Is it really this bad?

R

Robder

Active Member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/28472079

I used to live for this island and visited every year, sometimes twice, from the mid 90s up until 2007.

Nothing in the world was comparable to Bora Bora with no music curfew or rocking up at Space/DC10 to dance outdoors in the early morning sunshine.

It's been a tired old cliche that Ibiza has been on the wane for years - I always felt this was the case, but the original spirit still existed in small pockets...but now it seems to have disappeared up Paris Hilton's a-list hole. Would I be horrified and is this really the case?

Some of the lineups are ok - but it's feeling like all the sussed dancers have buggered off to Croatia, leaving the Jersey Shore turnout to fart diamonds at each other. I really want to go back because I was so deeply affected by the island during my time spent there, but am wondering if I should treat it differently now and just rock up on Sa Trinxa to reminisce, seek out retreats, drink sangria and dine in fancy restaurants.

It seems there's partying to be done elsewhere which feels so bizarre given that Ibiza was always so ridiculously HOUSE. Soul Heaven looks alright I guess but still, I can't imagine Chicago dons like Ron Trent ever wanting to play there. On the flip side, Circoloco was all about brazen nastyness and punk spirit but now it seems to be all £££ and resident advisor promoted naffness. Ushuaia looks blimmin' awful too - can't see much of the spirit of Ku shining down on that pool.

I guess I'm not saying anything useful here - but Suncebeat is deliciously tempting and seems to be where the music heads and discerning dancers seem to be headed. I'd love to be proved otherwise.

I swear I'm not getting old. :lol:

Anyone?
 
Ibiza isn't as good as it used to be, but there still isn't anywhere else that compares.

Croatia is good, but not as liberal and messy as Ibza.
 
Robder's obv right on every point but there's sadly nothing the real HOUSE community can do about the ongoing apocalypse. Only a total economic and political collapse in Ibiza would facilitate the conditions in which smaller, low budget, one-off €5 or even free parties could thrive. As it stands, those who love the island but hate the greed just have to feed off the scraps, the odd bar here or boat party there. Thank god for likes of nightmares on wax, andy wilson et al still flying the flag for the true believers (not beliebers)
 
Whatever you do stay as far away from Bossa as you possibly can - it's basically everything you say and unless your tastes include techno (which in a way - thankfully - mine always have, being more 'downstairs' than 'p-bar'). Unless you want a blast on a JetLev at 100 Euros a ride, there's absolutely no reason to endure a minute in or near that hell-hole.

Well - I still have a soft spot for Space and can pass a decent night in Sankeys basement (but it's nothing to write home about and expensive now too)... but come daylight I'll flee for Salinas or brave the road out to Cala Llonga/s'Estanyol as fast as I possibly can. Real house is not the "ibiza vibe" anymore at all. Away from the monstrous aberrations that are EDM/Pop nights, the whole place is very tech-dominated, which I don't think suits you musically. That style has pretty much taken over the "other party" scene. So you can find enough for some decent nights out away from the big clubs if you look hard and travel around. But no way is is everywhere like the old days.

Dalt Vila still good for a gander and it's as beautiful a setting as it always has been at night. Formentera well worth checking out (after August) if you didn't go before. Can happily do loads of different stuff over a week and have some good nights out.

Up by San Carles, Babylon Beach, Cala San Vicente etc. is way nicer than down South (imho) and Nightmares on Wax now at Las Dalias where you'd still find plenty of the old spirit. but Sta Eularia barely has one "working" music bar and on the other side Benirras is ruined by trinket sellers and camcorders ... Sight of a sign saying 70Euros for a sea bass finished me off up there and never been the same since. But paella lunch probs 50Euros just about anywhere there's a decent beach. Cala Conta at Sunset very touristy so you need to walk away from Sunset Ashram along the cliffs with a couple of bevvies and it's wonderful there still. Just go to Atlantis/Punta Galera etc etc for a proper decent time in Ibiza. They still blow me away even now.

Ibiza is now a 5-day max trip for me with lots of variety, an open mind and a determination not to be a moaning old git getting uppity about all those cameraphones stealing the soul of the old island, and how much overpriced rubbish is everywhere. Just have to think much more about where you go and pick some winners like Fish Shack in Talamanca for food etc.

