A quarter century in the clubbing world is no easy feat. Add to that Space Ibiza’s sustained recognition as one of the world’s best clubs, and it’s easy to realise how special the place really is.
Seeing as it was a special occasion and we were being treated, I arrived early to catch some of the artists out playing on the huge outdoor stage. This usually only happens twice a season, for the opening and the closing, so it wasn’t something I was going to miss.
I arrived to the pumping sounds of German house head Tiefschwarz, and the ubiquitous DJ Koze remix of Moderat’s ‘Bad Kingdom’, in particular. The track has been seen some heavy airplay from all corners this season, and when the razor-like bass line kicks in it truly has a powerful impact on the dance floor.
Tiefschwarz then made way for the veteran duo, Layo & Bushwacka. The experienced pair proceeded to pummel their way through some heavy duty tech-house, as if it was peak-time, really pushing the swelling crowd as the golden sunset began to disperse over the mass of bodies.
After taking a short break to view a certain momentous game of football in Brazil, I returned to Detroit legend Carl Craig laying down some taut four-to-the-floor cuts. As the set came to a close, Carl dropped Floorplan’s ‘Never Grow Old’, with its soaring soulful vocal stirring up a feverish swell of dance floor emotion.
Carl left the decks with an array of dancers up on stage, birthday balloons floating, performers on stilts making their way through the crowd and an explosion of shimmering confetti covering us all.
Space’s owner, Pepe Rosello, then appeared on stage to address the now packed crowd, with everyone handed sparklers, he sang happy birthday and launched into encore including John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. It was here that I felt the true spirit of Ibiza, the carefree uplifting atmosphere pervasive throughout this band of Ibiza revellers.
After the hugely uplifting finale, it was time to get lost inside, the energy buzz spurring me on to another nocturnal adventure within the walls of this hallowed Ibiza clubbing mecca we call Space. This wasn’t before a frantic dash behind the scenes to have a quick chat to the legend himself, Carl Craig, however. Read it here.
I headed over to the Terrace to catch Jimmy Edgar and the vibrant atmosphere inside instilled unlimited amounts of energy and enthusiasm amongst the party-goers. The Terrace was amongst the busiest times I’ve seen it so far this season, and that amount of people in one room ensures peak time fireworks. Edgar rifled through frantic Detroit style offerings, providing rugged aggressive percussion by the bucket load – perfect for spicing proceedings up.
The Discoteca saw Nina Kraviz engaging the crowd with hard dark techno before making way for the surprise act of the night, 2manydjs. As the lasers poured across the room, the sweaty pack of party goers continued to move wildly with an abundance of arms-aloft moments served up by the Belgians. The most striking thing about 2manydjs is the way they aggressively seize your attention and maintain a grip on your senses throughout the set with unexpected and fun reworks of tracks from all over the musical spectrum.
The Belgian pair have an undeniably unique style, melding huge hits from outside the dance floor such as MGMT’s ‘Kids’ and David Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’, with their brand of heavy electro-style dance music. By playing these sing-along anthems they manage to connect the crowd in an enthralling way.
Following up in the Discoteca was Fatboy Slim– a man who you can guarantee to attract huge hoards of wild fans. Full of energy as ever (and sporting the bare foot look) – Norman Cook pays particular attention to the art of the enormous drop. Flying through his set at breakneck speed, there was the perpetual sense that another big blast of bass was going to be fired into the raucous melee, and as always, he flirted with his huge hits such as ‘Praise You’, taking delight in the crowd’s huge reaction every time they heard one of these famous snippets.
Back over on the Terrace the packed room kept the buzz in the air as Tensnake subsequently stepped up. For the rest of the evening the Terrace was all about the accessible pop side of house music, with Tensnake serving up plenty of recognisable house tracks that combined bouncing bass lines with sweet melodies, and of course, his huge hit ‘Coma Cat’, he won’t go anywhere without playing that one.
Continuing to run with this musical theme was the UK chart-house sensation Route 94 playing back-to-back with the larger-than-life Skream. Again the pair trod the path between pop-style house music of the day and some more underground offerings, such as the sturdy ‘90s house stomp of ‘Jungle Line’ by Sundowners and Mystic Bill – all of which did the trick in keeping the heaving dance floor more than happy.
The most intriguing set of the night was Erick Morillo’s exclusive four hour set on the Terrace. The Terrace had been rammed from the beginning of the night and by this time there was no sign of letting up, the party-goers were even more amped up after the previous few hours of high-energy house music had truly got bodies moving.
Morillo was taking people on a journey through all corners of house music, from the rolling tech-house that is ever-present on the White Isle, to jacking vocal oriented cuts, through to dark contemporary tracks such as ‘So High’ by Hot Since 82. The set built towards a huge crescendo consisting of head-down grooves, huge tense build-ups and the frequent icy chill of CO2 cannons blasting down your neck – the mood was infectious to say the least.
As Morillo took things deeper in the early hours of the morning, it was time to head home.
On leaving, the overriding feeling was one of energy. The pervasive celebratory party spirit of Ibiza had been encapsulated, and the music almost became secondary to that hedonistic spirit. Happy birthday Space.