Page 61 - Zone Magazine Issue 017

Ibiza Report
I
n the past couple of years of working for Zone, one frequent occurrence is that I'm often travelling around the globe writing about events. Something I love doing, but this time it was even more special
than usual. In August, when good friend and progressive wunderkind Paul Hawcroft planned his stag do for his upcoming wedding in September, he decided to celebrate it in Ibiza.
With ten other Plymouthians we all set off for just under a week in the hotter than usual rave island. I should have listened to an advanced warning that the island would probably be even hotter than the ridiculous heat I expected due to the time of year and also much more populated than usual because it was the Radio 1 weekend, but never mind.
Arriving on the island early Thursday morning, with jet lag surprisingly kicking in after a two-hour flight, the day was spent in the sun and after a decent swim and a more beer consumption than was previously thought possible. Thursday night arrived and the majority of us headed to Cream at the mighty Amnesia. Boasting a diverse lineup featuring Trance Allstars Ferry Corsten (who recently released a track from Plymouth's very own 'Leo Dantes' on his Flashover imprint), Paul Van Dyk, Vini Vici and Will Atkinson in the main room, and Fatboy Slim, Radio 1's Danny Howard, Camelphat and Anthony Probyn in the Terrace, we knew we were in for a top night.
Surprisingly Will was warming up, but as regular listeners to his radio 1 show will notice, he is a huge techno fan and built night evening up well with some quality and chunky tech laden grooves. Ferry Corsten played a blinder and a half too, again demonstrating why he is one of the finest DJs the world has to offer. I was dragged into the terrace by my friends to hear the sounds of Danny Howard, who played tonnes of chunky house that worked well for the rather busy club. 'Din Daa Daa' by Claptone vs George Kranz ended up being sang left right and center by all ten of us during the remainder of the holiday as a result of this night. Fatboy Slim also played a wonderful set, showing diversity in genres but managing to blend them so well.
After hitting it ridiculously hard and having a hangover the size of Sussex, we all decided to take it easy on the Friday night, but a quick trip to Mambo was definitely on the cards. Whilst it was enjoyable to see the sunset, we were saving ourselves for the Saturday.
Whilst managing to make the majority of our group urge with my quirky breakfast choices (Swordfish & Tabasco Sauce with shitloads of chips definitely does the damage when hungover!), spending the majority of the
day Swimming or on the beach and necking yet more alcohol, we all ventured to the awe inspiring Privilege for Creamfields.
When we arrived, Danny Howard was warming things up with a little bit more of a lighter set than he played at Cream on Thursday, but still managing to rock the place! Fellow Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac took to the decks next and mixed up a variety of tech house numbers before throwing in classics like 'Hideaway' by De'Lacy and 'Running' by Alan Braxe & Fred Falke. Next up was the turn of Kolsch from Radio 1's The Residency. One thing I love about his sets is the way he manages to mix up lots of genres and throw in a few surprises you weren't expecting. This was definitely the case tonight, dropping tracks such as the wonderful 'The Solution' by Rob Hes on Tronic, and the absolutely cained techno belter 'Summer' by Davide Mancini. I thought not much could top his set to be fair, but I decided to catch the opening of Above & Beyond's set, and they excelled themselves with the production. Featuring some of their well-known numbers including Grum's new reinterpretation of Shout by 'Tears For Fears'.
Realising that one of my favourite DJs, Radio 1's B.Traits was on in the other room I ventured in there and she played one of the best sets I've heard her play in ages. Including legendary productions 'Hood Thang' by 2000 And One, 'My Machine 909' and 'Clap Your Hands' by Scottish techno heroes Slam and the awesome Pique & Darkside new remix of 'Good Life' by Inner City. This was easily the set of the weekend for me.
Sunday saw a brief return to Privilege again for the awesome Suara, who had a label party with Audiojack, Doctor Dru and label boss Coyu! It wasn't as populated as the previous night for Creamfields, but was still a quality evening with Coyu especially stealing the show.
For the final evening on the island we ventured on to numerous bars and pubs in San Antonio before getting our retro fix with Strictly Oldskool Presents Ibiza Trance Anthems. It was good to see Dave Pearce and Tall Paul still going strong with awesome sets from the pair of them, also nice to catch the wicked Vicky Devine end the eve with some absolute gems, and it has to be said resident Sam Rutherford played a huge opening set. However, set of the evening for me has to go to Holland's Signum. Literally fusing new mixes of classics with some of his older tracks from yesteryear and keeping the energy levels high worked rather well!
That was it for this year as on the Tuesday I was feeling that mortal that it took extensive effort to not throw up my body weight in San Miguel from the previous days. Oooft. The main thing is, the stag really enjoyed the trip, it was good to not get as sunburned as last year and lots of quality music was heard!
Thanks to all who very kindly provided guest list for us and look forward to catching you all at Amsterdam Dance Event in October!
Words By Louk