Phil's Review - Ibiza 2012

Phil_Dicko

Active Member
There is a weird phenomenon that occurs in my life which I'm sure happens to most people but that is so difficult to describe that it barely passes as intelligible conversation. Life, as a complete totality of memories, experiences, relationships, places, emotions and normalities and how those impress upon you in the here and now in your everyday life, can, on rare occasions, shift in what seems like an instant. I call it how life “feels”. It's an impossibly personal thing to describe – but some days you wake up and, although nothing about your normal life has really changed, the totality of everything you perceive just feels completely different. For me, nothing has greater power in this regard than a trip to Ibiza. Arguably, the strength of the experiences you have in Ibiza, positive or negative, mean that normal life can never be perceived exactly as it was beforehand.

Going into Ibiza 2012, I knew that comparisons with previous holidays were always inevitable. 2009 was, bar one epic night at Privilege for Tiesto, a relative disaster. 2011 was, bar one night at Privilege where I went into collapse around 4/5am, the dream Ibiza experience. I had it in my head that 2012 would fill in all the gaps from 2011, that I would see more of the beauty of the island this year, see more beaches and sunsets.

In the end, it didn't quite work out like that and I only really have myself to blame. But if Ibiza 2012 was mighty short on sunsets and insights into the island's obvious mysticism, what it was not short on was alcohol, drugs and truly epic clubbing experiences. This was not a dull holiday. Nor, for me, was it a holiday ravaged by debilitating illness like 2009. In fact, thinking back, considering the extent to which I tested my own self-destructive tendencies this year, I should be grateful that I was still happy, healthy and raving it up come the final few days of the trip.

16 people really is an enormous group to have in a villa in Ibiza and I think a number of us realised subconsciously that this was a bit of milestone for our amazing group, particularly when you consider NR missed out so painfully the year previously.

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A lot of people might cringe at the idea of having to mobilise a group of 15+ people, but thankfully, we have enough mature, self-less heads in the group to make it work. In particular, JW's use of the hire car for massive communal shops and WH, SM and CM's organisation of the food and shopping was nothing short of amazing. When your food and drink bill is amounting to little more than 5 Euros a day you know someone is doing something right. Our group managed to prove that if you're organised enough, Ibiza can actually be a much cheaper holiday than people generally believe is possible.

Inevitably though, with more Euros in your wallet when you leave the villa, the more comfortable you become laying down 30 Euros for a couple of drinks in the clubs. In the end, I spent a lot less than I anticipated this year, but the ratio of money given to the clubbing overlords compared to the small businesses of Ibiza would be a painful, even shocking, statistic.

The main problem for us having 16 people at our villa, and maybe it is the nicest problem to have - is not feeding everyone, it's not dealing with everyone's tiredness or potential mood swings, it's not the problem of people wanting to do different things (this side of things actually worked out really well) – it's actually the potential over-excitement that comes with being on the world's greatest island with so many of your good friends.

I took so many great memories from this holiday, and there were times when it really took me by surprise – but this holiday also struck me as a bit of a tipping point in terms of just how messy my clubbing experiences are getting these days. It's getting harder and harder to recover, so why the f*ck am I drinking so much?

When I posted my Requests Of The Villa Guests mix recently, I described this trip as “the messiest, blurriest Ibiza holiday on record” – a trip where we each took it in turns to run the Olympic relay of ‘getting yourself well and truly ****ed up'! You'll see what I mean.

MONDAY – Arrival, ASOT & 8am Drinking Games
6th of August 2012

When A State Of Trance was announced for Mondays, I always knew it was going to cause a bit of a problem. Everyone in the group, including myself, would want to see Armin again and I was particularly keen to show NR the biggest club in the world. Arriving at the villa on Monday, it was inevitably going to be a hectic day. In an ideal world, the first couple of nights are quite leisurely and chilled. This was going to be extra messy.

Myself, PH and JDR arrived at Manchester airport nice and early, had a nice bit of lunch and waiting patiently for our 3pm flight – Jet2 had already delayed it by half an hour. Knowing Jet2's reputation for delaying and cancelling flights, I had visions of us turning up at Privilege at some ridiculous hour and holding up the entire group. Thankfully, the half an hour delay was just that – half an hour.

I'd already warned PH and JDR that Ibiza flights could get fairly rowdy. This one didn't seem too bad, save for a group of airhead blondes from Fleetwood. They clearly didn't have a brain cell to share between them. I just slipped my headphones in and listened to Paul Oakenfold's Essential Mix. (Absolutely loved that by the way – good shout, Ikoda!)

JW had very kindly agreed to pick us up from the airport and we were there at the villa in Jesus by about 20 past 8, Ibiza time.

After a BBQ and drinks, we headed out towards Jesus to see if we could find a place that would order us taxis – our tried and tested method from last year. The place we found was called Marc's Restaurante and it was far too posh for a group of our already intoxicated levels. To the rich inhabitants of Jesus, we must have seemed no better than the douche bags from Fleetwood on our own flight.

