crash boom bang - closing parties 2009 (review)

[stivi]

Closing parties 2009 review, September 26 – October 7
(I first thought I’d call it “halfway between the gutter and the stars…”, read on and you will understand)

For a final time this year, I had booked flights to our beloved little island. My two first visits this summer, in june and july, were both really short (six days each) and I was really longing for a stay that’s a bit longer so I can enjoy more of ibiza, just the way I am used to.

I had a great summer in Switzerland. I attended lovefamilypark in Frankfurt, I got to see the streetparade in zurich again (and the afterparties, of course! ) after missing it for the last two summers, I went to some really nice outdoor parties in Switzerland as well and enjoyed it a lot seeing my home country in summertime again after I only had been here during the past two winters and basically only had seen a lot of fog in the cities and snow in the mountains. Believe me, I love Switzerland and it is beautiful here in summer. BUT there was not a single day I didn’t miss ibiza. Not a single day that passed without thinking about my last two summers there, my friends, the vibe…so I guess I don’t have to tell you how much I was looking forward to hit the closing party period again

Now that the season is over and not too many news are coming through this lovely forum during this period, I thought you might not mind reading a long review, just the way you always get them once I get back from my hols…enjoy


Saturday, September 26
I had to get up very early after a quite hectic last day at work (isn’t it always like this?), took the first train to Geneva airport in the morning and boarded my first plane that took me to Madrid. While being at 11’000feet, I realised I had made no plans yet for the first few hours and that the rest of the group wouldn’t arrive until later in the day. So when I arrived at Madrid, I quickly sent some text messages and within a few minutes I knew I don’t have to worry. Boarded the next plane and finally arrived at ibiza at 1pm. also, I wasn’t the only one doing exactly these two flights and talking to the other people about ibiza, the parties, the restaurants etc. only made my anticipation rise and rise. The weather was OK when I arrived, a bit cloudy, but dry. Got my suitcase, walked out of the airport and there he was, spotlight’s most valuable source of ibiza knowledge and very good friend, Mc Rackin, picking me up! Hooray! Next thing I know, we were sitting at talamanca’s “everybody” (a.k.a. the fish shack), having lunch (a deliciously grilled dorada for me and McR decided on tuna) and a bottle of cold and really good albariño white wine. a bit later, more friends (island people) arrived and joined for drinks together. Is there a better way to start your ibiza holiday??? in this beautiful manner, my first afternoon back on the island passed away…the temperature was perfect, lots of laughter and stories, good food and drinks and having my friends around. It could not have been better really.
I also made plans to meet up with McR (and more people) again in the next days, but as all of you know, plans often go tits up in Ibiza. But really McR, I’m sorry we didn’t meet again! It will have to be next year then…or maybe some time in winter? Well anyway tio, I’m sure nos vemos!!!

Early in the evening, more people arrived on the island and our small (not always small!) group for the next few days was complete. We checked into our apartment in playa d’en bossa, went to buy some food and drinks and got ourselves installed. Basically, the plan had been to drive over to benimussa to hit gala night’s season closing party, but the later it got, the more we realised, all of us were running on low batteries due to long travels, little sleep etc. so in the end, we decided to have a quiet start and save our remaining energy for the next day. Which meant we gave gala night a miss (I heard it was fun, but not too busy apparently) and went for dinner instead. we chose my favourite Italian restaurant on the island, tentazione up in dalt vila in ibiza town. If you did read my previous reviews from this summer you will remember that name, it’s my friends place and I really love it. Of course I do also support them, because they’re friends. But all I can say is they really got things running this summer, they improved a lot of things during just one season and by now, they really know the score. Three of us had different pasta (all very yummy) and one of us had a beef steak which was perfect as well. Everything was washed down with some lovely red wine and we finished dinner tasting their delicious homemade ice cream. Bliss. It was already quite late when we left the restaurant, so we drove back home and went straight to bed, charging batteries.


