This season Defected's Hannah Thomas will be bringing you weekly updates direct from Ibiza.
Outright chaos ensued this week with the arrival of my Hackney contingent; a takeover of 25 hardened party animals who came to celebrate a triple 30th birthday extravaganza. It goes without saying that it’s always great to celebrate with your nearest and dearest on the world’s premiere party island, but I have to say that ahead of their arrival the thought of juggling work and life out here with their hardcore partying itinerary filled me with feelings of dread rather than any sense of eager anticipation. I think there’s a common misconception that summer out here is just one big jolly and you’re free and easy for the 24/7 crack on, but in actual fact the long and unsociable working hours and incessant heat definitely begin to take their toll.
Things got off to a shaky start; a series of unfortunate events which were compounded by the worst weather in August for years and the fact that it took on average 3 hours to get a taxi from their super remote villa. From being pick pocketed in DC10, having all luggage looted from the car boot, self-inflicted panic attacks, mood swings and missed flights, and the inevitable squabbles over money, it didn’t look as though anything was going to run smoothly at first. But as the sun finally came out on the big day, things took a turn for the better.
The celebrations kicked off at Talamanca beach where we enjoyed a long and drawn out boozy lunch in the seafront restaurant of Hostal Talamanca. The mixed seafood and arroz negro paellas were without doubt the best I’ve ever eaten on the island, and accompanied by a healthy share of crispy calamari and free flowing wine at just 40 Euros a head was excellent value for money and a perfect birthday lunch.
We then stumbled up round the bay up to Destino, Pacha’s luxurious cliff top hideaway 5 star resort to boogie on down at one of their exclusive events; one of a few special parties the venue has put on in its debut season. It was the first time I’d been there and I was pleasantly surprised at just how stylish and understated the venue is. We didn’t get to explore inside much, save for the plush foyer and bathrooms, but if the stunningly landscaped gardens, pool area and exquisitely sculpted stage is anything to go by, I’m sure the rooms would do little to disappoint. Void of tacky plastic garden furniture and obscure statues, eastern European clone like hostesses and IKEA- esque furnishing and far removed from the grotty streets of Playa De’n Bossa, it’s a far cry from its rival and inferior 5 star venue.
The party itself, after a rather tame start was great in the end; Joris Voorn managing to warm up many of the stiffs in the growing crowd despite being perhaps a little too techy for some. By the time Solomun came on, the party was in full swing; the music heads and VIPs alike getting down to his selection of crowd pleasers including Fabio Giannelli’s ‘Maintain’, Mulder’s ‘Natural High’, Mano Le Tough’s ‘Primitive People’ and Dansson and Marlon Hoffstadt’s ‘Shake That’. His deep and funky edged set underlined his widespread appeal and his status as one of the island’s most sought after and celebrated DJs. The downside was that although the visual entertainment provided by the talented dance and art troupe Nu Art was pretty impressive, this level of distraction at a house music event, never quite sits quite right with me. Finally, there’s never a dull moment where my mates are involved and so I really shouldn’t have been shocked when I saw Rosie strip off butt naked, running away from an irate bouncer and dive straight into the no-go pool. Apparently she doesn’t like house music and was feeling a bit bored… god knows what she gets up to on a rainy Sunday afternoon; a highly entertaining end to a highly entertaining day.
I only managed to pop into Defected for a couple of hours this week as we were on a mission en masse to El Row, but from what little I did see, it was set to be another top-drawer night. It wasn’t as big a line up in many respects this week but that didn’t seem to stop the punters from flooding in. It just goes to show that despite all of the setbacks this season, Defected’s reputation for being a safe and sure fire bet for being a top quality night out is as strong as ever. I managed to catch one half of Copyright and Simon Dunmore go back to back, the two Defected veterans working the crowd with effortless expertise. It’s just such a shame that the proceedings were brought to an untimely end when some moron thought it would be a good idea to set off one of the fire extinguishers. I wasn’t there to witness the chaos and evacuation but apparently it was like the final scene from Bugsy Malone…laa laa laa ,la la la laaaaa!!
Raucous tales from El Row and more next week xxx
Defected In The House is at Booom! Ibiza every Saturday throughout the season - click here for full line-up details