A few taxis came and took most of the group into Ibiza Town while myself, NR and WH waited impatiently with our plastic bottle of TropVod. We waited quite a while but news filtered through that incredibly SB had already scored over in Ibiza Town. When we finally joined them at Cafe Mar Y Sol spirits were pretty high.

Myself and NR had a funny experience venturing out to find rizla. After wandering towards the square just behind Mar Y Sol and not find anything, we asked a group of girls – maybe no older than about 17 – and they politely directed us back over towards the Burger King. And that's the thing, they were so polite. But as we walked away we heard shouts of “hijos de puta”. We both turned and laughed at them loudly, as if to say, “We know what that one means”. At the time, I didn't think of it from a racial point-of-view, but my friend is Sri Lankan, so who knows? At the time, I found it little more than a humorous anecdote to tell the group. Either way, a little glimpse into the friendly side of Ibiza Town.

Once we got into Privilege, the night suddenly disappeared into a blur. At the time, it didn't feel like I was “too far gone” or not aware of what was going on around me, but as the days passed I realised I had such little recollection of certain points of that night – particularly Armin's set which I could barely remember. I remember him playing Communication and possibly Burned With Desire. And for some reason I have a really random memory of going mental to KhoMa- The Dark Knight, one of my favourite tracks right now. There is also photographic evidence of Concrete Angel by Gareth Emery.


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I remember my dancing being wild and all over the place, crashing into people more than I would normally do, and I also remember being in a number of pictures with randoms who were loving my beloved Armin t-shirt.

Other stuff I do remember is Marco V playing the track Essence, as well as a bootleg of Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know. We also saw about half an hour of Orjan Nilsen who played his track Amsterdam.

Marco V & Damian William - Essence : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUJE78Iazm4

Orjan Nilsen - Amsterdam : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAnBCppZlwY

In fairness to myself, despite not remembering an awful lot, the photographic evidence of the night is nowhere near as shocking as some of the photos that were taken at Judgement Sundays the year before. We are all smiles and everyone looks like they're having an amazing time.

I was also “alive” enough to remember going into the Vista Room to see Markus Schulz. The room was packed and, as you always expect from Markus, there were some savage tunes being played. Unfortunately, Markus must have been absolutely battered drunk because he was trainwrecking absolutely everything. We didn't stay long in there. We knew going back into the other room that Armin wouldn't be mixing like that.

When we returned to the villa, this is where things went a little Pete Tong. Our group have had many an after party over the years, but I don't remember us starting drinking games at 8am in the morning after going to a club too often in the past. If anything, it's a more recent development and this time it was ill-advised.

At this point, my behaviour started to deteriorate rapidly. It was almost as if I was becoming slightly schizophrenic; the drugs making me happy and self-aware, but the alcohol making me utterly stupid and powerless to stop me doing something ridiculous. Without going into too much detail, the group reckon I, of my own accord, downed 3 or 4 large glasses of Grey Goose and ended up throwing myself in the pool. I remember going in the pool and struggling to drag myself out of it with PH's help.

Now, can I just make it clear to everyone reading just how stupid this was. I mean, as stupid goes, it was right up there with my completely “out-of-it” drunken wandering of Bristol for 4 hours back in 2005. It was a real ‘don't try this at home' moment. Not my finest hour by any stretch.

I remember BW saying to me later in the week that every couple of years he goes on a mad bender where there's incident glore and everyone says, “BW is doing that ‘every 2 years thing' again!” I thought to myself, “you know what, I do that as well.”

TUESDAY – The Night In
7th of August 2012

I woke up in a slightly vomit stained bed later the next afternoon. The group told me that they had spent most of the morning checking on my breathing and making sure I was OK. Because of the drugs, my hangover wasn't so bad but any attempt to get some Berroca down was not welcomed by my body at all.

A few of the group had already been out in the car visiting a few beaches. I instantly regretted the night before simply because I'd already lost most of the next day and the opportunity to see some of the island. The only consolation was that forcing myself to pass out meant I'd had a good amount of sleep.

I stayed in the pool for what remained of the day and we had our usual BBQ later that evening.

We discussed the possibility of going over to San Antonio for Colors @ Es Paradis. Despite the amazing line up of Andy Moor, Sean Tyas and Daniel Kandi there wasn't that much enthusiasm for the idea. I'd already heard stories that it would be dead by 3.30 and we did suggest the idea of going early and coming back before 4am. In the end, we sensibly opted to have a quiet one.... errrm, a quiet one indeed.

Again, it returned to the drinking games – Ring Of Fire. From what I remember, there were absolutely no drugs involved, but for some reason I again restored to downing my drinks when there was absolutely no requirement to. A few questionable Michael Jackson impressions later, I was again in bed. What the f*ck was I up to?
 
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I remember BW saying to me later in the week that every couple of years he goes on a mad bender where there's incident glore and everyone says, “BW is doing that ‘every 2 years thing' again!” I thought to myself, “you know what, I do that as well.”

