neilly303
Active Member
Here's my review for my two trips to Ibiza in June and September...
I decided last year to never come to Ibiza in August again. It wasn't a hard decision to make as I was getting bored with the sheer craziness that comes with the peak of the season. The 40 minute queues for taxis and buses, the higher prices, Amnesia being too busy to the point where you can't even walk to the bar and the blistering heat that destroys you after a night of partying. The plan was to go for a week in June for the Opening parties and a long weekend in September. This proved to be a good move because now I know that it is true what people say - these months are definitely the the best time to go to Ibiza because everything is so much better!
June
Vital Statistics
Me and my girl came to San An for a week for We Love and Cocoon openings and went to a couple of other parties too (Circo Loco @ DC 10 and Ibiza Rocks). These days I cut down on the clubbing when I go whereas before I would be out hammering it every night and not getting out of bed until 4pm, having dinner, going to see the sunset and starting again...
If you are reading this and you haven't been to Ibiza before or are just starting out visiting the Island there's a good chance you'll be doing the same, but trust me - it aint the best way to do it! There's so much more to see and do besides raving until 6am every morning and in my opinion if you just go to Ibiza for the clubs you are cheating yourself because it's a beautiful island. Tons of amazing beaches, restaurants and places to check out off the beaten track etc etc
I've been 7 times in 5 years and still only seen a small area of Ibiza. Next time i'm going to check out Benniras, Portinatx, Aguas Blancas etc - all you need to do is not hit it too hard the night before and jump on a bus / boat the next day and see whats out there.
Take the boat from San An to Es Vedra or the bus to Salinas beach and you'll see what i'm on about...
Back to the clubs -
We Love... Opening - 13.06.10
Price: 40 Euros.
Transport: Illegal taxi there and back.
Discoteca Carl Craig, Martin Buttrich, David Phillips
Terraza Paul Woolford, Hot Chip (DJ set), James Zabiela, Audiofly, Layo and Bushwacka!, Matt Playford
Sunset Terrace Funkagenda, Alfredo & Ian C, Jason Bye
Premiere Etage Andy Carroll, Mr Doris, Jon Howell
El Salon Luca C & Ali Love, Guy Williams, Bones
Caja Roja David K, Leon, Ryan O'Gorman, Jem Haynes, Coley, Dave Chambers
This was my first visit to We Love... - basically because Carl Cox was a must go to night (still is) and back then I used to go to most of the big clubs in a week so I liked to mix it up a bit and not repeat myself. Now I usually just go to my favourites - Space, Amnesia and Privilege. The lineups for this night have been getting stronger and stronger in recent years and now they cater for everyones' tastes. It's been written about a lot about how Space has changed and that it's not the club it used to be, but I love it. The venue capacity has increased from what it was 10 years ago and you've got new rooms now to get lost in playing different types of music. I was at Cafe Ole on Saturday and they have DJs playing in the Sunset Terrace after midnight (quieter but better than nothing) - Iv'e never seen that in there before because they used to just shut the doors and move you through to the discoteca at midnight, so it's all good.
Never bothered going to see Funkagenda and just went in at 1am and headed straight for the Discoteca where Martin Buttrich was warming up for Carl Craig who both made their names via their productions - their DJ careers came later, and it was showing because they didn't play particularly great sets in my opinion - just mixing in and out and not reading / working the crowd which makes a big difference in a set.
Thought the sound in the Discoteca wasn't too good that night either - sounded a bit flat so mostly stayed in the Terraza all night with occasional trips up the stairs to the Red Box. The music in that room was excellent but it was really busy in there, so was pretty hard to get into.
Downstairs Paul Woolford was playing a great set and the room was rocking - we left at the end.
Circo Loco @ DC 10 - 14.06.10
Price: 35 Euros.
Transport: Legal taxi there and back.
