After a week of partying at the opening parties (or checking out the competition depending how you look at it) it was now our time to show the party people of Ibiza just how Defected rolls!
The disco shoes were slipped on and with a splattering of the cheapest cologne known to man I was out the door and heading to the airport to collect tonight’s headline act senior Bob Sinclar. With handsome Bob sitting comfortably in a Renault Scenic you would think were heading for a drive around the French Riviera; in reality we are heading for the bright lights of San Antonio for the first of the Defected In The House pre-parties at Mambo.
The place is rammed on arrival, and we try to covertly smuggle Bob through the crowds but fail miserably to avoid attracting attention; the place erupts, cameras flash and young girls scream like a pack of ravenous hyenas.
We hustle Bob onto the decks quick-sharp and before long he's spinning a crowd-friendly set that touches on everything from disco through to AC:DC before slamming into more modern-day house classics. As this is just a teaser of what's to come, Bob soon passes the baton over to Gavin Mills, one half of tonight’s other headline act Copyright, who’s flying solo for the early part of the night as partner in crime Sam Holt is sporting a very fetching neck brace and doesn’t want to do further damage ahead of the main event. Gav does what he does best and plays a solid set of chunky house whilst Bob treats himself to a few of Mambo’s finest chocolate brownies.
Before long we are back in the Renault and heading to Pacha. I drop handsome bob off at the Gran Hotel so he can get some beauty sleep before his set and shoot over to Pacha to get the last 30 minutes of highly respected Pacha resident Tucillo. Tucillo plays a perfect warm up set of deep house to a packed Pacha and pitches the night perfectly before Defected boss Simon Dunmore takes to the decks. Simon knows a thing or two about rocking a crowd and tonight he does not fail, hitting them up with massive tracks from Reboot, Marshall Jefferson, the Joris Voorn edit of Mark Fanciulli’s ‘Tides’ and Chocolate Puma's ‘I Wanna Be U’ which absolutely goes off!
Click here to view the full gallery from the night
The club is now packed to the rafters with people jostling for any space they can find whilst trying to catch a glimpse of Bob Sinclair as he enters the booth. Bob's straight on the mic announcing his arrival and the place goes mental and before long we are busting moves to electro house edits of well-known pop and rock tunes alongside anthems from the likes of Inner Citym Daft Punk and Bob himself. Love him or hate him, Bob knows what the kids love and judging by the ensuing mass of bodies on the floor there seem to be no complaints tonight.
Bob closes his set in typical crowd pleasing fashion with Bob Marley’s classic ‘Jammin’ and declares his love for Pacha, whilst Skin from Skunk Anansie hangs in the booth quaffing free ale. Copyright are itching to get on the decks and get down to business straight away with a set of solid house that has the club jamming to their groove, effects reverb over the system and white noise builds the club into a frenzy before climaxing with DJ Rolando’s techno classic ‘Jaguar’. The lights come up but the crowd don't want to leave, the chant of “one more tune” echoing around the club.
I leave the club exhausted but with a smile on my face, as this is only the beginning…
Words: Simon Morell
Photo credits: Charlie Turner, Gavin Mills
Defected In The House Ibiza '11 is out now