:lol:

I love this. I'm exactly the same, as are a few of my closest mates.

My last one came a few months ago, an all day session in the glorious sunshine drinking 2-4-1 cocktails at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth resulted in me losing my phone, my mates, and my mind, and I got stopped by the police at 4am attempting to walk the 12 miles back to my house along the motorway.
 
Wow!! What a great start to your review. Think I'm going to have to get a ghostwriter to do mine this year (if I do one) as they just keep getting better and better.

Can't wait for the next part :)
 
Glad people are enjoying it so far. I have already written the whole thing so the rest will follow piece by piece over today and tomorrow. :)
 
Good review so far mate. ASOT was a very decent night.
I'm currently writing mine, may be here all year at this rate :lol:
 
WEDNESDAY – Sander @ Space
8th of August 2012

This time there was no hope of escaping the hangover. It was a colossal, two-day hangover, the like of which I've not experienced in a long time. After writhing in pain in bed for many hours, I managed to get myself up and join the others around the pool. A fresh face had also joined the group in AS.

At this point, I made a bit of a pact with myself – I didn't really care what an ass I'd made of myself the previous nights. All that mattered was toning things down so I didn't lose the rest of the holiday to blackouts and crippling hangovers. No more drinking games – for now at least.

I had a disco nap later in the day and I was up ready for Be @ Space that evening. I was still struggling a bit, but there was no way I was missing Sander – the man after all is still my favourite DJ. AS and LO had already headed off to Ushuaïa to see Axwell.

We had dinner as normal and headed out into Ibiza Town. Ibiza Town was absolutely packed for some kind of saint's day festival. After drinks at Cafe Mar Y Sol, we watched a fantastic fireworks display. And after a few drinks and a cigarette, I was starting to feel good once more.

But then the wheels started to come off again. With the fireworks now finished, every man and his dog was leaving Ibiza Town. The taxi queue was 40 mins minimum and under the terms of our tickets we had to be in the club before 2am.

We then decided to get the Disco Bus. We found out where it was going from and we waited and waited and waited. We were sobering up and understandably all getting a bit irritable. The bus itself was a classic piece of Spanish organisation. It was reminiscent of my school days, as 40+ kids all rush for the same door. The funny thing is that, for once, the Disco Bus was filled with mainly old people, families and older couples.

We did eventually get to Space before 2am and, on reflection, there's no way we would have wanted to have got there any earlier. The problem was sobering up and I had to spend a quick 30 Euros to stop my hangover returning.


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Inside the club, it's fair to say that most of the group had their favourite night of the holiday. I heard many songs I recognised from Mark Knight and Fedde Le Grand – such as Manual De La Mare's remix of Metrum, the Toolroom version of The Man With The Red Face and that hugely popular version of You Got The Love.

But it was all about Sander Van Doorn who absolutely smashed the place to pieces. I've been saying to the group for a long time that he's my favourite DJ and I think they're all coming around to that idea, despite being loyal trance fans. The man just never stops smiling and, it doesn't matter what style he's playing, he just f*cking nails it every time.


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We were treated to Chasin', Nothing Inside, Kangaroo (which the group went nuts for – great moment that) and, the appropriately titled for me, Drink To Get Drunk. I also enjoyed Pryda – Allein as a major highlight, as well as that Nicky Romero bootleg of Daft Punk - Aerodynamic. The main bit of dancefloor poetry was hearing a mash up of Koko and Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know. Koko was our undisputed ‘Tune of 2011'; Gotye was fast becoming our group's pick for 2012. The two together was just a ‘boom' moment. A-mazing!

Sander van Doorn & Julian Jordan - Kangaroo : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o5JiWBexgA

Pryda - Allein : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6quPnsTnA8

The music itself was probably a bit too intense for PH and JDR at times, Sander laying down some pretty ferocious big room music. They chilled in the foyer (which was pretty dead) to some more evenly tempoed stuff, where they met a mad Irish girl who apparently “LOVED PIIIILLS!!!” There seemed to be quite a few Italians in the house that night, not to mention an alarming number of vests!

Overall, it was a very good night. For me, the only disappointments were not seeing the main room open (only the Terrace was – and maybe there's an argument for saying that had the main room been open the place would have felt very empty) and, of course, my hangover played its part in making me feel slightly peculiar towards the end of the night.

But for Sander's set alone it had been well worth it. That night I knew I hadn't overdone it and looked forward to feeling better on Thursday.


THURSDAY – Cream
9th of August 2012

I woke up later on Thursday starting to feel like an Ibiza clubber should – tired but fully prepared for more adventures ahead. I knew I hadn't been asleep for that long (a few hours felt like days) but the hangover was abating. With JW returning the hire car later that day, all the focus was on one last mega shop to see us through till the end of the holiday. My God – it was the mother of all shops.