Clive Henry, Dan Ghenacia, Davide Squillace, Dyed Soundorom, Jamie Jones, Matthias Tanzmann, Shaun Reeves, Sossa, Tania Vulcano, Tatto
Circo Loco @ DC 10 lost the plot around 2006 in my opinion. It went from a little afterhours place to a main event that was talked and written about everywhere and attracted lot's of people in fancy dress who tried too hard to look mental (a lot of them can now be found at Zoo Project) - as for DC 10 well you know the rest... Now in 2010 it's back again after a makeover with a flash new sound system, new residents and a 'new era' slogan. A few of the old residents (Loco Dice, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano) hit superstar DJ status and moved on to bigger and better parties but a couple of the old residents are still playing there (Tania Vulcano and Clive Henry.)
The first thing you think when you walk in is how shiny and new the club looks in the daylight! Even the toilets have been decorated and the club looks pretty good now though I know a lot of people preferred the dirty underground feel the place used to have... the good thing for me is that you can see when you first walk in - before it was total darkness for a while until you're eyes adjusted to the main room. They have a new sound system too which is pretty cool, and the music is excellent.
Definitely worth checking out if you haven't been...
Cocoon Opening @ Amnesia 14.06.10
Price: 40 Euros.
Transport: Illegal taxi there and back.
Main Room Sven Vath, Matthis Kaden
Terrace Ricardo Villaolobos, Cassy Britton
Cocoon is my favourite night in Ibiza - had some brilliant nights in there over the years and the crowd and music are always going off - combine that with a venue like Amnesia and you are onto a winner! The terrace is basically the main room after the refurb in '08 and is definitely the place to be when you are in Amnesia. Villalobos has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand when he plays and he could play just about anything and still get a good reaction. Next door Vath was housing it up but I think he's went off the boil a bit lately - he just plays the same 4/4 underground house music that everyone else is playing... he needs to start playing more quality techno!! Left after 3 hours.
The other night I went to was Ibiza Rocks at Ibiza Rocks hotel. No point writing about it as there's a good review already on here
So that was the clubbing done in 3 days and the rest of the week was spent partying on Playa D'en Bossa beach and chilling. June is a great time to go as Ibiza is coming alive again after the winter and the weather is good - can be chilly at night but never saw any rain even though it was forecast for most of the week - if you want to keep warm at night, wear long sleeves and drink more alcohol!
Verdict
June rocks!!
September
Vital Statistics
This time we got accomodation sorted in Playa D'en Bossa as my girl wanted to be near Bora Bora and Space and I hadn't stayed there before so why not? PDB is a totally different experience to San An and is a quality resort but i'm not sure which I prefer more - The good thing about PDB is that you save a fortune on taxis, there is a really cool international crowd and you are right next to Space and the partying starts a lot earlier on the beach there. Put it this way there's never a dull moment and there is a lot of freaks kicking about to laugh at. Bad thing is that the bars aren't great and pretty expensive to drink in.
San An is good for it's sunsets, bars and restaurants but the clubs and beaches aren't up to much and you have to travel to get to the better places.
I was only there for 3 days so was only going to go to We Love... to see Hell but that never happened as I went to Cafe Ole the night before and went on a bender so was too ill on the Sunday to go again
Cafe Ole @ Space 11.09.10
Price: Free before 2am with wristband.
Transport: Walked there and back.
Don't know who was playing...
Got free passes for this for before 2am and decided to go check it out as I heard a lot of good things about this party from people on the beach. It turned out to be the best freebie night iv'e had in Ibiza and would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of going. It's billed as a gay night but you can't tell. If they are giving out free tickets for this on the beach then it's for everyone in my opinion. If you have any reservations about going to this night forget about them and just go and party - it's a really fun night to go to.
It was busy and the music was excellent - gonna go to this night again!
The weather was brilliant - Scorchio the 3 days and hot at night too. It's a better crowd in September - all the beer boys and tourist clubbers you see in August have gone and the clued up party crowd remain - that's the best type of people to be surrounded by.
Verdict
As I was swimming in the sea at around 8pm outside Bora Bora the sun was going down on the other side of the Island, everyone was partying on the beach and the DJ put this on. The vibe was immense and I was gutted I was going home the next morning. Great memories...
