As the white isle reaches fever pitch, we give the lowdown on the island’s clubs…
As the 2014 Ibiza season passes its halfway stage, Defected’s Ben Lovett delivers a mid-term report on the state of the island’s many club nights, and reflects on the White Isle’s future.
Ibiza was a troubled playground last summer, with rising prices, VIP politics and accusations of boring, homogenised club nights (catalysed by the erosion of exclusivity contracts between venue and DJ) all contributing to a slightly sullied review of the island’s musical offering. There was hope, upon the last of the season’s glorious Balearic sunsets, that things might improve in 2014 – forewarned is forearmed. Alas, many of the same issues remain and seem to be escalating.
Earlier this month, a BBC Radio 1 report on the costs of Ibiza partying suggested price hikes on everything from door entry to bar cocktails were starting to spoil the White Isle’s magic. Paul Oakenfold, an Ibiza veteran who brought early word of its delights to the British mainstream back in the late Eighties, commented: “I feel like they are ripping us off. It just gets more and more expensive.” Swedish House Mafia’s Steve Angello added: “It [Ibiza] was more of a tastemaker, a musical discovery, than it is now. Now it is about selling tickets and big names, it has become what it is everywhere else. The mystique of Ibiza isn’t there anymore.” And even if there’s more than a hint of irony that accompanied the comments from these big name, handsomely paid DJs, there is also a ring of truth to the them.
Radio 1’s report indicated that the average package holiday to Ibiza, for one week, costs £500; an amount that soon ramps up following entry to the island’s top five clubs (each up to €70, or £55) and beverages (starting at €15 or £11.90). However, Oakenfold conceded that in an era where DJs have become the main ‘rock star’ attraction, prices have risen in order to cover their soaring fees.
The reference to rock stars brings us seamlessly on to continuing talk around VIP culture. Ibiza’s champagne-popping gentrification has accelerated over the past two seasons in line, partly, with EDM’s bombastic assault of the island’s key territories. EDM, driven by celebrity-status DJs and the wads of industry cash behind them, shows no sign of slowing down. And as the local authorities encourage visitation by wealthy VIPs in their long-term attempts to smarten the image of the island, so Ibiza’s focus continues to drift away from genuinely innovative music. “This VIP culture today is bollocks” Glitterbox resident Dave ‘Joey Negro’ Lee told this website only a few weeks ago. “And things are more commercialised. I was at a restaurant on the island recently and they were playing banging electro which didn’t make any sense and sounded awful.” Lee’s jarring experience is, perhaps, an apt reflection of the wider island.
Where does all this leave the dancefloors that matter? In truth, many of them have been quiet over the first half of the season. The World Cup, throughout June and July, has also had an effect here. Carl Cox’s Tuesday night Revolution residency at Space was, according to reports, sparse early into the summer. Cox, in times gone by, has drawn the biggest Ibiza crowds. Elsewhere, Guy Gerber’s relocation from Pacha to Plan Be (more on that later) this year was keenly noted – his marquee underground party Wisdom Of The Glove (complete with £150,000 of metal glove suspended above the floor in place of bog standard mirrorball) failing to survive at Pacha within Ibiza’s changing climate.
And what of Gatecrasher? This February, reports were rife that the club’s management team were accelerating plans to open in Ibiza despite a trail of messy financial incidents in the preceding months – the Gatecrasher group had entered administration last August, supposedly owing millions to over 233 creditors and forced to close its Leeds venue; a new company, Gatecrasher Birmingham, formed in the immediate aftermath but reports of further debts and unpaid staff persisted. Come May, Gatecrasher Ibiza was opening at Eden and further issues were immediately round the corner – Creche’s residency was quickly terminated, so too Speakerbox and Mistajam, Kisstory, Bedlam and a number of prominent DJs including Eddie Halliwell, Afrojack and Danny Howard cancelled their appearances.
White Isle talk suggests the club is on its last legs but the club is still operating and, last week, it offered a defiant official statement: “2014 has been a tough season for all venues in Ibiza, not just Gatecrasher, it has been challenging to say the least, we have made some mistakes but we are in a much better position to deal with the challenges in 2015. Of course people have been entitled to refunds for any pre-booked line ups and events that have changed as a result and we do our best to communication this. Gatecrasher Birmingham and Gatecrasher Ibiza both remain open for business.”
There have, on the other hand, been successes. Richie Hawtin’s ENTER, also at Space, has once again set its stall out with imaginative, interactive concepts rather that, solely, stellar performers. Hawtin’s beloved Japanese-themed Sake bar is back, as well as the interactive tables and installations at which guests can make their own music and the thoughtfully prepared line-ups mixing underground mainstays like Apollonia and Maceo Plex with leftfield iconoclasts Demdike Stare and Pye Corner Audio. Last week’s gathering, featuring Hawtin alongside Adam Beyer, Tale Of Us and Recondite was a particular highlight.