Sunday, September 27
Space closing day! We got up at around 10am and a first glance through the window told us this years’ space closing party might be somewhat different from how we’re used to it. The sky was really cloudy, but it was not raining yet at that point. We had a rich breakfast in our apartment, then slowly got ready and in party mode. Just before we left home, it startet raining. We waited until the first dash was over and then headed over to space, where we got in at around 3:30pm.

To begin with, here’s the space closing party running order for the different dancefloors:
Flight area – car park
13:00 – 13:30 dan tait
13:30 – 15:00 sneaky sound system
15:00 – 16:30 pendulum (speed dj set & mc verse)
16:30 – 18:00 elio riso
18:00 – 19:30 wally lopez
19:30 – 21:00 guy gerber (live)
21:00 – 22:00 tiefschwarz
22:00 – 00:00 steve lawler

Sunset terrace
12:00 – 13:30 andy baxter
13:30 – 15:00 arian
15:00 – 16:30 oscar cano
16:30 – 17:30 jason bye
17:30 – 18:30 jonathan Ulysses
18:30 – 20:00 alfredo
20:00 – 20:30 rebeka brown (live)
20:30 – 22:00 tom novy
22:00 – 00:00 rob da bank
00:00 – close ramon castells (background)

Terrace
18:00 – 20:00 ian Blevins
20:00 – 22:00 nick curly
22:00 – 00:00 smokin’ jo
00:00 – 01:30 hot chip
01:30 – 03:00 2many dj’s
03:00 – 05:00 miss kittin
05:00 – close paul woolford

Discoteca
18:00 – 19:30 remo
19:30 – 21:00 chris liebing
21:00 – 22:30 david phillips
22:30 – 00:00 paul mogg
00:00 – 01:30 martin buttrich
01:30 – 04:30 jeff mills
04:30 – close james zabiela

(some of the slots might have changed a bit due to the weather and the fact they temporarily had to close the car park for a while in the afternoon and open the discoteca earlier, but this was the official running order hanging out)

For the first few hours, we changed a lot between the floors. We stayed on the sunset terrace for a bit when it was raining (while Jason bye was quite rocking it!), had chupitos inside the discoteca and went out on the flight area as soon as it had stopped raining again. If memory serves me right, there was a long dry period between about 6pm and 9pm and during that time, we enjoyed the carpark a lot. Generally, I thought the music was good, but nothing too spectacular. It was just nice to dance on the flight area and have a good time…until…well, until a private drama happened quite early that very night. I won’t go into details, but it was serious enough and I had never been crying on a dancefloor before (apart of tears of joy, that is). Obviously, it completely changed my space closing party experience of this year, but I’ll try not to say it completely wasted it. I had all my friends around me, giving me a lot of love just when I really needed it. And when it started to rain again, in a way, it really matched my emotional state of mind. All our group stayed on the car park, none of us did mind the rain anymore. It did not in the least for me anyway, it had rained enough before in many ways. And so we danced until our shoes were soaked, we built tents with the rain ponchos they had given out for free at the entrance and often, I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry. I’d like to apologise for everyone I met that night who thought “what’s wrong with stivi today?” and on the other hand, thank everyone who spent some solace. Merci mes amis, you know who you are
Musically, to be honest, it was all in a bit of a blur for me, but I do think I liked steve lawler’s set quite a lot. And also the atmosphere was really special with the rain and no one caring a flying f**k about it. I remember pepe rosello getting on the stage, really seeming impressed with the crowd, thanking everyone for coming and saying how incredible we all were staying on the car park with the pouring rain. Yes it was something special really. The most special space closing party for most of us and obviously for me as well, but not in a very positive way.

After the flight area had closed at midnight, we were debating whether we should stay or leave. We crossed through the discoteca and onto the terrace, but we quickly noticed everyone of us wanted to end the night in that special way, with clothes and shoes soaked, with special memories of a party as having a party in a shower and so we soon left. Looking back, I obviously would have loved to catch some of the dj’s playing later in the night (jeff mills and miss kittin for example), but as you might understand, I wasn’t in a party mood anymore. Also, as usual for space opening and closing parties, the remaining rooms after midnight got ridiculously busy and then you need some stamina until about 3am, when things get a bit better again and none of us had it at that point. so we went back home. But that night, I didn’t get a single second of sleep…

Space, early in the evening, before all the craze started…

 

[stivi]

Monday, September 28
Monday started with me speaking to a friend on our sofa early in the morning, feeling as rough as hell and emotionally drowned . The weather was bad (although this was the last day of my holiday with bad weather, only that I didn’t know this at that point!!!) and I tried just to have a quiet day. But in the afternoon, drama continued and the emotional rollercoaster ride was not a nice one . Some time in the evening, things got better and I decided that, for nothing in the world, I will not go and enjoy cocoon closing party which was on the menue for that night.