Don't think I'll ever get bored of La Isla Blanca
I decided last year to never come to Ibiza in August again. It wasn't a hard decision to make as I was getting bored with the sheer craziness that comes with the peak of the season. The 40 minute queues for taxis and buses, the higher prices, Amnesia being too busy to the point where you can't even walk to the bar and the blistering heat that destroys you after a night of partying. The plan was to go for a week in June for the Opening parties and a long weekend in September. This proved to be a good move because now I know that it is true what people say - these months are definitely the the best time to go to Ibiza because everything is so much better!
June
Vital Statistics
Me and my girl came to San An for a week for We Love and Cocoon openings and went to a couple of other parties too (Circo Loco @ DC 10 and Ibiza Rocks). These days I cut down on the clubbing when I go whereas before I would be out hammering it every night and not getting out of bed until 4pm, having dinner, going to see the sunset and starting again...
If you are reading this and you haven't been to Ibiza before or are just starting out visiting the Island there's a good chance you'll be doing the same, but trust me - it aint the best way to do it! There's so much more to see and do besides raving until 6am every morning and in my opinion if you just go to Ibiza for the clubs you are cheating yourself because it's a beautiful island. Tons of amazing beaches, restaurants and places to check out off the beaten track etc etc
I've been 7 times in 5 years and still only seen a small area of Ibiza. Next time i'm going to check out Benniras, Portinatx, Aguas Blancas etc - all you need to do is not hit it too hard the night before and jump on a bus / boat the next day and see whats out there.
Take the boat from San An to Es Vedra or the bus to Salinas beach and you'll see what i'm on about...
Back to the clubs -
We Love... Opening - 13.06.10
Price: 40 Euros.
Transport: Illegal taxi there and back.
Discoteca Carl Craig, Martin Buttrich, David Phillips
Terraza Paul Woolford, Hot Chip (DJ set), James Zabiela, Audiofly, Layo and Bushwacka!, Matt Playford
Sunset Terrace Funkagenda, Alfredo & Ian C, Jason Bye
Premiere Etage Andy Carroll, Mr Doris, Jon Howell
El Salon Luca C & Ali Love, Guy Williams, Bones
Caja Roja David K, Leon, Ryan O'Gorman, Jem Haynes, Coley, Dave Chambers
This was my first visit to We Love... - basically because Carl Cox was a must go to night (still is) and back then I used to go to most of the big clubs in a week so I liked to mix it up a bit and not repeat myself. Now I usually just go to my favourites - Space, Amnesia and Privilege. The lineups for this night have been getting stronger and stronger in recent years and now they cater for everyones' tastes. It's been written about a lot about how Space has changed and that it's not the club it used to be, but I love it. The venue capacity has increased from what it was 10 years ago and you've got new rooms now to get lost in playing different types of music. I was at Cafe Ole on Saturday and they have DJs playing in the Sunset Terrace after midnight (quieter but better than nothing) - Iv'e never seen that in there before because they used to just shut the doors and move you through to the discoteca at midnight, so it's all good.
Never bothered going to see Funkagenda and just went in at 1am and headed straight for the Discoteca where Martin Buttrich was warming up for Carl Craig who both made their names via their productions - their DJ careers came later, and it was showing because they didn't play particularly great sets in my opinion - just mixing in and out and not reading / working the crowd which makes a big difference in a set.
Thought the sound in the Discoteca wasn't too good that night either - sounded a bit flat so mostly stayed in the Terraza all night with occasional trips up the stairs to the Red Box. The music in that room was excellent but it was really busy in there, so was pretty hard to get into.
Downstairs Paul Woolford was playing a great set and the room was rocking - we left at the end.
Circo Loco @ DC 10 - 14.06.10
Price: 35 Euros.
Transport: Legal taxi there and back.