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MG and RO were all set for a daytime boat party they'd booked themselves on and BW felt like joining them. BW and a few of the other guys hadn't been to sleep at all and you could see in his eyes then that, even if he wasn't that drunk, he was maybe ever so slightly delirious from being awake for many days.

MG and RO returned many hours later without BW who had apparently gone completely AWOL. We were understandably worried about him but his homing instinct kicked in and he did, somehow, make it all the way home. He'd been on some errand by the sounds of it and had even booked himself in for a tattoo – apparently The Angel Of Death on his shoulder. At least he was safe.

I felt like I'd well and truly passed the baton on now. I wasn't the only one pushing the boundaries of self-destruction. But hey, that's what Ibiza can do to you.

At this stage of the trip there were some coming and goings; some expected, some not so expected. Unfortunately, we got news that JDR's grandad was not so well and he was going to have to make the trip home. I felt absolutely gutted for him. He'd missed the trip entirely last year with illness and this was just another piece of horrific Ibiza luck for him. At the same time, JS arrived for a couple of days having been on a bit of a North African trip.

After dinner at the villa, myself WH, PH and JDR set off early into Ibiza Town. The mission was to see JDR off and collect some more stuff for our remaining clubbing nights. We again nipped back to Cafe Mar Y Sol and watched Usain Blot absolutely destroy the 200m back in London. What a performance that was! We also saw some guys doing some incredible Capoeira on that little pedestrian strip in front of the bars there. All on a casual night out in Ibiza Town.

After seeing JDR off, we waited around for an absolute age to get the stuff we were after. We were starting to get a bit restless and everyone back at the villa getting ready must have been wondering where the f*ck we had got to. Bored of waiting around, I thought I might as well pick up a few tickets for Cream Amnesia, for myself and 3 others. Smartest move of the holiday, no doubt.

We finally got what we needed and returned to the villa as soon as possible. It was a case of get changed and get to the club. Since we had been so late in Ibiza Town and most had been waiting back at the villa, most didn't have tickets for Cream Amnesia. I headed straight for the ticket queue while the others queued to pay on the door. I felt a bit bad for everyone because we'd put our pick up ahead of getting tickets. Really we should have made plans for a big ticket purchase as well.

But it got worse. WH, SB and GB's tickets were nowhere to be found. Already complete with wet jeans from a split drink in the taxi, WH had to head straight back to the villa to find their tickets. With upwards of 135 Euros sitting on a table in the villa, he had no choice.

The only one with a valid ticket, I rocked on straight into the club and grabbed myself a drink. I knew where I was going – in a pretty much diagonal line to the far corner of the main room of Amnesia – one of my favourite places in the world. It's got everything you need – ice cannon, toilets, bar.

I was there on my own for a while and there were moments when I wondered if anyone would ever find me in there. But I started raving it up anyway. I was loving it from the first moment I got on the dancefloor. Gareth Wyn's set in all honesty was pretty sedate, but I was comfortable and nowhere near as tired as I had been for Sander. I was up for this!

Once most of the others had filtered through and found me, Above & Beyond were already on. Early on in the set, I remember going absolutely nuts (as I did at Brixton Academy at Easter) for Arty & Mat Zo – Mozart – absolutely love that track to bits.

Strangely, as I'd told the group beforehand, I could have written Above & Beyond's set down myself before I'd even gone out. You knew it would be most of Group Therapy (Sun & Moon, On My Way To Heaven, Prelude, A Thing Called Love etc.) plus an awful lot of Norin & Rad and Ost & Meyer. As things stand, this is still a major problem I have with Above & Beyond – as much as I love and respect them. But on this occasion, I didn't care a jot. I was too in the mood; the drugs were too strong. As WH said to me at one point in A&B's set, “you're buzzing, mate!”

Arty & Mat Zo - Mozart : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESAEiz7VKg8

Above & Beyond - On My Way To Heaven (Above & Beyond Club Mix) :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPYX9N01Ph4

As expected, Gareth Emery came on and showed Above & Beyond how it's done – just a great mix of mid-range tempo stuff, including a few of his own tracks and some big big electro house records – as Sander had been dropping the night before. As slightly cheesey as it is, a highlight was Armin Van Buuren's We Are Here To Make Some Noise, which I'd gone from avoiding to loving in just over a week. Sadly, we were just heading for the door as he dropped my own tune of 2011, Chris Schweizer's remix of Kernkraft 400. That will stay a memory from 2011 at Space.

Armin van Buuren - We Are Here To Make Some Noise : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsPJ3w7D0bQ


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I knew that I was probably the only one that enjoyed this night above the other ones we'd been on so far. Some people had even opted to go home early because they felt it was just too busy. I knew from my first experience in 2005 that we'd actually got off quite lightly in terms of it being too busy. I had later that night found out that those paying on the door had had to pay 70 Euros to get in. There's one way to kill your enthusiasm.

