And so it began after all the buzz and hype of recent weeks – Glitterbox finally opened for its second season in Ibiza. Glitterbox’s grand opening at Space last Friday (12 June) followed the ecstatic finale of a bold debut residency at Booom! last year which built gradually and ended as something utterly unstoppable. If Glitterbox’s disruption of the White Isle status quo took an understandable period of time to bed in, then its run throughout July and August was mightily impressive. On-island word of mouth started to kick in alongside supportive reaction from a wider tranche of clubland’s cognoscenti, and so a contemporary legend was born.
It’s a reputation that hasn’t faded during the months between summers. In fact the intensity of expectation has increased. So how did Glitterbox fare upon its return? The Pulse Radio crew says it best: “This was easily one of the most genuinely fun times we’ve had out of all the opening parties. It felt like Glitterbox was one of the few nights that had actually succeeded in bringing back the ‘real Ibiza’ ethos - great music, great lights and spectacle, and full of all kinds of crazy characters happily dancing away together without any attitude or pretensions.”
And the shift of venue? Space is world renowned but changes to any successful club night’s make-up can prove risky. “Walking into Space was a mesmerising experience” offered Ibiza Voice’s own review of the 2015 opening. “We were greeted by the artist Mark Wardel’s stunning visuals in giant scale at the entrance, an impressive paparazzi board with flashlights shooting off everywhere as the beautiful, strange and wonderful clamoured for attention. Turning towards the Sunset Terrace before us was a scene alive with enchanting, twinkling lights, myriad flecks of glitter reflecting from the many mirrorballs suspended around the room.”
Glitterbox radiates a forever classic fusion of house and disco that respects the versatile, free spirit roots of Ibiza’s past within a framework of contemporary club production. It is old meeting new; it is the warm embracing of all dance lovers and creation of a unique and powerful new White Isle community. Glitterbox’s vibrant emphasis on aural, sexual and aesthetic release promises so much for the rest of the summer.
Back to last week’s opening as proof.... “Perhaps the real stars of the show tonight...were the dragaliciousgenderfuck dancers from the Sink The Pink collective” Pulse Radio’s Miriam Johnson remarks, “who not only killed their routine but did it in heels and ridiculous retro costumes.... I felt proud to see the great-music-plus-gay-friendly formula working so well...all-inclusiveness, of course, being a big part of the original Ibiza party ethos.”
Adds Essential Ibiza: “This is a party that unites the tribes, from the glamorous chicas in their 5 inch heels to the cool club kids; when it comes to disco, everything goes.... The [opening] night was so colourful, with bright pinks and purples and the Glitterbox logo cast in multi-coloured lights across the brick walls. The dry ice cast a hazy mist across the dancefloor and when the confetti cannon exploded and the lights burst into life, the room looked incredible.”
Glitterbox’s glamorous, joyfully unfettered celebration is further reflected by Ibiza Voice. “The room seemed re-born into the Studio 54 tradition” William Dexter concludes, the confetti having settled. “...full of eye-watering splits, practically double-jointed pirouettes, thrusting twerks and high-velocity vogue-ing....Barely into its second season, it feels that Glitterbox has the recipe for what is a classic Ibiza party just about right.”
“There’s been something missing on the White Isle since Glitterbox’s salacious Closing Party last season, so to say that the sense of anticipation was palpable doesn’t even begin to do it justice” Ibiza Voice concludes. At a time when Ibiza is dominated by “de rigueur” underground tech-house – (and, conversely, EDM) - there is space, it argues, for “a night that’s all about what the original Ibiza parties used to encapsulate: great music mixing vocals and melodies with deeper, more tribal sounds, genuine style and, above all, an almighty sense of fun. [Glitterbox] is an anything goes, all-inclusive gathering of all kinds of tribes. It’s the place where you’ll find a vital mixture of cool club kids to the glamorous, high-heeled international party set, seasoned island dwellers and disco hipsters with a shared love of the music all dancing to the same beat, and with a shared sense that this might just be the start of something rather special.”
The common consensus is that Glitterbox is off to a flying start in 2015. “The Glitterbox crew has done an amazing job...it has a real back in the day New York City discotheque feel about it...it has brought its A-game....[The opening] ticked all the boxes and then some” says Essential Ibiza. “With line-ups looking very solid every week, this is one party you won’t want to miss out on” affirms Pulse Radio.
Enough said. Here’s to more gorgeously glittering occasions in the sultry Balearic weeks ahead....
For more info on Glitterbox, head to www.glitterboxibiza.com Tickets via http://shop.spaceibiza.com/
Defected presents Glitterbox Ibiza 2015 is out now (3CD / Digital) on Defected Records - iTunes and DStore
Glitterbox makes its London debut at Ministry of Sound Saturday 25 July - full line-up and tickets