Only one night in, island veterans Manumission (Mike & Claire with Friday special Phantasmagoria to be precise) are promising much. Last week’s offbeat fusion of circus (yes, with trademark nudity), song and lowdown disco soundtrack has been viewed as storming success, rather than just curious talking point. The night also incorporates filmic content chosen specially by the likes of Samantha Morton, Howard Marks and Seth Troxler.
Moving on, Marco Carola’s Music On (Amnesia), Steve Lawler’s VIVa Warriors (Sankeys) and Defected nights In The House and Glitterbox (Booom!) are all performing robustly. Glitterbox, in particular, a new night, has steadily built its audience after an admittedly slow start – its unique and timeless fusion of house and disco appealing to both commercial and underground bases, and attracting many of Ibiza’s biggest, most colourful characters. The early reports from Resident Advisor and Essential Ibiza are glowing.
It’s worth returning to Sankeys for a moment. Owner David Vincent faced financial oblivion when funding the club’s launch in 2011 and many thought he wouldn’t make it. Sankeys, however, is still here and, on the merits of June and July’s performance this summer, riding high. By rejecting EDM’s advances, embracing no-frills warehouse decor and sticking to a £30-odd entry price, Vincent has truly cemented his place on the island. “We’ve pissed on our own little territory” he tells the Guardian this month. “We’re Manchester that’s landed right in the centre of Ibiza. We represent that low-ceilinged, pressure-box atmosphere. These clubs are different rides, Ushuaia is Disneyland and Sankeys is the ghost train.” Last year, Vincent adds, Ibiza struggled from “too much supply and not enough demand; clubs like Pacha were trying to be cool, rather than be what they are.” Sankeys, under Vincent’s able command, is giving Ibiza fans what they actually want.
Make no mistake, though, Ibiza remains under heavy attack on a number of fronts – both internal and external. The influx, this year, of designer drug MDPV (nicknamed ‘bath salts’) has already led to a number of violent incidents, including the frenzied biting of a police officer. The developments have led to Spanish anti-drugs police calling for international assistance to help regulate the island. Meanwhile the shutting down by police of Luciano’s opening Luciano & Friends party at open-air Cova Santa in July suggests a return to stricter social and anti-noise pollution enforcements by local authorities. The delayed opening this season of Pacha’s Cap Martinet resort Destino, owing to severe legislative controls, and the permanent closure of Santa Eulalia-based Plan Be (formerly Ibiza’s newest open-air club, and originally set for Gerber’s new Rumors night), because of council interference, only strengthen that argument.
Luxury space Ushuaia is still licensed for outdoor revelry and has created something of a halo effect for other, smaller resorts along the Playa d’en Bossa strip but many commentators argue that this is far from the renaissance of Ibiza’s original free party spirit; rather a money-motivated exception made by the authorities to exploit Ushuaia’s VIP associations.
Even if local planning laws and council permissions were easier, there is still increasingly bitter segregation between the island’s EDM and underground camps. In May Seth Troxler rather infamously labelled EDM kingfish Steve Aoki an “overpaid, untalented, cake-throwing, performing monkey”. It was a punchy exemplar of Balearic tensions. And whilst DJs in Ibiza continue to agitate and aggravate, Las Vegas grows vastly bigger – securing deals with many of clubland’s heaviest hitters, extending its young but already highly significant VIP market, and taking away audience share from the Med. Closer to home, the islands of Croatia and Greece are presenting cheaper, wholly credible dance holiday alternatives and even mainland Europe, with its vibrant line-up of both EDM and underground festivals, is a rival destination to Ibiza across the summer months.
Possibly Ibiza’s biggest talking point so far this season is the coming together of unlikely brands in order to broaden appeal and solidify profits. The shining example would have to be partnership between super-deep Space night Kehakuma and riotous Vista Club enterprise ElRow – their fresh Saturday evening collaboration has gone down a storm. More impactful than this, Fuse Meets Next Wave has seen London and Ibiza’s respective promotional powerhouses team up at Sankeys for a fluid dancefloor ‘collabo’ which judging by the opening party late last month promises electric things over the rest of the season.
The island’s cynics are, of course, claiming that this bolting together of disparate parties is reactive short-termism designed to plaster over the current season’s financial cracks – Ibiza has endured a slow start to 2014 and promoters, amidst everything else happening on their island, need to get quickly back on track with whatever it takes. Where, the cynics argue, is the White Isle’s long-term strategy?
It goes without saying that the level of expectation for the rest of this year’s season is now sky high. The island isn’t going to resolve all of its issues over the following two months but the sincere hope is that it will deliver grounds for major optimism next summer. There have been some killer parties in recent weeks. A fair few more across August and September will help stabilize Ibiza’s reputation and best prepare it for the inevitable challenges ahead. That is absolutely essential.
Defected In The House is at Booom Ibiza every Tuesday throughout the season – click for full event listings
Glitterbox is at Booom Ibiza every Saturday throughout the season – click for full event listings
Defected presents Glitterbox Ibiza 2014 is out 11 August (digital) on Defected Records –order from iTunes