Two other things could not go without mention. Most importantly, the absolutely horrific fight that took place on the middle of the dancefloor just yards in front of us. What could only have been the work of drunks, it was less a fight and more an absolute kicking for some poor guy on the ground. The club staff were nowhere to be seen. I was genuinely taken aback by it and my heart sank for a moment. By far the worst violence I've ever witnessed in a club. The other thing was the number of blokes with their shirts off that night. There was definitely an undesirable element in Cream that night, the like of which I've not seen for some years at clubbing events in the north of the UK.

I remember WH saying at some point that he'd been chatting to someone who said that we were “the only nice Brits they had met all week”. A nice compliment for us; not such a good reflection on our fellow Brits.

After an amazing night, I made sure it was a sensible return to the villa. After a few waters and a brief chat with AS and LO about their own trip to DC10 (which it sounded like they very much enjoyed), I slipped off to bed.
 
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I'm really enjoying this review. These are all the nights I plan to go to when we head over for our 11th time on the 27th August. Your supplies sound unbelieveable! Can u pass on details 4 when we head over?
 
I'm really enjoying this review. These are all the nights I plan to go to when we head over for our 11th time on the 27th August. Your supplies sound unbelieveable! Can u pass on details 4 when we head over?

Seek you and you shall find, my friend.
 
FRIDAY – Bora Bora & Out For Dinner
10th of August 2012

Friday began mainly with discussions about how green with algae the pool had become. The shoddy electricity in the villa had repeatedly tripped the pump for the filtration system and calls for someone to come and fix it properly were falling on deaf ears. This was incredibly frustrating and it would later come back to bite us even harder. So much for customer service.

Because of the pool, I was loathed to stick around in the villa again and I wanted to get out and see some stuff during the daytime. Some of the girls mentioned they were heading down to Bora Bora and, as ropey as I felt, I knew it was a place I really wanted to see for myself. In 3 trips to Ibiza, it was a bit criminal that I hadn't seen Bora Bora, whatever people's reservations about it not being what it used to be. Myself, PH, LO, AS and SH head down to Playa D'en Bossa in taxis and hit the beach.

I was pleasantly surprised by the beach, the sand was really white and soft and the water was absolutely amazing – Parts of it were so hot in the daytime sun that it actually felt like a Spa pool. We chatted and enjoyed a few beers, while poor old PH was forced to chat to just about every salesman that wanted to have a crack at us.


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We met a hilarious German guy there who was desperately trying to sell us a 69 Euros clubbing package. He was almost an Ibiza caricature. I remember chatting to him about the Brits over in San Antonio and how they can go “completely over-the-top”. I thought, I've been a bit guilty of that this year.

We were on the beach for most of the afternoon and the time flew by. I kept thinking back to the night before, remembering certain specific tunes and instantly getting goosebumps there and then on the beach. It was bizarre but amazing.

It was getting late but we couldn't resist having a drink over at Bora Bora. It was around 7pm and from what I could see the place was pretty rocking, plenty of people up and dancing. The music wasn't necessarily anything mind-blowing but the atmosphere was really good, the sun still up and planes flying over.

Suddenly, it hit me. I had been awake for most of the day, I'd enjoyed myself and I wasn't ravaged by a crippling hangover. I also thought to myself that, if it's true that Bora Bora used to be a lot better in years gone by, it must have been f*cking incredible. This for me had been well worth checking out and something I'd want to come back to.

The plan had been to make Zoo Project on Saturday our final party, maybe throwing in a boat party to boot. But on returning to the villa we were being told that Zoo Project was sold out. I couldn't quite believe it but we quickly made alternative plans to go to Pacha instead. Both Zoo Project and Pacha were things I'd never experienced in Ibiza before, so I was approaching with a very open mind. I knew at least that if we went to Pacha for Defected we wouldn't be subject to a Guetta-style crush.

That night everyone went their separate ways for dinner. WH and SB went down to Talamanca, MG and RO went to Marc's just down the road in Jesus. JW looked after NR who was now suffering illness vaguely reminiscent of my 2009 Ibiza afflictions. Myself, CM, BW and GB went into Ibiza Town where we found Ke Kafé. The place was nice with a good, relaxed ambience. The menu was a bit strange but suited me down to the ground – tapas down one side of the menu and Oriental-based food down the other. Nothing pleases me more than a plate of duck, so that's what I had.

Afterwards, we again had a swift drink at Cafe Mar Y Sol watching bits of the Olympics. Again, there were some hilarious street performers and advertising parades in town, some of which I didn't understand.


We noticed that Zoo Project wasn't sold out at the ticket outlets in Ibiza Town and I surmised that they had only sold out on Ibiza-Spotlight. At this stage, to again suggest switching our plan for the 16 strong group to a 4pm day party the following day was clearly opening up too much of a can of worms. I was happy to stick with Pacha.

On returning to the villa about 11.30, myself, CM, SB and WH sat chatting till 3am in the morning. Where was the time going? Friday had been a much more relaxed day but it had been a lot more in line with the kind of Ibiza experience I had imagined for 2012. For once, I'd enjoyed myself without going mad.

