Unplanned Visit to ibiza "early Oct"

Dingo

New Member
I want to share my experience and welcome your thoughts on what could I have done differently for better experience

Got introduced to house music scene in 2008 at Sankeys Manchester. Loved the music, atmosphere soo much that use to rave so regularly that all of the bouncers knew me.

Wanted to visit Ibiza since 2010 but never got the chance, mainly because I stopped raves and night outs completely to sort out my life, I was heading for a downfall in terms of health and life. :twisted::twisted::twisted:(Mdma/coke, drinks and excessive smoking). The only way I could give it all up, if I left the scene completely.


So 6 years of cigarettes,alcohol, drugs and rave free life, just living with beautiful memories of raves and listening to mixes during driving and workout.


Totally sudden and unplanned trip

I was in Madrid for some work related meetings, on my way back to hotel, a thought clicked in my mind,

"you always wanted to go to ibiza, this is the chance, been living clean for a long time, It will be great to bring back old memories of raving and maybe 6 years of break is enough to get the magic back for one last time:twisted:"

Arrived back at the hotel, checked the party calender, parties were still available, straightaway booked the flight and hotel for the same day cause didn't want to miss "Rampa" at 2nd last party of THE FAMOUS DC-10 circoloco (2nd Oct).


I am spotlight forum reader from 2016 and pretty much read how-to-ibiza nearly before every season. (Even though had no plans to go)


DC-10, Circoloco (2nd last party)
Checked-in at hotel around 11ish-pm got ready, bought cigarettes (after 6 years) and straight to DC-10.

Was extremely excited on the way that "I am going to DC-10 for the first time, every one says: it's the best club in the world."

During entry I purchased the band for backstage entry. "€150"

It was busy, packed, sardine fest everywhere, hard to move even in the garden.

Terrace/main room: over crowding,:mad: cannot even move, leave dancing to angels, Crapiest sound system I have ever heard:mad:. It was just boom boom (bass), straight away I just asked myself, "what's special in this place ? The main thing (sound system) is garbage."

Rampa played a good set. At the backstage area saw a DJ around 5am who played earlier on during the night, sniffing from bullet(obvisouly-snuff tobacco) and trying hard to pull some chick (I was like wish you concentrated hard on your set- "insert famous name").

Final thoughts on DC-10: No table service (great), overcrowded, €20-25 for a drink + tips, crap/garbage/ugly/cheap sound system, can't understand the hype of this place, there was nothing special.
4/10 (if it was less crowded with good sound system, would give 8/10)


Next day, in the afternoon walked around, exploring playa den bossa, beach and town. The town is pretty nice, people are beautiful in ibiza (appearance) and Brits loud as usual.:D(it's in the blood)

The Looky Looky men :cool:gets alot of trolling on the forum but I found them polite and alright. Just a "thanks/no" was fine for them.


Underground Ibiza
The only positive thing from DC-10 was that, found about underground Ibiza (Tini and the gang). At the backstage someone recommended me to checkout this club, cause of it's proper underground vibe, nights are not promoted and no VIP crap.

Choose underground over Pacha, it was great night, amazing sets from everyone, good sound system, friendly crowd and staff.

There should be a bouncer on the floor though just for crowd screening from distance, it seemed there was a group of 5-7 young lads, not really there for the music, something was sketchy about them, even their moustaches and "swag" o_O (pick pockets? Maybe)

Enjoyed the night overall, but still didn't satisfy my need for what I was looking. 7.4/10

Was searching for an after-party after the night but wasn't able to find anything. Upon returning back to the hotel, all of a sudden severe anxiety kicked in, cause of "€150/g" garbage I used,o_O literally it was garbage.
Had big heavy breakfast after few hours and slept.


Next day did some exploring in the afternoon, wasn't feeling that great, had some medication from Pharmacy and just took a break that night so I could enjoy "Afterlife closing party the next day".


Afterlife closing Party
Pretty excited for maceo plex and tale of us, but upon entry same issue " Over Crowding" even it was hard to move in smoking area. Only 4 cubicle toilets for the whole club. Seriously?