So I had a hot shower, then we all went to grab some junk food (sometimes even burger king tastes deliciously) and eventually managed to get a cab to amnesia, where we arrived at around 2am. It was still raining at that point and the queues outside were huge. Luckily, we got in quite quickly and found our usual spot below the dj booth on the terrace. both the main floor and the terrace were already REALLY busy (as expected) and same went for the vip. We stayed on the terrace for most of the night and enjoyed luciano and Ricardo villalobos who delivered solid stuff all night. As expected, it got incredibly busy and between around 3am and 5am, moving around was really difficult – but hey, it’s cocoon closing, it’s always been like that and I do think I stays like this for the next few years. Also, I must say I have never seen the vip as busy before. It was packed just everywhere. We also got some of sven’s set in the main room when we once were in the main room vip for a bit, I liked his set a lot. But generally, we danced the night away on the terrace and we already were curious to see how things would progress. During the night, I had heard rumours about when amnesia would close in the morning. 7am sharp? Probably not. 8am like last year? Maybe! 10am? Now that would be sweet! In the end, we just stayed and enjoyed another piece of musical lesson by Luciano and Ricardo and we were not surprised when the music did not stop, neither at 7am nor at 8am…they kept on playing, they hung out Chilean flags in the dj booth on the terrace and in the morning hours, say from about 7am onwards, everyone was going down properly and as people slowly started to leave, there was some room to dance again and this, in combination with the daylight shining through the terrace roof, created exactly the atmosphere I love amnesia terrace for! When finally, at almost exactly 10am, luciano dropped his signature tune of the season, reboot’s “caminando/pra dizer”, in combination with M83’s “in church” (what a moment!!! 8)8)8) ) and gave the crowd his heart sign with his hands, everyone thought, ok this was it, what a perfect finish! …but we all were wrong! because instantly appearing out of nowhere in the dj booth was no other than mr cocoon himself, sven väth! He took over the terrace decks and played another hour! So when at 11am, sven stopped playing, again everyone thought, ok this is it now. Wrong again! Ricardo and luciano returned again and the music had a real afterhour feeling to it by then, already sven played stuff that was on the weirder side of things, but it was all funny…many people dressed up, funny faces everywhere, an incredible vibe! And when at 11:45am luciano and Ricardo finally dropped the last tune – black’s “wonderful life” (80ies anyone?!), everyone was singing along, everyone was hugging everyone, then finally everyone knew, ok NOW this is it!


Tuesday, September 29
We didn’t get any wristbands for the cocoon closing afterparty at Atzaro and so we didn’t even try to get there. Friends went and hearing their reports and also knowing how lovely the location is, I now do feel a bit of regret I didn’t go, but to be honest, after all I had gone through since Sunday morning (and not a single second of sleep since then), when we got out of amnesia on Tuesday 12 ‘o clock noon sharp, I didn’t feel any urge to make my way up to the san lorenzo area. Instead, we drove back to ours and had a shower. I noticed the weather had changed in a great way, the sun was back and it was really warm again (and like this the weather would stay for the rest of my holiday!) so we walked over to sands, had a nice lunch there.I can’t stress enough about how good the fish dishes are there! I had a lovely tuna steak which was just perfect! After that, I finally passed out when my body hit the bed…I guess it was around 4pm.

I woke up at 9pm and chilled for a bit. Around midnight, we got hungry again so we called for some pizzas via pizza delivery. Ate half of a mediocre pizza and went to sleep again afterwards!