SATURDAY – Back to Bora Bora & Defected @ Pacha
11th of August 2012

After waxing lyrical to the group about how cool Bora Bora was the previous day, quite a few of the group wanted to check it out for themselves. I was again reluctant to stay around the villa with the pool the way it was. So again, I went without hesitation.

AS, LO, CM and SH went off for a day of glam down at Ocean Beach Club. Despite it being slammed by many here on Ibiza-Spotlight, the girls seemed to enjoy it. It certainly ain't a cheap day out, but if you can afford it, it seems like one for the ladies. Each to their own, I say.

Meanwhile, at Bora Bora, we chilled on the beach, albeit for not as long as we did on Friday. We grabbed some food at Bora Bora, which considering the legendary status of the location, was very reasonably priced. It was a very warm day though, and without the ice being pumped out from the fans in the far corners of the place, we would have been slumped head first in our salads and omelettes. Again, the Olympics were on and some nearby Brazilians were getting very excited watching the Brazil-Mexico football final.

Bora Bora itself was definitely a bit quieter today and I think being there a couple of hours earlier (about 4pm) definitely made all the difference. But, being sat in a sweltering open air restaurant, serenaded by thumping house music is what Ibiza is all about. We picked up tickets for Pacha and headed back to the villa.

After yet another massive communal meal, we prepared for another night out with drinking games at the villa. With more people around the table this time, I felt safer taking part.

There was clearly excitement about this night out, purely I think because this was the biggest group heading to the same club since the opening night at Privilege. We made our way straight to the club from the villa at around 1am.

As a first time visitor to Pacha, I was bowled over by the place as a club. In fairness, I don't think I've ever failed to be impressed by an Ibiza club on first arrival, but this certainly comfortably matched my expectations. Glamorous, neat but quintessentially Ibiza.


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The music that was bound to cause some debate within the group as it wasn't to everyone's taste. MG, who had quite ambitiously triple dropped early on in the night, was clearly enjoying himself but holding out for a trance-style kick back, crossing his fingers in expectation for a filthier, harder drop. I think even some of the girls who are more into their house music where hoping the music was going to be deeper at times. As house goes, it was fairly “happy”, maybe even touching on cheesey at times. But it was varied at the same time and when it veered away from the jazzy, Spanish-tinged material and back to the real rocking stuff, I was enjoying myself.

Obviously, not knowing my house music as well as my trance, I didn't recognise an awful lot of what was being played but there were things I could pick out. One favourite was Federico Scavo – I Do. I remember at the time knowing what it was, singing away quite happily, but not being sure where I knew it from. I got home to find out it was pretty much the only house song I'd downloaded to my hard drive in the last 2 months. I seem to remember it being quite high on the beatport chart. Listening to it back at home made me feel all warm inside.

Federico Scavo – I Do : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iTZK46pPJI

There were other great highlights – including David Morales unsurprisingly playing his timeless Ibiza classic, Needin' U, and a remix of Adele – Set Fire To Rain which absolutely set the club alight.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed myself that night and really, I was just grateful for something different. That was the beauty of 2012 – every night was completely different and memorable for completely different reasons. It wasn't the perfect night however and the group did fracture slightly into those lagging and ready to go home early and those absolutely burning the candle at both ends.

Arguably, when we returned to the villa things maybe started to spill over a little bit. The drugs were strong; the alcohol was flowing again as post-clubbing drinking games resumed. The atmosphere was slightly weird and in the end, around 8.30, I retired to bed to avoid the mistakes of old.
 
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Loving the review! It's really interesting reading strangers thoughts and impressions on a night that I was at too! :)

Your experience of ASOT is literally exactly how it's been for me every single time! Lots of talking to strangers, dancing with strangers, having pictures with people in Armin tops and just smiling constantly the whole night long!

With all the efforts going into these reviews I should prob start noting down my highlights of the summer so far before I forget them all!
 
Amazing review so far 8)
Your choice of nights is so far away from mine it's unreal but it seems we share the same highs and lows from an excess of booze and drugs. We share an unconditional love for Ibiza, the magic, the relentless day to day thoughts leading up to your week or whatever away and then the fast paced party that seems to happen and be but a memory and a sea of regret as you didn't do A.B and C as you said you would. But at the same time you actually "did it" and enjoyed every minute of being on the island. As always, and as if you wouldn't right? Absolutely loving this review, strikes a lot of chords with my own and as much as I love every trip i always find things to criticize and wish I had done differently....as I always plan it all out and it never goes to plan :spank:
And still listen to your mix to by the way 8)
 
Amazing review so far 8)
Your choice of nights is so far away from mine it's unreal but it seems we share the same highs and lows from an excess of booze and drugs.


:) I'm with you on the booze, but not the drugs, Ibiza is my drug :D always has been 8). Each to their own though obviously, it's a great review.
 
