tech-tribal sounds.
Meanwhile on the inside, a Space resident played progressive, tech-house and seemed to be enjoying himself alot.
Somewhere along the way i met Neil ('Swiss Taff')... nice to meet u mate :)
Back to the terrace where it was jam packed, as expected, we've noticed that the story of the night (and maybe the whole vacation) is about to go up and spin - the one and only - Fatboy Slim!
This man rocked the terrace like i've seen no one do it before, while fitting his music perfectly to the croud like a glove fits a hand.
I cant say his set contained alot of new material or had a great buildup to it, BUT (and it's a big BUT) he knew exactly what people wanted and he gave it to them on a silver spoon. Many familiar old classics were spotted, such as 'Ce Ce Peniston - Finally', 'Samba De Janero', etc. And also some new summer hits like'Elton John -Are You Ready For Love (Mylos Road Map To Peace Mix). Eventually what did it for me and made me one of the happiest man alive that moment, let alone gave me one of my best clubbing moments, was when Fatboy Slim finished off with 'John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air'... The terrace went on fire when this old classic song was played, something that can't be put into words... INCREDIBLE! :eek:
Fatboy Slim surely finished off with style and left a hard work for Steve Lawler who came up to spin until the close of the terrace.
We've stayed for another hour to hear Lawler's set, who was very similar to his set from last week, and then left to our apartment for a quick refreshment.
2 Hours later we arrived to Space for the inside session to catch a few short minutes of James Zabiela's set.
Then Layo & Bushwacka! took control and did a Back2Back set, which started very well with some great tech-house but slowly took a slump and turned into a boring progressive set. The highlight of thier set for me was when they played thier own 'Lovestory' (twice, in 2 different versions).
We left at almost 6:00 as the number of people in attendence was dwindling and the atmosphere was almost non-existent anymore.

Monday - 22/9:
Waking up in the early afternoon to hit DC10. Arriving at about 16:00 to discover the place is already almost packed inside and fully packed on the terrace.
In the club there were too many strange people combined in small groups, where each group was busy doing a different kind of dr*g... funny or sad, u decide for yourself :lol:
Anyway, inside the residents, Andrew Grant and Fabrizio, were spinning some dark progressive and tech-house, while on the terrace Cirillo played using 2 decks, where on 1 he rapidly put a repeating baseline sound while on the other he switched in between tracks... strange i said? :)
The croud only started to go wild in about 20:00 when a few familiar Ibiza anthems were played one after another, such as 'Paul Jackson - The Push', 'Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Remix)', 'Sander Kleinenberg - Work To Do', and so on.
The party ended at about 22:30 and thats when we headed back to the apartment to catch some much needed rest before hitting Release Yourself closing party @ Pacha that night.
After recovering from DC10 and resting a bit we headed into Pacha and entered at about 2:30 to find the club almost full.
Roger Sanchez was ofcourse already spinning a mixture of soulful groove house with alot of vocals. The croud was still utterly relaxed.
As the night went on and the early morning hours struck, Sanchez moved on to a more latino flavored house, with alot of african/brazilian elements of samba and tribal sounds... Right then the croud was already up for it and you could sense a party vibe was in the air. Sanchez worked the croud and got it lifted with familiar tracks from past and present such as; 'Lee Cabrera - Shake It', 'Junior Jack - E Samba', 'Josh Wink - Freak', 'Ritmo Dynamic - Calinda', 'Mory Kante - Yeke Yeke', 'Samba De Janero' and more.
He hit the nail on the coffin with 'Rui Da Silva - Touch Me', and as he was decreasing the volume of the music everyone sang along the vocals of this track... brilliant!
At around 7:30 the party ended and Sanchez gracefully thanked Pacha's staff and the croud in both English & Spanish, and then we were Released back to our apartment.

Tuesday - 23/9:
Tonight we're about to give Emerson and his crew a second visit during our vacation, but this time the expectations were higher since it was the Underwater closing party.
We entered Pacha at about 2:30 to discover the club is kinda empty for this hour. In the booth Neil Anthony and Paul Jackson were spotted as they played 'Spiller - Sola' in an overall funky Back2Back set.
A bit later Paul Woolford teamed up with them, then after a while the 3 joined forces with Wally Lopez, Darren Emerson and Tim Deluxe, and all the 6 superstar DJs combined were doing a tremendous few-hours Back2Back set.
I ran into Neil (not Anthony, but our own 'Swiss Taff') couple of times... was a pleasure again ;)
The highlight of the night was when Emerson spun his own 'Underworld - Born Slippy' and maybe also when Paul Jackson played his own 'The Push'.
Party ended at around 7:00 and as always we were thrown to our apartment, tired but with a smile upon our faces. :D

Wednesday - 24/9:
Considering tonight was our last night on the island :cry: we wanted to have it large (again), and Subliminal Sessions @ Pacha seemed to be the exact thing we needed for getting a clean cut from the island.
We arrived to Pacha kinda early compared to usual, at about 1:30, and to our surprise the place was already jam packed with good atmosphere going on. On the DJ booth all the Subliminal boys could be easily noticed - from Who Da Funk (who was spinning at that moment) to Jose Nunez, Harry Romero and Erick Morillo.
Who Da Funk played a short funky electro set and mixed into it some of his new productions like 'Who Da Funk - Radio'.
Jose Nunez was also spotted throwing in a few tracks into the mix as well.
After that came Harry Romero who more or less played a similar funky electro style like his other 2 Subliminal brothers.
However the story of the night was as expected Erick Morillo, who opened up his set with some sick (unknown to me) version of 'Harry Romero Feat. Robert Owens - I Go Back', and the croud went absolutly nuts. Morillo gave his version of funky filtered house and it surely took the roof off the club.
An hour later Audio Bullys came into the booth just to ruin things up with thier not so dance-able breaky style and an MC that kept running his mouth on the mic... that was the perfect time for us to leave as we had to catch an early morning flight.

Thursday - 25/9:
Early morning departure with massive tears falling down from our eyes...


THE END!

Pictures will be added soon enough, once i finish working on them and putting them on a stable server.

Thanks for reading so far and c u in Ibiza 2004... no doubt! :)
 
IBIZA 2003

Well as fusion's partner in crime for this magical trip (second time on ibiza) i can
truly say that i'm addicted to ibiza . :spank: :rolleyes:
:evil: this was the best vacation of my life :p ;)
see you next season - you know where :lol:


:twisted: :twisted:
 
reading this definitely brings back alot of
good memories from last year when i joined
these two madman in what became
one of my greatest experiences ever!!!
this year i'm afraid ihad to stay home
due to lack of funds
but like i painfully learned in the last year
when waiting for ibiza the year passes very quickly
so hopefully 2004 will pass ASAP
and this time my arrival to the magic island
wont be compremised by any silly reasons
 
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