Wednesday, September 30
I woke up at around 10am and felt much better after a good nights’ sleep! The weather was perfect so we decided to go somewhere beachside. There was a plan evolving to have paella at the ever-striking el Carmen in cala d’hort, but suddenly and very spontaneously, these plans were changed, because we got a call with an even MUCH better option! We headed to blue marlin and there, we boarded a gorgeous two mast sailboat. It was a huge sailboat of a friend’s friend and we were a nice big group on the boat. Soon we lifted anchor and sailed towards formentera. we set anchor at s’espalmador, the small island just in before formentera, had a lovely walk on the beach there in the late afternoon, went back onboard and had some lovely pasta there (well, Italians do know how to prepare food the right way!). when evening came, we sailed back towards ibiza, but not in direction of blue marlin. Instead, we sailed in direction of playa d’en bossa and at around 9pm and after an absolutely lovely day on board, we arrived just in front of Ushuaia in playa d’en bossa. Have you ever arrived at a party by boat (apart of the el divino taxi?)??? it was the closing party of luciano’s own night at Ushuaia and when we arrived, the place was already really busy. I think it was seth troxler who was playing when we arrived. Then, from around 10pm onwards and until about 0:30am, it was luciano who played. As I said, the place was rammed, there were many known faces (including many dj’s like sven väth who was throwing funny faces and I got to chat to monika kruse again whom I hadn’t seen for a year, but she’s always so lovely!). I personally thought it was a bit flat night and atmosphere though. To me, it felt like everyone was still a bit worn out after the space and cocoon closing marathon. Luciano’s set was ok that night, but nothing groundbreaking to be honest. We then walked towards home, had a pit-stop with some food at granja dunes, where I almost already fell asleep while eating, and then went home and straight to bed!


Thursday, October 1
Welcome October in Ibiza! We had a slow start today and decided to hit the beach in the afternoon as the weather was just perfect. So we drove to Salinas and spent a brilliant afternoon with all the group at sa trinxa. I should mention their wok dishes are really tasty and not overly priced. Also their sangria de cava is great! We stayed at sa trinxa until almost 8pm, then went back home for a shower and later had dinner at cafeteria parador, an argentinian place in casas baratas, a quarter behind figueretas, between ibz town and san jordi. I had dinner there before, they do great parrilladas (bbq’s) and it’s cheap as chips! So we obviously had a lot of meat and enjoyed some nice red wine with it 8)

Off to privilege for monza closing after that. it was a hassle to get in, the security was really poorly organised and it took us almost an hour to get in (I can’t remember I’ve ever waited so long to get into a club in ibiza). We eventually got in at around 2am. The main room was nicely busy and got perfectly busy later. To be honest, it was really perfect in terms of how busy it was…BUT…that night, we just didn’t get into it. None of us did. Luciano was on the decks from about 2:15am onwards and Ricardo villalobos joined him soon after, but it just didn’t click that night. We stayed till about 4am and then left. The music had gotten a tad better just before we left, but the vibe wasn’t really there IMO. Talking to other people during the next days, we got the impression many thought as we did. Which is a pity because I really used to love monza closing, it actually had been a highlight for me in both 2007 and 2008.


Friday, October 2
We got up at noontime after a really good night’s sleep (which I still needed after the past few days and nights). We were lazy at first and only got our engines running when we got a call from friends saying the monza closing afterparty was held at sands, which was just a short walk away. Off to sands then, where we spent our afternoon in the sun, dancing a little bit and chatting a lot and having a laugh. It was not a very intense afterparty, but many people were really done from the night before so it was really funny to just sit around and watch the afterparty apparently had begun at around 11am, but we only got there at 3pm, which was no harm.

Later we went back to the apartment for a quick nap, or so we thought at least. It turned into a monster nap and we only woke up on Saturday morning…


Saturday, October 3
We got up at 10am and finally felt our batteries were charged again and that we’d be ready for some serious partying action soon. We had breakfast and enjoyed the sunny morning on our balcony. Then we went shopping and after that, we drove to sa trinxa at Salinas again. Beautiful and relaxed as always!