Cheers for the kind words about the review everyone. Some fantastic reviews from other people have definitely inspired me a bit - not least Ollie's. This year was quite eventful so had plenty to say.

Your choice of nights is so far away from mine it's unreal

Well, you know what, the more I go to Ibiza the more I'm keen to try new stuff out. Our group don't go clubbing to house or techno much at home because the majority of us are pretty "dyed-in-the-wool" trance fans. But I can't help but feel in Ibiza that when you're doing a number of nights on the spin (unlike home) a bit of variety doesn't go a miss. For next time, I've got Zoo Project and We Love very much on my radar.

But, hey by a strange twist, it was the trance night I'd already done twice before, including the "same old, same old" artist that I've seen upwards of 7 times, that gave me my best night... so you just never know. I'd even mentioned to the group before flying out that I wouldn't have minded missing Cream. Glad I didn't!

Amazing review so far 8)
we share the same highs and lows from an excess of booze and drugs....the fast paced party that seems to happen and be but a memory and a sea of regret as you didn't do A.B and C as you said you would. But at the same time you actually "did it" and enjoyed every minute of being on the island. As always, and as if you wouldn't right?

Absolutely, mate.

For me, with regards the booze and drugs, it's the booze I'm now determined to tone down. My Uni drinking days are very much over and going into Ibiza I was hopelessly "out of practice". Even when I was at Uni I was a lot more careful about mixing my drink and drugs and in the early days of clubbing in Bristol I would literally drink about 4 pints over 4 hours, p*ss it out and then stick to small amounts of MD and water. As the MD quality deteriorated recently, the mixing of the two has got more reckless and confident. In Ibiza this year, that's hit a brick wall and I'm having a rethink.

Another interesting one is that I was full on raving it up at Cream not really under the influence of anything to begin with. Essentially, I'm music first - evidenced by the DJing and knowing all the tunes so well.

I love every trip i always find things to criticize and wish I had done differently....as I always plan it all out and it never goes to plan

Yeah, I always come back with some regrets. But I think that's largely because there's so much to do and fit in. (I'll talk about that a little more later in the review). Some of the regrets were slightly self-inflicted, but that's the last time this will happen.

Even so, when I saw all the photographs I realised what an amazing time I'd had. There are plenty of smiles.

Amazing review so far 8)
And still listen to your mix to by the way 8)

Nice one, mate. Part 2 of that will arrive eventually. Back end of September, I think. I did some work on it earlier in the week.;)
 
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SUNDAY – The Quiet Last Day
12th of August 2012

There was very little to report on Sunday as most of us rose late in the day trying to piece together the night before.

NR, BW and GB had been up all morning and, still drunk, decided they wanted to have lunch somewhere in Jesus. Later on, they rang JW saying they wanted to go to the beach and she followed them there if only to make sure they were all OK. GB was apparently sick on the beach and he returned home to pass out for the entire afternoon.

Looking around, it felt like a long time ago since I had been downing Grey Goose and driving in the pool. This messy relay was coming to an end.

The only other event that day was some people finally turning up to look at the pool for us. All they could do was apologise and confirm that the pool pump was f*cked. Little use to us at that stage. It's since transpired that the villa company are refusing to accept liability for the mechanical failure. To say we feel let down is understatement of the year.

After one last meal, we said goodbye to WH, SB and GB and later to RI and BW. With us being out of the villa by 10am the next day, an early night was in order.


viewfromvilla.jpg



MONDAY – Flying Home
13th of August 2012

Monday was potentially going to be another painful day, as I envisaged toiling around Ibiza Town with our luggage from 11am till 6pm. In the end, sitting in bars and cafes around the capital, the time soon disappeared. At one point, myself and PH randomly chatted to a Dutch couple who were on their first trip to Ibiza. Love the Dutch - they're just amazing, friendly people.

Before we knew it, it was 6pm and we were munching Burger King at the airport. Myself and PH were also briefly reunited with some of the group, whose 4pm flight to London had been delayed. They were busy getting drunk in the departure lounge.

No such delays for us Northerners though who were back in Manchester by 10pm. And it was over...

FINAL THOUGHTS

In making comparisons with 2011, I have to accept that I was the more sensible clubber last year and I paced myself better. This year, I essentially wasted two days of my holiday by drinking myself into a black hole. In terms of drinking, I was out of practice and out of my mind.

Thankfully, I dusted myself down and other people picked up the baton while I recovered. It really was a messy affair at times, maybe to the point that can never really be repeated again. A few of us I'm sure are regretful of certain things, but equally grateful that we survived and raved on. The Mediterranean air and sunshine can give you energy you would never otherwise have but you can only go so far. There is a brick wall to be hit somewhere.

My next trip to Ibiza – whenever that is – will be a longer but more relaxed affair. I've even suggested the idea of going for 2 weeks and not doing any clubbing for the first 2 days.

