I
icebaer69
Guest
"...
Shock tactics of the ultimate superclub
By Dom Phillips
So, no Manumission on Ibiza this summer. I guess the McKay brothers who founded the club night must be exhausted after all that partying...
They have been at this for 15 years, and the night has changed a lot. It used to be at the biggest club in Ibiza, Privilege, then moved to the smaller Amnesia, although the idea remained the same: a sexy club, with added risqué cabaret. As always in clubland, you have to factor in the finance. Maybe the costs are too high or they're just not making enough money. Or they've made so much money in the past decade they can afford to take a year off.
*Manumission wasn't any old club.
It was full of games and high jinks: people giving you name badges, someone in the middle of the club on a toilet reading a magazine, trapeze artists. Dwarves. Strippers. The infamous sex show. A girl dressed as a nurse offering you a rubber chicken. When you took the chicken, she would say, "You just pulled a bird." It gave people something to talk about afterwards, made them feel involved. It was also a taste of decadence and high life without having to get too involved. You weren't doing much more than dancing in a big club with the odd performance, but felt like you were.
*How's the Ibiza club scene changing?
Ibiza has gone seriously upmarket in the last few years, in a St Tropez, Eurotrash zillionaire kind of way. It's all about P Diddy on his private yacht, Blue Marlin bar, the expensive Elephant Restaurant or ageing clubbers marrying at the hotel Atzaró. Due to its size, Manumission struggled to get that exclusive feel these upmarket clubbers want.
*Manumission will live on.
It was the club night that transformed Ibiza into a giant clubbing holiday centre. It brought theatre and fun into clubbing. More than any other 1990s superclub, it brought a louche, bohemian sexual decadence. Manumission's two central couples characterise both sides of the business. Mike McKay and Claire were the crazy, creative ones having sex on stage. With his bald head and her curly red hair, they were recognisable. His brother Andy and girlfriend Dawn were the business brains. Mike and Claire have a family now. Maybe they just grew up.
*It goes back to that night in Paris.
Manumission held a night at the Paris fashion shows and they purportedly had sex on stage, dressed as a bridal couple. Then it became a genius centre-piece of the night: it happened at about 7am, keeping the club full. Claire never had sex with other men, just women. They later said they'd only ever had sex once, and faked it the rest of the time. It happened on a podium on the other side of the swimming pool, so it was hard to tell. It was a brilliant piece of shock marketing. Everybody wanted to say they'd seen it. Every Monday, 8,000-9,000 people in their club. You do the maths.
..."
(independent.co.uk/
Dom Phillips is the author of 'Superstar DJs Here We Go!:
The Rise and Fall of the Superstar DJ')
Shock tactics of the ultimate superclub
By Dom Phillips
So, no Manumission on Ibiza this summer. I guess the McKay brothers who founded the club night must be exhausted after all that partying...
They have been at this for 15 years, and the night has changed a lot. It used to be at the biggest club in Ibiza, Privilege, then moved to the smaller Amnesia, although the idea remained the same: a sexy club, with added risqué cabaret. As always in clubland, you have to factor in the finance. Maybe the costs are too high or they're just not making enough money. Or they've made so much money in the past decade they can afford to take a year off.
*Manumission wasn't any old club.
It was full of games and high jinks: people giving you name badges, someone in the middle of the club on a toilet reading a magazine, trapeze artists. Dwarves. Strippers. The infamous sex show. A girl dressed as a nurse offering you a rubber chicken. When you took the chicken, she would say, "You just pulled a bird." It gave people something to talk about afterwards, made them feel involved. It was also a taste of decadence and high life without having to get too involved. You weren't doing much more than dancing in a big club with the odd performance, but felt like you were.
*How's the Ibiza club scene changing?
Ibiza has gone seriously upmarket in the last few years, in a St Tropez, Eurotrash zillionaire kind of way. It's all about P Diddy on his private yacht, Blue Marlin bar, the expensive Elephant Restaurant or ageing clubbers marrying at the hotel Atzaró. Due to its size, Manumission struggled to get that exclusive feel these upmarket clubbers want.
*Manumission will live on.
It was the club night that transformed Ibiza into a giant clubbing holiday centre. It brought theatre and fun into clubbing. More than any other 1990s superclub, it brought a louche, bohemian sexual decadence. Manumission's two central couples characterise both sides of the business. Mike McKay and Claire were the crazy, creative ones having sex on stage. With his bald head and her curly red hair, they were recognisable. His brother Andy and girlfriend Dawn were the business brains. Mike and Claire have a family now. Maybe they just grew up.
*It goes back to that night in Paris.
Manumission held a night at the Paris fashion shows and they purportedly had sex on stage, dressed as a bridal couple. Then it became a genius centre-piece of the night: it happened at about 7am, keeping the club full. Claire never had sex with other men, just women. They later said they'd only ever had sex once, and faked it the rest of the time. It happened on a podium on the other side of the swimming pool, so it was hard to tell. It was a brilliant piece of shock marketing. Everybody wanted to say they'd seen it. Every Monday, 8,000-9,000 people in their club. You do the maths.
..."
(independent.co.uk/
Dom Phillips is the author of 'Superstar DJs Here We Go!:
The Rise and Fall of the Superstar DJ')