Wish I was with friends, atleast would have got table "just to get separate toilets"
Story of the toilet: while in the queue, the guy in the front says to me, "you were here 15 mins ago, I was like.... Yeah, I have bladder issues, then after a little while, I asked: so what are you doing here again, he paused and said I have bladder issues too, followed by wink":p:p:p;)

No one was dancing in " Hi" :mad:, actually it was soo over crowded that no one could dance. Was not able to enjoy at all, I was not there for some music concert, was there to dance and have time of my life which wasn't possible, left the place in 2 hours after paying 55 euros and headed to underground Ibiza again (because of previous positive experience, at least I could dance there).

Rahodoo was playing there, the club was half empy cause of afterlife and guetta closing probably. His set was pretty good but kinda mellow, maybe the spliff he was smoking contributed to it.

Afterlife: 2/10 (severe overcrowding), sound system: nothing special about it and wasn't loud enough. Massive club, no attachment with the DJ.

Underground Rohodoo: 5/10 (maybe if it was busy would have been better)

I prefer small clubs, it gives feeling of connection with the DJ and crowd is generally better.


It was clear to me that "the night" am after isn't available in ibiza. Back in the UK average night of Sankeys, mint, gorilla, whp, fabric is more fun as compared to ibiza's closing parties. (No offence to anyone).

Observations
The crowd in ibiza doesn't dances at all, maybe they are too conscious what other might think of them, or they have fried all of their brain cells o_Ofrom all the partying and can't process the music-dance connection anymore :p


Interestingly I found out small Dj's plays better set as compared to heavy weights of DC-10 and Hi, even bora bora had better set than "afterlife Hi" (Mainly small Dj's are giving 110% to put their name in the scene, and the big guys just want to fly private, cash-in their brand only).

The island looks mega fun on videos, stories, forum, newspaper, websites, but in reality it isn't. It's just over rated hype.
Actually I spoke with 8 of my friends who have been to ibiza in the past, they all said it's overrated.

It was apparent, the season is cash cow for everyone airlines, hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants, websites, tickets, Dj's flown in charted planes (the person is just a DJ, comeon) and obviously Cartels backdoor involvement in clubs, bars and even shops for cover-up (it was very obvious).
After visiting the island I could understand why the island is promoted so much everywhere. It's about making £££. No one cares about clubbers having good time. "Charges you 55 for entry plus sardine fest, 25 euros for a drink so they can charter the plane for Dj, one small accident/fire will result in huge loss and also the criminal element operating in clubs(pick pockets)" .

Also am not sure what does the island's resident thinks about the whole summer atmosphere, I was surprised to see small kids coming from school (in town), thought there are only parties and holiday villas in ibiza.lol

I didn't feel really safe in ibiza, felt vulnerable. The atmosphere just didn't feel very great (town atmosphere was great though). Even the crowd in clubs, it wasn't regular happy happy house music crowd.
I have felt more safe in raves which had grabbers and skellies cause they use to be there for music and out of no where they would be high fiving and hugging, very friendly.
Every club had criminal element present in ibiza, which made the night less enjoyable. (I could be wrong)

Departure
So after 5 days I cut my trip short because further closing parties gonna be the same over crowded mess, better to leave and Try Berlin in future to satisfy the little raver in me"for that one last special night."
On the way to airport, I was to myself I am not gonna return to ibiza again, this place isn't for me, maybe I am too old for it. Although The surroundings on the way seemed beautiful and I was to myself maybe I have missed something, the island isn't just evissa, playa den bossa and clubs.
As soon as I arrived at the airport lounge, I see this amazingly beautiful view of can't remember (sea or lake with tiny mountains). The view was seriously like some kinda beautiful melody and kept staring at it for good time and while boarding the plane said to myself are you sure you don't want to return to ibiza again for what you have missed.......

I had extensive discussion with a posh restaurant owner in ibiza about the island, people, atmosphere, my observations. He summed it up: Ibiza is like a theater, don't take it seriously, enjoy it and leave on time. Don't get involved too deep it will suck you in.
 
you said it yourself, ibiza is not just clubs and certainly not just ibiza town and playa d‘en bossa. you missed out on the real beauty of the island and yeah, you obviously mischose a few nights too.

next time focus on the island as such and choose 1 to 2 club nights only. we‘ll gladly help you to find a suitable party which will meet what you‘re actually after
 
you said it yourself, ibiza is not just clubs and certainly not just ibiza town and playa d‘en bossa. you missed out on the real beauty of the island and yeah, you obviously mischose a few nights too.

next time focus on the island as such and choose 1 to 2 club nights only. we‘ll gladly help you to find a suitable party which will meet what you‘re actually after

I definitely want to return back for what I have missed on the island.