Arriving on a Monday was also an issue. I hoped that it might help us get cheaper flights. But it seems fairly obvious that it's always best to fly in when the clubbing is at its most sedate and at its least congested in terms of big nights – that, at the moment, is Friday & Saturday. ASOT was an amazing night. The photos alone prove we had a great night. But I stepped off the plane, hit the party hard and ended up almost losing 2 days. Ideally, you want to see some of the island before the hangovers and comedowns take hold. You live and learn but in 4 trips to Ibiza I should have learnt this by now.

Also, since we had to be out of our villa at 10am Monday, We Love or Judgment Sundays were sadly out of the question. Next time out I will make We Love a personal mission. At least one day party will also be a must. Just a few casual hours down at Bora Bora wet my appetite for something that to me sets Ibiza apart from the rest of the clubbing world.

The villa problems were also disappointing. Absolutely no one in the group should feel any responsibility for the bad things that happened. We had absolutely no trouble the year before with the same company and sadly, this year we just weren't as lucky. For once, we've been on the end of a dodgy bit of customer care. For my own sanity, I'm staying philosophical about that. The villa suited our substantial needs reasonably well, but it was an older villa and problems with the pool pump were a big issue.

I think we all hoped, having paid around £40 more per person this year, that the villa would inevitably be more stylish and better kitted out than our 2011 Port De Torrent pad. That was a bit naive, because what we were really paying for was a more desirable location close to Ibiza Town. Port De Torrent is, relatively speaking, in the middle of nowhere. Where we saved this year was on taxis.

Interestingly, this was the first time ever that I'd been to Ibiza without stepping foot in San Antonio – not even to pilgrimage to the Sunset Strip. This I don't really regret. But having spent a lot of time in Ibiza Town now, it's clear to see the obvious differences between the two places. What struck me was the number of stunningly beautiful people wandering the streets. And I'm mainly talking about the locals. It's absolutely mind-blowing. I also like the more traditional, Spanish feel of the capital. It makes you feel like you're actually on holiday.

But, there were elements of San Antonio I missed. San Antonio is a much friendlier place and the locals will occasionally throw you a smile. The German on Bora Bora beach was right - the Brits do overdo it a bit but we're used to that from home. Maybe if our group were going to overdo it at all, I would probably have felt more comfortable overdoing it in San Antonio.

Strangely, we probably took a very small amount of that over-excited San Antonio mentality to Jesus with us. But, by the same token, the group was still smart and diverse enough to more than fit in elsewhere (like Pacha, Space or Bora Bora) and even be labelled a “nice group of Brits” by a non-Brit amongst quite a questionable crowd at Cream. (Although, to be fair, we aren't all British by birth and that helps the diversity and flexibility of our crowd no end.)

I think we can be pretty proud that we got a 16 strong villa of clubbers to work so effortlessly. It wasn't all happy families but the maturity and reliability of the group never ceases to amaze. Other groups I'm sure might have gone into complete meltdown. Ibiza is inescapably about the people you share it with and I'm very privileged to be able to share it with this fun, intelligent, self-less family of people. (Reach for that bucket, everyone!)

Highlights of the holiday were obviously Sander Van Doorn's set at Space (he was never going to let us down) which, hangover or no hangover, was just DJing at its finest. Cream will live long in the memory and I'll never forget it giving me goosebumps on the beach the next day. And also, despite missing out on all the beaches and sunsets I was hoping to see, I was pleased to have experienced something different in the shape of Bora Bora and Pacha. It really feels like I'm chipping away at Ibiza one little piece at a time.


sander2.jpg



Returning is absolutely inevitable. I have a friend away in South America at the moment who hasn't been to the island since our first wide-eyed trip in 2005. He has to go again. While JDR will surely feel like he has some unfinished business after being forced to return home on Thursday. The next trip will be totally different I'm sure, because none of my Ibiza experiences have even come close to déjà vu.

All I can say is, until next time!

Gotye feat. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know (Tiësto Remix) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nPE1UtQLDE
 
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A thoroughly enjoyable read, thanks for posting.
Don't wan't to wander too far into forbidden territory but i have heard from different sources that the strength of sweets this year is top notch, Would you agree? Just that i'm a very sporadic participant these day's and forewarned is forearmed.
Apologies to the powers that be if i have overstepped the mark.
 
Setting the bar high in the review stakes...

Only way I'm going to top this is by making mine 3d :)
 
A thoroughly enjoyable read, thanks for posting.
Don't wan't to wander too far into forbidden territory but i have heard from different sources that the strength of sweets this year is top notch, Would you agree? Just that i'm a very sporadic participant these day's and forewarned is forearmed.
Apologies to the powers that be if i have overstepped the mark.

Think it is OK if no one mentions where they are purchased form.


Great end to the review love the pic of the sun over the mountains just makes me wanna be there so fooking bad!!!! :)
I am already planning a long weekend for me and the mrs next year in April before the hoards of tourists come and to see what it is like out of season so I can hopefully convince her that moving the kids out there will be the best thing for all of us. Some how, some way and all that :lol:
 
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