Back to ours in the evening and then (after being in ibiza for a week already), we finally met up with Grego! With him, we had dinner at pdb’s shardana, a new place in playa d’en bossa which I really can recommend (I was really lucky with what I had ordered). After dinner, we went to bed quite early because we knew Sunday would be a long day…!

 

[stivi]

Sunday, October 4
The day had come. The party I was looking forward most to all year was about to begin for us. When my alarm clock woke us up at 5am sharp, I was tired at first, but my anticipation and all the memories I had from the last two amnesia closing parties I had attended got me so excited, I was fully awake within a few minutes. Still, we took it easy. After a hot shower, we drove into town where we met up with the whole gang at 6:30am to have breakfast at croissant show. I could read the smiles of my friends and I knew they were just as excited as I was. We then drove to amnesia and dived into another world…8)

When we arrived, the matinée dj’s had just packed up in the terrace (but continued in the main floor, but I only ever saw this when I once went up into the VIP for a minute, otherwise we stayed on the terrace all the time) and mar-t was playing. His set was quite uptempo, very energetic and techhousey, you could easily tell he was making the connection from the quite upbeat and uplifting matinée sound which was banged out all night to the techy’er and slower sounds that would follow later. The terrace was VERY busy at that point and we found our place right in the middle of the terrace, where we met everybody again, from grego to fusion, to belle (say hi!) to 36569854 known island faces (repeater holidaymakers, season workers, real ibicencos…) and believe me, already at around 8am, the terrace had an unique feel to it 8). and it got better from minute to minute. Luciano then started playing at 9:30am and played his (usual) quality stuff, everyone loved it and the energy on the dancefloor got to another level. I remember one massive moment at around 11:15am, when luciano dropped M83’s “in church”, that was an amazing break which almost felt electric . Marco carola and Richie hawtin then took over, at about 11:30am. And my god, what a set they delivered. I’m sure many of you have already read about them playing Yello’s “oh Yeah” or even seen the video, but let me begin from the start. While luciano’s set was very accessible to probably everyone music wise, marco and Richie just went two levels higher with the energy level of the music. It was a perfect proper techno set and amnesia terrace was absolutely buzzing between 12 noon and 3pm! the music was awesome, the vibe was unbeatable and everyone, I mean everyone, there felt it. It was very international and really funny, some people were dressed up. Loads of beautiful women and smiles and laughter everywhere. Everyone was going down properly and I remember a few great moments: first, my drink glass fell out of my hand, crashed on the floor and partly hit an Italian guy’s leg. He got a cut off it, it was bleeding quite a bit and he first seemed quite pissed off. I instantly apologised and asked if he was alright. He went like “yeah dude, don’t worry, I’ll be fine” and walked off. I really felt bad for a while and asked myself if he was alright. Then suddenly he came back, his leg was alright, he gave me a hug and the world was perfectly fine. I saw him later again that day at Ushuaia (read on for that) and we shared some drinks there. Another moment I’ll never forget is when Richie dropped a real energetic techy track and everyone was dancing their socks off and grego’s and my eyes met and we both basically said at the same time “this is as good as it gets. This is as good as clubbing gets!”
I could rave on forever about amnesia closing and I admit I am biased because amnesia closing already had been the highlight of my past two seasons in ibiza (2007 and 2008), but really: you cannot fully understand how good it is until you’ve experienced it yourself. And do the wise thing and safe your energy for the morning hours when the terrace is day-lit! it’s only then when all the good things about clubbing come together. There was no male underwear fashion show this time (ha ha ha ), but I do remember a big group of people behaving like babies for a while with their eating bibs on and stuff…just hilarious and great!
Back to the music – and this is where the so well known “chica-chica..baouw baouw” from yello’s classic “oh yeah” dropped in. what a moment!!!! Richie dropped it at exactly the right moment, just when the terrace had lost a tiny bit of energy after everyone was dancing for i-don’t-know-how-many-hours-already. Tune! So, marco and Richie continued full on and later, some time after 3pm, they killed it (in a good way) with Claude Von stroke’s “who’s afraid of Detroit?” another defining moment of this years’ amnesia closing party. I think it wasn’t the very last tune, but the last one that really stuck in my mind. The music stopped at 3:30pm and emotionally overwhelmed, we all left amnesia. Needless to say it was THE party of the year again for me (and for so many others). Needless to say I am convinced amnesia will win the “world’s best club” award at WMC next year again. And needless to say I will be back on the terrace, just when dawn breaks, on the closing day next year…see you there!

