It’s official…the Ibiza 2011 season is finally underway. It must be; David Guetta announced it constantly to me and 3000 other revellers at IMS’s festival style event held at the spectacular open-air location of Dalt Vila in Ibiza old town, and I’m not going to call him a liar.
Dalt Villa ticks all the boxes for a good old Ibiza knees up, with its open air location, views of the harbour and Balearic ocean beyond and a massive Funktion One sound system that was put through it’s paces on Thursday and Friday evening by the likes of the aforementioned Guetta, Hercules Love Affair, Pete Tong, 2manyDJs, Dubfire, Japanese Popstars and Devo, of which the latter seemed to have raided the Defected back-catalogue as the set felt like a greatest hits affair.
It’s hard to believe that the IMS conference is now in its forth year, once again adding weight to the old adage that time flies when your having fun. The conference saw a whole load of industry leaders, label owners, agents, DJs, cult directors and, errrr, Prime Minister’s wives get together at the Gran Hotel to chat business with other industry colleagues.
So It seems Susan Cameron is an old raver at heart and was spotted taking in the atmosphere of the Gran Hotel and getting right involved with the various panels, and paying particular attention to Burn Studio’s new audiotool; a virtual internet studio that provides everything you need to make a club smash. This amazing concept means producers from all over the world can come together and produce tracks in real time via the net. You could be working on your next big house track sat in a dark damp studio in Dalston while your (much luckier) partner in crime tweaks a few knobs sat on a Rio beach. Self-confessed tech geek Richie Hawtin has given his firm stamp of approval, and the entire concept is completely free.
The panels were varied and well attended and showcased everything from Damian Lazarus & Jamie Jones discussing their sound and the various labels they own, to cult director David Lynch who was beamed live and direct from his LA studio to discuss production techniques on his highly anticipated album. Both of which were truly fascinating.
One of the major talking points on the island is that after a 4-year hiatus, Pete Tong is back at Pacha with his aptly named All Gone...Friday night slot. Judging by the queue outside and the atmosphere once inside club, this was a savvy move. The place was heaving by 2am as 2manyDJs played a typical mash-up set taking in everything from Daft Punk to Boney M.
After a quick catnap it was time to dust down the sunnies and head to the new Ushuaia hotel for the opening of Expect the Unexpected with Reboot, Robert Dietz and Michel Cleis. There’s been quite a lot of hype about Ushuaia this year so we were intrigue to see what all the fuss is about. We hustled our way through the small entrance and were instantly blown, a huge, pool-side stage 4000 grooving people, and 2 enormous swimming pools flanked by fancy decking, sun lounges and bars. But it wasn’t until the sunsets that the place really came alive as the lighting rig is fired up and a 20ft video screen projects some amazing visuals while Michel Cleis provides a sound track of house eboth new and old.
Sunday night we headed back to Pacha for the opening of Cadenza’s Vagabundos, to join the array of people getting into the Vagabundos spirit donning waistcoats, top hats and plenty of eye liner for both the girls and the boys. That man Michel Cleis was on first, building the room up nicely with plenty of whoops and cheers from the crowd but it wasn’t until Luciano took to the decks that the place really took off.
All in all it’s been a great start to the season with everybody in good spirits with pretty much everywhere we went packed to the rafters. So far…so good!
Words: Simon Morell
Photo credits: tilllate.com
