Our resident wordsmith for the White Isle, Rose Hancock, fills us in on all the latest news, adventures and rampages from Ibiza.
Thursday I was all set for a beach date with a guy I had recently met, but my Thursday plans proved to be a lot more exciting due to the boy's lazy behaviour. Ibiza timing is a bit of a joke here - everyone's pretty laid back. The phrase 'Manana…Manana' ('Tomorrow…Tomorrow') is pretty common when it comes to making business plans here or dealing with an urgent matter. It's partly down to the heat and the many disco distractions available to even the most motivated working individual.
So when my beach date messaged me at 4.30pm that day casually asking about our planned beach trip, this typical Ibiza laid back timing wasn't going to fly with me that day (I am not one to sit around waiting for a guy’s phone call). Luckily, I'd taken up a much more interesting offer a few hours before that - there was a Paradise villa party close by to where I lived. I'd been to the Paradise villa after party the week before; arriving around 2pm, sober, to be welcomed by a not so sharp, sleep-deprived crowd slowly bobbing their heads to Craig Richard's set (an excellent set I must add!). But this week's villa party didn’t start until 1pm, so all party goers could get their much needed beauty sleep from the previous night's DC10 Paradise party (I heard that Eats Everything and Benoit & Sergio killed it on the decks).
This week's Paradise villa was so humungous it could have been mistaken for a castle, and we were welcomed by beautiful people dancing around the inviting pool - this looked like it was going to be a good day. The Paradise villa party had a healthy budget and was impressively organised, while Paradise gang had wisely saved some of their budget to give champagne to the surrounding neighbours (a "please-be-quiet-and-don't-tell-the-police" gift, a common practice here on the island).
We continued to dance and explore the beautiful gardens with our fresh coconuts (yes, there was even a coconut bar) but soon after, the owner of the villa turned up at the house: someone obviously didn't get their champagne bribe and had to tell him. The owner was in for a 'pleasant' surprise to find his villa had been turned into a huge organised day time party: free food, a cocktail area, a massage area, a busy dance floor and even a mini bus service operating for the guests. The party continued indoors but we decided to continue the cocktail expedition in Ibiza's Dalt Vila old town.
If the police could stop a big budget party by a well-known brand like Paradise with a huge presence on the island, then I was slightly sceptical of the looming threat of police presence for the next day's exciting adventure - we were off to a full moon cave party! Cala Conte to the north of the island has some beautiful caves that host civilised affairs such as weekly 'sound meditation' classes (gongs and Tibetan bowls create sounds to cleanse your chakras as you meditate, if you’re into that sort of thing). But this full moon was a gong-free cave zone as DJs treated the mainly local crowd to some feel-good house. The police never arrived, all was a success - these spontaneous Ibiza parties are a firm favourite of mine!
I am super excited to discover that night life is booming on Ibiza’s beautiful sister island Formentera. Each Thursday Cocoon host parties at the historical bar Tipic. Tipic’s doors opened in 1971 with a Pink Floyd gig as they produced an exclusive soundtrack for the film ‘More’. Since then, the club has succeeded in the perfect balance of Balaeric party vibes and island nature. I aim to spend next Thursday day horizontally positioned on the white sands of Formentera. I have been here 9 weeks and my tan is still pathetic, my beach days have surprisingly been somewhat limited (perhaps I need to stop embracing the afternoon siestas so much). After yet another sunset we strategically plan to eat fresh fish and sangrias (tough life), and head over to Tipic to enjoy Ilario Alicante & Maurizio Schmitz.
Tapping into the current classic house revival it was great to see FCL, Arthur Baker and Mousse T at Glitterbox last Saturday, while this Saturday Glitterbox have one of the world’s most prolific artists Kenny Dope in the house, I’m certainly looking forwards to hearing this musical genius’ fusion of hip hop, house, latin and reggae. All roads lead to Defected this Tuesday, we’re in for a treat with MK, Shadow Child, Toddla T and Franky Rizardo all lined up. Each week on this island I appreciate something I never got to experience back in London…the freedom to dance all night!
Defected In The House is at Booom Ibiza every Tuesday throughout the season – click for full event listings
Glitterbox is at Booom Ibiza every Saturday throughout the season - click for full event listings
Defected In The House Ibiza 2014 is out now - order from iTunes