Also time your trip right around when there are a couple of decent nights on and you can have a decent party/meet nice people. But hoping to re-live the 24-hour "ibiza vibe" of yesteryear this far down the line isn't the best agenda to go out with. But in a way that's OK because tbh, if you've been there and enjoyed that there's no real need to relive it now. Happy to get about, drink in the smell of the pines and feel the warm sea in a beautiful setting. Few drinks in the evening & go out with some fun people a couple of nights while I'm out there and I'm done for another trip. It still feels like home - just one with a whole load of unwelcome house guests to do a runner from !
 
^ ^ Mostly agree with a few exceptions.

If you find yourself at Babylon Beach next to a table with a certain 80s ex superstar and his crew then mind your ears.
Mayfair this-Blue marlin that-Super last minute fill in fee etc....
 
No, its not that bad, its even worse.
But I am happy sitting here and wait until everything implodes. The earlier, the better.

People are stupid and running after each other. Not only on Ibiza, but everywhere in the world.
There is too small a cake with too many slices.
 
Rob,

kimajy sums things up nicely once again. I must reiterate though that doing your homework before going out is a must, otherwise you could quite easily end up somewhere that you do not want to be :(.

Soak up all the other pleasures that Ibiza has to offer, but anywhere that used to be mildly commercial is now "off the scale" profit-orientated.
 
Robder i feel exactly the same way as you do and have said this for a number of years with a few posts on here. The game changer for me was the demise of daytime clubbing when that went a certain type of clientele went with it. Pablo, Kimajy, Namaste and Deepsea say it all perfectly. I felt in a nutshell where Ibiza is as a clubbing destination last year. We went to Sasha'a Ushuaia tower party where some quality house music was being pumped out to at best a couple of hundred people. The party was free although drinks expensive which we knew anyway. Next door at Ushuaia ( i wont say who was playing as not to offend ) all i can hear is a pile of pi$$ was being churned out to around 5 thousand lemmings who, and with the greatest respect could have been listening to the Benny Hill theme show and would still jump up and down to the every other minute "hands in the air" break.

I guess what im saying is the free party proper balearic house vibe is long gone. Luckily i love the island itself more than the club scene and if if by chance i can find that one off party which goes against the rules and gets a bit of sand between your toes then im happy. In a way Ibiza has become slightly regimental. The eccentrics that frequented ( and made ) Ibiza what it is are more often laughed at by the new crop.

All said and done Dirk is right, no where does compare or tick all the boxes like Ibiza can but i like to watch from a distance these days ( a nice chilled mojito at Piratabus over formentera ) waiting for this ( hopefully ) to blow over.
 
Don Simon said:
If you find yourself at Babylon Beach next to a table with a certain 80s ex superstar and his crew then mind your ears.
Mayfair this-Blue marlin that-Super last minute fill in fee etc....
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: ... 'struth ... just too many egos and not enough places for them all to go. Should have asked to be moved :D. Nikki Beach, s'Argamassa etc have brought a batch of them up the coast now.
 
kimajy said:
Real house is not the "ibiza vibe" anymore
Click to expand...

Makes me sad.

I'm not adverse to techno - I just miss the soul which rightly should go hand in hand with the sunshine. If I want a techno basement I can pop down the road.

Ibiza used to get it so right; a mix of excessive glamour, Eurotrash and hedonism with an inclusive atmosphere. The fact that lobster coloured Scousers could mix with a Sheikh, Claudia Schiffer, Tenaglia on his night off and a munted actor from Casualty was entirely the point.

It really is such a loss...and definitely not unaccountable. The disco mafia didn't give a f*** about their punters so I don't blame them for going elsewhere. I'd agree on the point that there's nowhere quite like Ibiza, but if you wanna party, this becomes a moot point.

This is a giggle - most of it was filmed at Godskitchen which represented the naff side of the island in '99 but still - looks fun from here! (and the terrace with Claudio Coccoluto's residency was ace that year if I remember...)

(fast forward to 18 mins for the moneypennys segment and whoosh!)

 
Loved El Divino and wasted my of my youth at Moneypennys and Chuff Chuff so really good to see the interview with Lee at 18 mins......
 
QUOTE="deepseadiver, post: 812090, member: 6547"]Well, exactly!

Roll on Oct[/QUOTE]
What date in October are you over dsd
 
4-7th - First time at closings, its going to be carnage.
I think you are after that date?
 
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