Hola! Como estas?!!
Well…my toes are only just recovering from another mind-blowing Saturday night. They were actually numb the whole day yesterday but it’s a sign of a good night isn’t it? More about that later...
I hit Ibiza Rocks last Tuesday. I wouldn’t call myself a ‘band-music’ kinda girl but the headliner on Tuesday held a rather special place in my heart. Ian Brown will always remind me of Ibiza and the fun I had in the summer of 2007. Me and my new found friend Emma blasted him constantly on the stereo whilst smoking cigarettes and driving across the island on various missions so I ended up loving him; partly because of the memories he evokes but mostly because I genuinely liked his music.
The hotel itself is a great idea; although we’re in Ibiza – the home of electronic music – the majority of Brits love their bands. Ibiza Rocks has been running a few years now and used to be in the back room of Manumission as well as having a night at Bar M. I clearly remember a rather scary moment in 2004 with Pete Doherty performing with a knife in his shirt pocket! He wasn’t exactly the steadiest of performers, so the knife (blade upright) kept jumping up out of the pocket towards his face (the knife’s purpose was later revealed as he carved various pictures and words into the tree in the middle of the bar).
Anyway back to the hotel; it’s a 20 year-old's dream playground. You can listen to bands all day long by the pool, watch a gig from your balcony every Tuesday, get entrance to the after-party at Es Paradis, get spotted whilst doing Rockeoke, be surrounded by other hot indie-kids and actually stay in nice accommodation rather than a cockroach-ridden cheap budget hotel somewhere else in San An. Plus instead of carrying money around with you everywhere you just have to top up at the allocated desks and get given black-jack chips to exchange for food and drink. There are loads of super-cool huge photos around and quirky furniture dotted about the place – all appropriately rock ‘n’ roll!
Once inside it’s off up to the VIP balcony for me where I am greeted by various friends. Soon after, Ian Brown walks on sporting his obligatory shades and nonchalantly chewing gum. After a couple of ‘Al-rights’ in his thick Mancunian accent he blasts into ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ from his Stone Roses days;…not bad for a man just a couple of years shy of his 50th birthday, and although the quality of his voice deteriorates a little after the first number but he is forgiven by the songs he pulls out the bag. I look around at all the balconies and everyone is having a ball. Downstairs it’s a stadium atmosphere and my other ‘band-music’ hating friend is having a great time. No smashing up of kit or knives in pockets, but he did gob on a security man (accidentally I’m sure!) so he’s still a rock-star to me!
So…back to my numb toes. Saturday was exceptional and the amount of dancing that went was the cause of the damage. It was a real Defected ‘family’ line-up; just like hanging out with some old friends. We started off at Mambo of course and had some food before the Shapeshifters hit the decks with a beautiful slow version of ‘Lola’s Theme’. Shovell warrior wafted about the place with incense sticks, before we headed off to Pacha where I had to help the Drum Warrior with his make-up. Now boys, you would have been jealous but although I was there to help Shovell, there were potentially more ‘interesting’ things going on in those dressing rooms. However, I am lady, and ladies never disclose the secrets of other ladies, so I can’t report on exactly what I saw, but sufficed to say it was enough to raise the pulse a little.
Once Shovell was suitably glittered and in his new costume for this season, it was out to make sure everyone was drunk and having fun. I bumped into Emma B (former Radio 1 presenter) in the DJ Box saying ‘hi’ to everyone and excitedly telling me how fantastic it was; I think she said ‘wow’ about 3 times in a row at one point! Mahamadou Diarra from Real Madrid was partying in VIP after telling Simon Shapeshifters in the hotel gym how excited he was to go to Defected that night at Pacha without realising the guy he was talking to would be controlling the music for the evening!
The atmosphere was incredible all night and half an hour before closing we were as rammed as we were at 2.30…I wondered how we would actually tell these people the night was over! Sadly another night had to end and my numb feet and I left the club to another beautiful morning in Ibiza already looking forward to next Saturday…my favourite night of the week!
Bex
xxx
Defected In The House will be at Pacha every Saturday throughout the season - click here for full listings and you can buy tickets for any night here.