"Mischose few nights"
It was an unplanned trip, maybe I should have come up with a plan (parties were limited on the dates I was on the island, didn't have much to choose), seeing positive reviews about DC-10 and afterlife thought I won't be able to go wrong with them.

How was your experience on these nights, specially DC-10 ?

"Stivi, thanks for all the activity and posts on the forum, they are always super helpful"
 
@Dingo - afterlife closing was always gonna be super packed. and if you are sensitive to that, it's simply better to stay away. if you know it's going to be rammed and you know you won't enjoy it because of that, then no line up in the world will make that change. I for one have accustomized to over-capacity clubs and can still enjoy it, but I do very much understand that lots of people are annoyed at that.

as for the dc10 party, I was there that night and even though it was very busy, I did enjoy it. I didn't do the closing though because I was on the verge of getting properly sick and preferred to stay at home and be ok again within 2 days instead of going and doing the closing and then be ill for a full week.
 
@stivi
There is very fine line for being rammed and overcrowding, there should be some sort of check & balance though, cause incase of fire or any other accident, it would be impossible to evacuate even half of the the attendees at current stage.

Don't you think the sound system for DC-10, such a popular club is below average?

Out of all the clubs & nights, what would you rate the best in terms of vibe, music and sound system.
 
agree re overcrowding but it‘s been like this on the island for decades...

dc10‘s soundystem as such is really good I think. but the team of sound techs has changed last year (I think) and ever since then, it‘s just not as well-equalized/tuned as before. it‘s too loud too, but there‘s earplugs for that.

last question is not one I can answer with just one reply. pacha‘s new soundsystem deserves a mention. cocoon is musically still my favourite night. best vibe...that‘s not a constant one. been to some amazing circolocos, cocoons, solomun+1s and some more, but all of them also had 'flatter' dates
 
reads like the sort of post I would've written 10 years ago !

the moral of the story:

go in-season for the beach
go out-of-season for the music
 
reads like the sort of post I would've written 10 years ago !

the moral of the story:

go in-season for the beach
go out-of-season for the music

Out-of-season for the music, :eek:
Not sure if clubs would be still open, even in early October choices were extremely limited.
 
I can understand ur point of view (overrated parties, overrated djs, & so on...), u may saw me ,on your sight as i was in all parties u've been


Dc10 sardines effet..it tooked me some time to gt used to it :lol: ...u can still find some place in the garden
Terrace is Hell, i ve been there closing , alone at first shaken by all people then 40mn later making a pack with italians ive met past parties and spanish friend raver...met some mates but they have their own dj's taste but always cool to meet know faces on the dancefloors in order to feel safer (with all those rude people, better have friends on the dancefloor) (ita mates,french dj & so on...)

For Hi ibz, u don't know all tips to walk easy/split the crowd, in this club by using the left smoke aera or right vip smoke aera...in order to look for WC. i never queu for Wc in all ibz clubs more than 1mn and never at HI :cool:, unless u want the lock door to do ur stuff :spank:
club theatre the room on left was packed along afterlife closing.

Underground, i find rhadoo boring , even mates told me its gonne be mental :D, i left after 2hours.
Apollonia was boring too, only Tini was OK.

lot of small clubs in ibiza...

I'm sober all night, and find some music very VERY BORING :D

Interestingly I found out small Dj's plays better set as compared to heavy weights of DC-10 and Hi, even bora bora had better set than "afterlife Hi" (Mainly small Dj's are giving 110% to put their name in the scene, and the big guys just want to fly private, cash-in their brand only).

Bora bora djs played nice music...even i stayed only 45mn along this year, for their closing but will pay more attention for ibz 19.

Maybe , next time find a mate? as enjoyin ibz solo is not really fun..and gather more valuable info, as ibz is feucking expensive
don't get fooled by just one visit.
..i'm gonna do ibz 19 on a very VERY LOW buget :p

it seemed there was a group of 5-7 young lads, not really there for the music, something was sketchy about them, even their moustaches and "swag" o_O (pick pockets? Maybe)
sounds my same definition of pickpockets :lol:
 
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Sorry to hear your trip didn't live up to what you hoped.

However I think with better planning you could have a better experience so don't rule out going back.

Don't buy '1g' for €150 for a start aha
 
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