Amnesia terrace early in the morning

We went back to ours, had a shower and a snack and then made our way to Ushuaia to continue our closing party marathon. We arrived there at around 6:30pm and got straight in. now I have been at Ushuaia a few times this summer, but this was something else! For their closing party, they moved the dj booth outside the lounge and put it directly on the beach. They opened up all the part with the wooden floor (which normally serves as restaurant), so already this zone was real big dancefloor. But the perfect thing about it was, they used the whole beach as a dancefloor! They had a big and really powerful sound system set up, so even when you stood at the seashore, the music was still loud enough to dance to! The whole set up was just perfect! 8) The place was really busy already when we arrived and got a lot busier later in the evening. I think it was seth troxler playing again when we arrived, and Luciano arrived a bit later, I think he started playing some time between 7 and 8pm. also, both Richie hawtin and marco carola joined him in the dj booth and played. Musically, I didn’t think it was something special, but I have to admit, almost NOTHING could have keeped up with the music we had experienced at amnesia closing earlier in the day/afternoon. The great thing about Ushuaia closing was the real (and I mean real) beach party feeling to it. We were dancing barefoot in the sand, having a drink (punto g even had put up an ice cream stand in the middle of the dance floor…err, beach, what a nice and cool surprise to have an ice cream when you’re partying!), enjoying the sunny weather again and meeting so many people again we had met before, either at amnesia or at other parties during the previous week. Ushuaia closing to me, in a way, was a perfect way to end the season. Everything was just great! Back to the music and the point I said it wasn’t anything special. To me, it really wasn’t, it was a bit chilled in a way (but still really really really nice), but there was one highlight, and there you already might now where I’m going – one of the last tunes played out that night (at around 0:30am) was “the age of love” and it also was one of the few moments where the place was rocking! Brilliant! 8) After that, they soon stopped the music and for those who wanted, the party went on – either at delano’s, where the partysan crew had set up a nice fiesta or then, in the disco of the hotel don toni, which was kind of the official afterparty of Ushuaia closing. We didn’t want to ruin our beach party feeling and also felt we fulfilled our duty after dancing for about 15hrs so we left.

Ushuaia dj booth with marco, Richie and luciano

There’s one more thing I’d like to say about Ushuaia. I heard many people moaning about their drink prices. Yes, true, at nighttime, they charge you the same amount for a vodka lemon as at amnesia – but did you ever think about the fact basically no one pays to get into Ushuaia? I really think it’s fair to offer expensive drinks if you do get in for free. Ushuaia crew, hands down, you really were the big surprise of the season and it was especially you who prove ibiza is not dead, it’s always evolving and there’s always a way to have a party! 8)

I think I fell into bed at around 3am that night. And enriched with so many great memories I’ll be able to survive another year in this sometimes real cold and cruel world.

 

[stivi]

Monday, October 5
We were up early, but lacking energy. So we went for a full English breakfast (I think I hadn’t had a FEB since july 2005!) and that did the trick. Off to cala conta in the afternoon with a bunch of friends. It was a super-beautiful day again in Ibiza, sunny and warm. Cala conta was not busy and perfectly nice. The sea was as calm as a lake, there were no waves at all and the water was crystal clear! Bliss. 8) We stayed there until sunset and went back home then.

Cala conta at sunset…beautiful

After a shower, we had some delicious homemade pizzas at a friend’s home – lovely!

Then we went to El Ayoun for their closing party. Now, I do like el ayoun as a bar to have a drink and chat, but I’ve never been a big fan of dancing my sox off there. This years closing was somewhat of a themed party, everyone had to come dressed up as a gangster. We did what we could and got in easily, just to see not many had done the effort to dress up. The music was ok, but nothing groundbreaking really. Still, we had some drinks there, met people again and managed to stay till about 4:30am. Off to bed then!


