In her penultimate blog of the season, Jelena looks back over some of the highlights from 4 months on the White Isle...
In anticipation of the Defected In The House Closing Party at Pacha, Ibiza this following Saturday, the only thing I feel (apart from being exhausted) is amazed by how quickly the last 18 weeks have passed! Defected set foot in Ibiza this season to mix things up, and true to their intentions, they did indeed cause quite a stir. The new talent, alongside the label’s veteran artists, had the entire Island buzzing with anticipation week in and week out. The IMS lot at the beginning of the summer were not wrong when they had proclaimed this season ‘the year of change’.
In what follows, I’ll be taking you through some of the defining moments of the 2012 season for Defected, as well as reminiscing on some of the most unforgettable nights across the White Isle.
Defected In The House Opening Party, 26th May
Defected started off a bit earlier this year in order to coincide with the International Music Summit happening just across the road at the Ibiza Gran Hotel earlier the same day - and what an opening party it was! Promoters can never predict how nights will go so early in the season given the relative scarcity of flights and tough competition from a plethora of opening parties, and this was no exception for Defected. With the likes of Space’s Opening Fiesta scheduled for the following day and Vagabundos opening at the same venue later that week, nerves were riding a little high as they were about to open for the summer. But in true Defected fashion, the night went off. Simon Dunmore opened for the Shapeshifters who lead perfectly into Bob Sinclar’s bangin’ set – the crowd went mental! We could already tell back then that this season was going to be special…
Tensnake and Solomun, 22nd September
I understand that this is just last week I’m talking about, and yes, there have been so many memorable moments during the season, but last weekend’s party pretty much sums the season up. Defected’s top man, Simon Dunmore, took over the decks from the ever effective Andy Baxter and prepared the floor superbly for Tensnake and the lovely Syron who performed “Mainline”; a World Exclusive on Tongy’s “Essential Mix” on Radio 1 just a few days earlier. Then followed the man of the moment who took the Pacha dance floor to a whole new level. Playing for the fourth time at Pacha for Defected this season, Solomun firmly established himself as the DJ of the year with another blinding set. Indeed, as I write, the DJ Awards’ cocktail ceremony is about to kick off and it will be of no surprise if Solomun goes home with the coveted kryptonite statue for best deep house DJ…
Pirupa – Party Non Stop
Speaking of the DJ Awards, it would be oh so wrong, for the Italian born DJ / producer, not to snatch the green statue for best track of the summer. ‘Party Nonstop’ has been played by pretty much every respectable artist this summer in Ibiza and, even though no tracks have reached the levels of playtime as Jamie Jones’ remix of Azarii & III’s ‘Hungry for the Power’ back in 2011, Pirupa is very likely to be (and should be) voted a winner.
Ibiza 123 Festival – July, San Antonio
Despite widespread skepticism across the Island regarding the likely success of the event, the IMS bunch, in collaboration with the super powerful Live Nation, brought Sting, Elton John and Lenny Kravitz together as headliners for this unique rocktronic experience. There are already talks of the festival being around for three more years and I can’t wait to see which legendary artists are announced for next year.
Enter at Space
Taking place inside of Kehakuma, Richie Hawtin and M-nus crew transformed Space, Ibiza into a dark dungeon; a true Mecca for dirty beats. There are four defining features/moments worthy of a special mention: the 10pm set time at ENTER which always guaranteed a big name deejay (Dubfire, Maya Jane Coles to name but a few); bringing Sven Vath back to Space for the first time in over ten years for a one off set with Richie; organizing a live promotional set in the sea (yes, in the water!) on Salinas Beach and finally just a couple of weeks ago, uniting Ushuaia and Space for one day only for a unforgettable Cadenza vs. Enter experience. All in all, Richie, we can’t wait for next season… Innovation all the way!
Café Mambo in the Mix
The MamBros have taken over the business from their father, Javier Anadon, in true style and in a way that would surely make him proud. Not only was Mambo packed with punters on a nightly basis this summer, but the guys also saw an opportunity to give back to their community via role reversal entertainment. Mambo In The Mix, a charity event in collaboration with Ibiza and Formentera’s Red Cross, saw DJs brought in to work the bar whilst pretty much anyone was able to get behind the decks and deejay for a while! This action packed night featured the likes of superstar DJs Carl Cox, M.A.N.D.Y., Eric Prydz and Roger Sanchez behind the bar, and Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler flipping hot dogs and raised just under 30.000 € in just a couple of hours. Great effort guys, you’re setting an example for the rest of us!
Sadly our 2012 season is coming to an end in just four days, and Defected are going to make sure it ends with a bang. With an unprecedented line up including Bob Sinclar, Inner City live, Copyright, and Junior Jack & Kid Crème, it will surely be a night to remember and to celebrate this spectacular summer gone by.
I’ll be back next week with an extensive report on how it all went, so until then, stay safe, listen to some great music, and if you can, get yourself to Ibiza for one last boogie…
Till then,
Jelena X
The Defected In The House Closing Party takes place this Saturday 29th September - click for tickets and line-up details
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