Have Ibiza's Glory Days as a Dance Music Mecca Come to an End?

I think everywhere has peaks and troughs. Dont think malta croatia or anywhere else has the pull of ibiza. Would rather the clubs went back to 3/4 nights opening tho rather than 7 nights where 3 of the nights are empty. Years ago when manumission was monday space sunday cream thursday etc top quality line ups and packed dancefloors was better.
 
I think it's possible demise is probably a little bit premature not least down to the hordes who now come now that the secret of how fantastic it used to be is out.

Don't get me wrong I still love it and of course will be back but the sight of the knuckleheads and roided up clientele wears a little thin sometimes (I suspect I am just getting old to be honest).

End of the day though their money is as good as the rest.

That being said, we are having a cracking time here at the moment but Croatia has been mooted as a possible destination for our ever ageing group next year.
 
Nice article, I agree that what happens to space will have a big impact on the island. It will be interesting to see what knock on effect it has to the other clubs.

If the new venue goes VIP heavy will it alienate the current following? Do people favour Space because the ethos has always been anti VIP? Carl Cox is a big part of the space image/brand imo. And of course Pepe is a loveable character too (at least on the face of it).

Do you think Pepe and Carl Cox will take something over themselves? Would it be too risky?

So many questions... who needs a TV aye!
 
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SBrown91 said:
I honestly wish somewhere else would become the 'place to go' would free Ibiza of so many bellends
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I'm the same. Whenever I hear stuff like 'Vegas is the new Ibiza' I feel happy. It never seems to materialise though, they always come back!
 
PP said:
Nice article, I agree that what happens to space will have a big impact on the island. It will be interesting to see what knock on effect it has to the other clubs.

If the new venue goes VIP heavy will it alienate the current following? Do people favour space because the ethos has always been anti VIP?
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I think it would depend on just how VIP heavy it goes. I'm fine going to places like Ushuaia because even though "love VIPs", I can still be down in front in t-shirt and shorts having a great time with other like-minded people who don't care at all about VIP -- people who are just there for the music and the party. Much of the time I forget that the VIP section is even there.

What would alienate people would be if they went more the way of the Las Vegas clubs -- fancy interiors, some enforced dress code, VIPs down in front -- and perhaps pulled in some of the key DJs and nights from the other clubs too. Now that could really signal the end of things as they have been. At least for now, even with all the VIP areas, I can still go out, just be me, and have a truly epic fun time of it. For sure, that's what keeps me making trips across the Atlantic to Ibiza ahead of much easier trips to Miami or Vegas.
 
aah this old chestnut again... I guess it all comes down to what you want from the place. my musical expectations aren't very high for the week I am there because there's hardly any of the house/disco/obscure stuff I love getting played these days and not much aimed at the over 40s (aside from Pikes). Loadsa veterans I know from my London days have given up on Ibiza (mainly because of the greed, tighter controls and the kinds of twats Big Wox described) and festivals like Love International in Croatia caters for those guys precisely because it reminds them of what Ibiza was like or could be like (both in music and spirit), but then again there's still so much about IBZ which still appeals to my kind - the beaches, the food, the scenery, the social aspect, the proximity to BCN, and various smaller events/bars bubbling beneath the radar. The return of elite DJs like Harvey is only good news too and I think events like WooMoon suggest elements of the old days have survived. So I'll be heading over in a few weeks time with a very open mind..
 
based on a bunch of US people i know that just did Mykonos instead of Ibiza i'm down to check it out but as said many many times there will only be 1 Ibiza.
 
I think the U.S. (and the dance music media in the U.S.) really just have no idea what to make of dance music beyond EDM, and that contributes to some of this - it's only within the past few years that places outside of New York City, Detroit and maybe LA have had any sort of culture beyond what is super mainstream. They don't care to look at the breadth and depth of dance music in Ibiza, so they hear about the demise of EDM + changes at Space + Ibiza's record tourism numbers and think the bottom will drop out.

Seems to be that every place that's supposed to be "the next Ibiza" has one or two cool big events/festivals a year, and not much else going for it beyond that.
 
baseballman said:
I think the U.S. (and the dance music media in the U.S.) really just have no idea what to make of dance music beyond EDM, and that contributes to some of this - it's only within the past few years that places outside of New York City, Detroit and maybe LA have had any sort of culture beyond what is super mainstream. They don't care to look at the breadth and depth of dance music in Ibiza, so they hear about the demise of EDM + changes at Space + Ibiza's record tourism numbers and think the bottom will drop out.

Seems to be that every place that's supposed to be "the next Ibiza" has one or two cool big events/festivals a year, and not much else going for it beyond that.
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it all comes down to cities v suburbs - the cities ie Detroit, New York, Chicago invented disco, house and techno when the suburbs thought it was degenerate music for 'fags' and black people. Now the suburbs are playing catch up about 30, 40 years later... and of course, totally missing the point in the process.
 
the US used to produce such great music either made or played by likes of Derrick May, Larry Heard, Frankie Knuckles, DJ Pierre, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins, Octave One, Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, Lil Louis, Latour, Dubtribe Soundsystem, Metro Area, Nu Groove Records, Strictly Rhythm etc etc

the beautiful thing was the transatlantic meeting of minds. kraftwerk and depeche mode influencing the yanks, the yanks influencing British/German house/techno producers, the whole balearic melting pot in Ibiza. all of it accidentally coming together.

where is that actually happening now? seriously? I see hundreds of names on corporate lineups and struggle to give a shit. Wait, they're playing b2b! OH MAN. WHO GIVES A TOSS!

there are still interesting things going on in the US, esp in LA - Lovefingers/Stallions, Cooper Saver, Heidi Lawden put on really good parties but it's kinda sad that as a whole it is following Europe now when it used to lead
 
Between the afterhours ban, limited day parting, the club closing time crackdown, and Space ending/VIP takeover......the good stuff is slowly being taken away. Looking on the bright side, Ibiza is a lot more than the parties so it's still a great place to visit. But the clubbing side of it is slowly being destroyed imo.
 
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