Tuesday, October 6
A very slow start into our last full Ibiza day (should add – with private drama again :x). Sunshine again and the plan had been to hit DC10 really early. But we first needed another nap, then a late lunch at Varadero (one of the lesser known beachside restaurants in playa d’en bossa, their food was actually quite nice and cheap!) and so we only got to dc10 at around 6pm. but as I’ve heard, that was still early enough. The place had opened at 12noon, but apparently only had gotten busy mid-afternoon. All 3 floors were open, the outside garden (with their own soundsystem and dj’s obviously), the terrace and of course also the main room was open. During all the time we were at dc10, it was perfectly busy, it never got as packed as it used to be in past years. Walking from floor to floor was a piece of cake compared to last year. Many of my friends thought it would be a nightmare but I actually never expected dc10 to be jam-packed this time. I could spot absolutely no changes inside, everything was still exactly the same and it was good like that. we caught some of villalobos in the garden (a bit flat IMO), some of timo maas on the terrace (he was really good), and was surprised to hear system of survival droppin’ really funky house at some point in the main room! Matthias tanzmann, who performed on the terrace, played the best set of the party IMO. It was a really fun night out, although I had the feeling that generally most people were already really worn off after the mayhem on the weekend. I personally tought that dc10 this time never really kicked off. It was a lot of fun as I already said, good music and all that stuff, but it just wasn’t the same craziness you normally experience in this place. We called it a night some time after midnight (1am maybe?) and drove home. We didn’t want to continue until too late because…


Wednesday, October 7
We had to get up really early. Packed our bags, caught a cab to the airport, had breakfast there and left Ibiza in sunshine again mid-morning…adios mi amor, see you next year…




Stivi’s closing party round up
The parties. it was a great period again, for those coming to ibiza to party, I really recommend you to come for the very last parties. don’t miss cocoon, space, amnesia (!!!) and Ushuaia closing and dc10, if there is! The vibe is unique and there are nice people everywhere 8). And there was something special this year: remember during the last few years, there was police everywhere during the closing party period? Even shutting down private afterhours etc? this year, basically I had the feeling like “anything goes”. There were almost no guardia civil in front of space for the closing. Afterhours at sands after monza? Not a problem. Ushuaia closing with a thundering sound system? Well yes, I’ve heard Ushuaia got fined (not a surprise), but otherwise: no problem at all! Dc10: the usual guardia civil car just at the corner of the house and otherwise – nothing again!!!! I even had talked to phrank (www.phrank.net, one of my favourite photographers), he was at almost every party I went to and he agreed on the fact, the police were really letting loose for the closing parties this year. Reason why? No idea. But I was happy they turned a blind eye on us clubbers. Maybe it has really something to do with the crisis this year…?

The island. Was getting quieter again, you’ll find a table at any restaurant straight away, no hassle to find some quiet space at any beach. The weather was really **** in the beginning and middle of September but we were lucky buggers, just when we arrived, petrus changed his mind and only got us soaked at space closing party. Sun sun sun otherwise! 8)

The music. I had written this earlier this year (july review) and I’ll say it again: it was a poor year for big tunes. Please don’t get me wrong: the music generally was really good, it was all on the housier side again, deep and tech and the trademark luciano latin house stuff. Caminando was the track of the season for me (because la mezcla was 2008 anyway!) and I knew it would be luciano’s signature track of the season when he played it in montreux (Switzerland) at the end of may. But the thing I am referring to is, that in 2-3 years, when you ask “what tracks were really hot in 2009”, you won’t be able to name as many as in the past few years…fact. Not being negative though!

If there’s anything negative about the closing parties this year, then I maybe should point out it was a bit of a luciano overdose this time. I absolutely do love his music, remember I always was raving about his sets already in 2007 and even more in 2008. his music is as good as ever, but with him playing 5 times in one week (cocoon-ushuaia-monza-amnesia-ushuaia), it was really a lot.