Clive Henry, Dan Ghenacia, Davide Squillace, Dyed Soundorom, Jamie Jones, Matthias Tanzmann, Shaun Reeves, Sossa, Tania Vulcano, Tatto
Circo Loco @ DC 10 lost the plot around 2006 in my opinion. It went from a little afterhours place to a main event that was talked and written about everywhere and attracted lot's of people in fancy dress who tried too hard to look mental (a lot of them can now be found at Zoo Project) - as for DC 10 well you know the rest... Now in 2010 it's back again after a makeover with a flash new sound system, new residents and a 'new era' slogan. A few of the old residents (Loco Dice, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano) hit superstar DJ status and moved on to bigger and better parties but a couple of the old residents are still playing there (Tania Vulcano and Clive Henry.)
The first thing you think when you walk in is how shiny and new the club looks in the daylight! Even the toilets have been decorated and the club looks pretty good now though I know a lot of people preferred the dirty underground feel the place used to have... the good thing for me is that you can see when you first walk in - before it was total darkness for a while until you're eyes adjusted to the main room. They have a new sound system too which is pretty cool, and the music is excellent.
Definitely worth checking out if you haven't been...
Cocoon Opening @ Amnesia 14.06.10
Price: 40 Euros.
Transport: Illegal taxi there and back.
Main Room Sven Vath, Matthis Kaden
Terrace Ricardo Villaolobos, Cassy Britton
Cocoon is my favourite night in Ibiza - had some brilliant nights in there over the years and the crowd and music are always going off - combine that with a venue like Amnesia and you are onto a winner! The terrace is basically the main room after the refurb in '08 and is definitely the place to be when you are in Amnesia. Villalobos has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand when he plays and he could play just about anything and still get a good reaction. Next door Vath was housing it up but I think he's went off the boil a bit lately - he just plays the same 4/4 underground house music that everyone else is playing... he needs to start playing more quality techno!! Left after 3 hours.
The other night I went to was Ibiza Rocks at Ibiza Rocks hotel. No point writing about it as there's a good review already on here
So that was the clubbing done in 3 days and the rest of the week was spent partying on Playa D'en Bossa beach and chilling. June is a great time to go as Ibiza is coming alive again after the winter and the weather is good - can be chilly at night but never saw any rain even though it was forecast for most of the week - if you want to keep warm at night, wear long sleeves and drink more alcohol!
Verdict
June rocks!!
September
Vital Statistics
This time we got accomodation sorted in Playa D'en Bossa as my girl wanted to be near Bora Bora and Space and I hadn't stayed there before so why not? PDB is a totally different experience to San An and is a quality resort but i'm not sure which I prefer more - The good thing about PDB is that you save a fortune on taxis, there is a really cool international crowd and you are right next to Space and the partying starts a lot earlier on the beach there. Put it this way there's never a dull moment and there is a lot of freaks kicking about to laugh at. Bad thing is that the bars aren't great and pretty expensive to drink in.
San An is good for it's sunsets, bars and restaurants but the clubs and beaches aren't up to much and you have to travel to get to the better places.
I was only there for 3 days so was only going to go to We Love... to see Hell but that never happened as I went to Cafe Ole the night before and went on a bender so was too ill on the Sunday to go again
Cafe Ole @ Space 11.09.10
Price: Free before 2am with wristband.
Transport: Walked there and back.
Don't know who was playing...
Got free passes for this for before 2am and decided to go check it out as I heard a lot of good things about this party from people on the beach. It turned out to be the best freebie night iv'e had in Ibiza and would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of going. It's billed as a gay night but you can't tell. If they are giving out free tickets for this on the beach then it's for everyone in my opinion. If you have any reservations about going to this night forget about them and just go and party - it's a really fun night to go to.
It was busy and the music was excellent - gonna go to this night again!
The weather was brilliant - Scorchio the 3 days and hot at night too. It's a better crowd in September - all the beer boys and tourist clubbers you see in August have gone and the clued up party crowd remain - that's the best type of people to be surrounded by.
Verdict
As I was swimming in the sea at around 8pm outside Bora Bora the sun was going down on the other side of the Island, everyone was partying on the beach and the DJ put this on. The vibe was immense and I was gutted I was going home the next morning. Great memories...
Don't think I'll ever get bored of La Isla Blanca
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