As the 2014 Ibiza season draws to a close, Defected's Ben Lovett delivers a end of season review on the state of the island's many club nights, and reflects on the White Isle's future.
Enough has been sceptically said about Ibiza already this summer – that prices are continuing to rise (vodka Red Bulls the cost of small mortgages), that the authorities are returning to former draconian heights in terms of regulating parties, that our scene’s very best underground music is under threat from the rise of EDM (and with that, the rise of Las Vegas as ‘alt’ holiday mecca) and therefore promoters are scrabbling to secure all manner of random partnerships with other island brands in order to secure at least a short-term future.
All this, of course, came at the midway point of Ibiza’s 2014. So, now, with a bevy of closing parties in sight, are we any the wiser about Ibiza’s position? Do we feel better about its prospects for 2015? Let’s touch upon the ‘ongoing’ negatives first. Despite issuing a statement last month asserting that it remains open for business, Gatecrasher Ibiza has, it seems, quietly faded to silence. Reports of financial turmoil had been swirling around the owners for some time, and a number of Ibiza promoters and artists soon cancelled their activity at the club. In recent weeks, a major banner advertising some of those performers has disappeared and Majim Marina Ibiza SL, the owners of the venue Gatecrasher uses, have spoken openly of turfing the brand out. There is still confusion as to what is officially happening at the former Eden site today but clubland chatter is piling up – Gatecrasher Ibiza is empty and those holiday revellers arriving late on the White Isle are snubbing it for fear of a wasted night out. 
Picturesque venue Cova Santa has also endured further problems, following the high-profile, police-enforced closure of Luciano & Friends’ opening party in July because of noise pollution. The historic space has not, traditionally, associated itself with Ibiza’s club scene, remaining a well-kept secret in the surrounds of San Jose. Police intervention actually forced the closure of the venue itself earlier this summer, Luciano moving elsewhere and Solomun (with a scheduled Diynamic Outdoor residency) faced with homelessness. Subsequently, Solomun negotiated a restricted four-date Cova Santa run but his 28 August party was to be scrapped due to ‘technical reasons’ prompting urgent (successful) relocation to Playa d’en Bossa’s Beach House.
Diynamic Outdoor’s remaining ‘Cova’ date last week (11 September) was also scrapped, nearby Sands Beach Bar stepping in. Meanwhile, a separate sweep of Diynamic dates at Pacha-owned Destino has rolled on without distraction. Cova Santa’s future as (open-air) club destination is therefore, many suggest, in doubt. Regardless of what has actually happened in recent weeks, blame is being attached to heftier social and anti-noise enforcement by local policy makers. 
On a brighter note Diynamic’s last minute saviour, Beach House, has built impressive impetus throughout August and September. Guy Gerber is a key factor, his Rumors shindig having moved from Santa Eulalia joint Plan Be (another ‘open air’ victim of interference by Ibiza’s authorities) to Playa d’en Bossa at the start of the summer. Rumors has injected the airy, fine dining surrounds of Beach House with tasteful tech-house edge. The venue is firmly associated with Ibiza’s burgeoning VIP culture - a swish crowd into upmarket spaghetti and Coco Chilli Mojitos pushing the electronic faithful onto the neighbouring beach with, actually, stunning results. Perhaps the original free-spirit of Ibiza is alive and kicking?
Critics will no doubt disagree. The fact that Gerber and audience are jumping around at the sandy fringes of all that posh eating, they’ll argue, can be viewed as a snapshot of the wider island – VIP rules the roost. The spectacle of the Mediterranean Grand Prix last week, and its glitzy, ‘haut monde’ following, certainly turbo charges the argument. Part of the World Powerboat Championships, the Ibiza race – best viewed from Playa d’en Bossa beach – has raised new questions about Ibiza’s cultural identity. Its benefit to the high-spending tourist trade and local economy can’t be denied but the monster roar of outboard engines will either drown out what remains of Ibiza’s original mellow spirit, or the pure tribal thump of its underground dance scene. Marco Carola’s Music On party actually sponsored one powerboat, it turns out, but luxury beach bar Nassau did so as well. On many levels Ibiza is as confused and distracted as ever.
But, rest assured, there have been some memorable parties of late. Cocoon at Amnesia is one of the island’s biggest, most established fixtures, yet it has entertained with the same maverick, indie spirit of old. If Sven Vath’s terrace share with ENTER boss Richie Hawtin on 18 August was a highlight, then Vath has more than matched it over later weeks – his acceleration through the cutting, deep house gears to some truly epic peaks of techno magnificence an experience to behold. Vath and Cocoon take nothing for granted, despite their sustained success.
Music On regular Joseph Capriati (another of Naples’ fine techno stock) debuted at Carl Cox’s Music Is Revolution party on 26 August and delighted with a superior selection of fluid, funky techno, whilst Jamie Jones’ Paradise affair at DC-10 (13 August) spread its five billed DJs across both rooms and totally smashed it. The party felt busy but, clearly, there was a little more space to move ‘n’ groove which only served to further enhance the work of Jones alongside Heidi, Craig Richards, Richy Ahmed and Catz ‘N Dogz. Interestingly, Paradise has been attracting an older, cosmo-Euro crowd across the second half of the season and the party’s vibe has matured. There is a wider sonic remit, chunky techno and house complimented now by everything from dubby skank, cosmic disco and even breakbeat. Jones’ team believes that in another couple of seasons, Paradise will comfortably occupy the whole club week in, week out – on this form, there’s no reason to doubt that.