Shout outs. McR – see you el año que viene amigo, grego – nice to see you, hope you’ll have a really nice and quiet winter, all the group (you know who you are) – great to party and chill with you, see you next year (and stop joking about “aah this is my last ibiza holiday” )

See you all some time next summer and enjoy wintertime…

 

[McRackin]

Ushuaia dj booth with marco, Richie and luciano

and the editorial director of a mag we all love



sorry to hear about all the dramas..... un abrazo tio ! !



tentazione:

flickr

 

[fusion]

Great review stivi - as per always!
Was nice meeting you in the parties we've met... I basiclly attended all the parties you've been to and then some!

Most definately see you next summer and meanwhile have a good winter my friend

 

[utagaura]

As always... fantastic reviews!! i really have to make the last last closing one of these years!

A shame I didn't get to catch up with you this year..... (next year! 8))

 

[Marsellus Wallace]

Oh, Stivi! What a joy to read your review!
You brought my whole memories of this years holiday up again!
Despite the fact, that i've been to the island the end of August!

One word to Tentazione:
A perfect place to have a wonderful dinner! The food is a great and, whats more important,
Francesco and his whole crew are so lovely and friendly people!
They made the dinner so special! We went twice the end of August and everyone (group of 7)
had a perfect time! Loved the way Francesco explained the menu to everyone!

 

[Eranski]

Awesome review as always!

Thank you stivi

 

[Dicey]

Thanks Stivi... that sure brings back memories for me too... Absolutely LOVED reading it.
Enjoy the island next year!

xxx

 

[Moha]

Great read as usual. Some nice restaurants to check on our next visit.

Sorry to hear about the drama part. It didn't show neither at cocoon or ushaia.

Hawtin and Barem tonight at Mad/Lausanne. You're welcome of course.

 

[stivi]

Sorry to hear about the drama part. It didn't show neither at cocoon or ushaia.

Hawtin and Barem tonight at Mad/Lausanne. You're welcome of course.

well i tried to hide it whenever i could, but it didn't always work.
ooh that sounds good, but i'm having a quiet-ish period right now. see you soon anyway though!

 

[grego]

and the editorial director of a mag we all love

aka richie hawtin's shadow....

 

[grego]

nice to, eventually, see you too stivi.

see you next summer if not before......kick mackie's culo into gear to organise a winter meet.

 

[HDR]

Great review, thanks ! Has inspired me to go to Amnesia closing again...

Sorry to hear about the emotional stresses - life sometimes gets in the way, even in Ibiza

 

[belle]

Hi!

Funny. I vaguely remember a big group of people acting like babies as well at Amnesia 8)

 

[McRackin]

One word to Tentazione:
A perfect place to have a wonderful dinner! The food is a great and, whats more important,
Francesco and his whole crew are so lovely and friendly people!
They made the dinner so special! We went twice the end of August and everyone (group of 7)
had a perfect time! Loved the way Francesco explained the menu to everyone!

8)8)8)



our favourite restaurant in dalt vila reopens on may 7th (same day the medieval fair starts) so, for those going to the fair that haven't been yet, make sure you pop in at least for one of their delicious cocktails..... you will want to go back for sure

flickr

 

[thelak]

Awesome stuff.

That day in Amnesia as you say was for me as good as it gets. Was totally sober, been dancing for hours but that midday to 3pm sesh on the terrace was all about letting loose and smiling!

We were 15 of us and ridiculously only 3 of us stayed beyond 8am. Best decision ever!

Planning this yrs closings at the mo. Might do the waking up at 5am approach.

 

[stivi]

aah great, my only ibiza trip in 2010 is just a bit more than a week away. oh god how i missed the island all summer. really really really looking forward to meet up with all the friends again and to hit the closings together. see you soon guys! 8)

(for those who won't be there round my dates - review will follow)

 

[Moha]

aah great, my only ibiza trip in 2010 is just a bit more than a week away. oh god how i missed the island all summer. really really really looking forward to meet up with all the friends again and to hit the closings together. see you soon guys! 8)

(for those who won't be there round my dates - review will follow)

Do you still have your spanish phone number?
Will be there 26 september.