Staying with DC-10, Movement Torino’s collaboration with Hi-Tek Soul on 30 August was, whilst a little less ‘occupied’, one of the spiritual highs of the season. Body & Soul veteran ‘Joe’ Claussell stirred his trademark melting point of eclectic afro and soul-dance sounds with entrancing dedication whilst Derrick May tore through a run of peppy house classics and rocked the loyal crowd off its feet. Their reaction was as enthused as that of a crowd 10 times as big.
Back in June Defected’s new Saturday night Glitterbox, at Booom!, was also faced with fewer numbers as it looked to find its feet in the busy homogenized Ibiza landscape brandishing something a bit different.. But how things have changed…. The last six parties, featuring a bold, pleasingly broad array of performers such as David Morales, Joey Negro, DJ Pippi, Hercules & Love Affair and FCL, have delivered in spades. As Dunmore put it in one interview: “Gradually word of mouth has spread and we’ve had massive support and attendances have been building steadily. We had Hercules & Love Affair play recently. It was actually my favourite night on the island this year because it wasn’t so packed that everyone was squeezed in and crushed, you could move about and dance.” And the music was good....
Defected’s sister Booom! night In The House, fuelled by a snappy line in upbeat 4-4, has been as rock solid as ever; and the remaining two parties will feature MK, Secondcity and Shadow Child (23 September) and Guti, Noir and Nick Curly (30 September). As for Glitterbox, savvy visitors can still expect glam, soulful fun from Joey Negro, CJ Mackintosh, Horse Meat Disco, Late Night Tuff Guy, Mo Funk and Shovell with a very special live PA from Barbara Tucker (20 September), not to mention Joey Negro, Dimitri From Paris, DJ Pippi back-to-back with DJ Antz, and Mr Doris with Shovell on percussion & the ultimate way to close the season with a live PA from India. (27 September’s big closing party).
There’s no doubt elements of Ibiza have become increasingly pedestrian – slave to the dubby Euro-favoured strains of house and techno regularly bossing Beatport’s top spots. Parties like Glitterbox, then, with a knowing nod to Ibiza’s open-minded past (not to mention Glitterbox guest Nightmare On Wax’s soulfully nourishing Wax Da Jam hangout at Las Dalias) are an important progression if the island is to maintain variety and, in turn, lasting appeal.
At the same time, many of the surprise brand partnerships derided by critics at the start of the summer as desperate, last-ditch marketing ploys by financially insecure clubs and promoters need to work harder; even if they’ve delivered some fresh musical ideas this year. Fuse and Next Wave’s tag-team at Sankeys hasn’t always reached full capacity this summer but its combination of sleek house and bass experimentation (the latter downstairs, naturally) has nonetheless captured diehard support and offered something truly different in the Balearic universe. Elsewhere, The Warehouse Project’s one-off collabo with We Love... at Space earlier this month (7 September) served scintillating tech-hip-house splicing fayre from Eats Everything and Richy Ahmed and hefty house-groove via Kerri Chandler but the club lacked any kind of special decor or theme; a disappointment compounded by Nicolas Jaar’s heartfelt but ultimately limp DJ swoon-scape. On the other hand, Kehakuma and Elrow’s ongoing tie-up – also at Space – has delivered theming in buckets (everything from plane wrecks to paddling pools to giant bright orange octopi) but the fusion of throbbing, party-hearty house and cerebral techno has failed. There is a sense that neither brand is really helping one another.
Ibiza has a few more great events left in her this season. Just look at some of the other closing party line-ups – ENTER’s closing party (2 October) promises Maya Jane Coles and Tale Of Us, We Love... has Bicep, Ben UFO and Gorgon City (28 September) and Ushuaia welcomes Marco Carola for an ‘all day’ solo extravaganza (4 October). Space itself wraps up 5 October with Agoria, Deep Dish, Disclosure, DJ Tennis and Visionquest (minus Seth Troxler) and Circo Loco bids DC-10 farewell 6 October; its closing line-up reported to include Apollonia, Martinez Brothers, Damian Lazarus and Seth Troxler. All good.
No-one was expecting Ibiza to fix the problems identified (or re-confirmed) over the first few weeks of the season. Indeed, the island’s authorities have continued to act with increased legislative vigour, whilst economic uncertainty has continued to circle many of its clubs and promoters – it’s hardly a springboard for the underground scene’s renaissance. Meanwhile, prices remain sky high for your typical dance-mad visitor; prices increasingly compatible only with the Ibiza’s dominant VIP market. The past few weeks have done little to suggest that such a market is likely shrink anytime soon and, stepping back to view the bigger picture, the island’s latest, radical shifts of cultural identity are surely a major cause for concern - there will be those starting to wonder if Ibiza can rightly claim to be dance music’s global epicentre in the future.
Nevertheless, we have witnessed some exceptional events and parties over the last two months. It was a sprinkling of really great shindigs towards the close of the season, we said last month, that would help stabilize the island’s reputation enough to send it back out next summer with the very real prospect of turning things round. The road ahead is long but there are glimpses enough that Ibiza can have a brighter season in 2015. And, crucially, there is recognition within key parts of the club community that the island isn’t where it needs to be, and strong accompanying feelings to try and make a difference. Wildly scattered they may be, but the pieces are all still there with which to restore Ibiza’s sonic fortunes….
Words: Ben Lovett
For more info on Defected’s Ibiza parties Defected In The House and Glitterbox visit http://defected.com/events/
Defected presents The Closing Party 2014, out now - order from iTunes
