We all like to know what’s what and who’s who in Ibiza, so here is your real insiders guide to what’s occurring on the island by our very own girl-on-the-ground Maya Claughton. Maya’s mission is to seek out everything that matters in Ibiza; from the most amazing parties, clubs and DJs, to the hottest tracks, emerging fashion trends and where to eat (and sleep if you must). Each week she will scour the island for gossip, celebrity sightings and where to hang out. Check in each week to see what she has been up too, this week she visits Ushuaia, El Pirata and Pacha. Over to Maya…
The hype surrounding the Defected pool parties at Ushuaia shows no sign of waning, and if this weekend's performance is anything to go by, it never will. Sam Divine and Simon Dunmore flew the house flag in solid style as usual, and the view from the stage was unreal. Of course it's ALWAYS the most fun to be in the booth, but I honestly think that at Ushuaia, unless you've been up there on that stage looking out over the early evening madness, then you can't quite appreciate the scale of what they've created there. It's a totally surreal experience, and if you throw into the mix the mad, tribal percussion of Shovell and the feverishly building excitement for the headline act, the energy is off the scale.
And what a headline act it was - Defected stalwart and total Ibiza hero Bob Sinclar had the whole place in bits almost before he'd started playing, proving once again that he's the real French hero. Most young house music fans never get to see their stars perform outside of a nightclub setting in Europe, and Bob's show was much more akin to something we'd usually expect at Miami WMC. Needless to say, if there'd have been a roof to blow off, or a house to bring down, then he'd have done both.
There's always a quiet time between the end of Ushuaia at midnight and Pacha really kicking off at 2am, so we whizzed to the port in Ibiza Town for THE WORLD'S GREATEST PIZZA and cocktails at El Pirata, my absolute favourite low-key waterside hangout. The club parades go by here every night between 12 and 2 so the vibe is awesome and you always end up having dinner or drinks with some fabulous Ibiza legend (usually Vaughan from Pacha's Funky Room!). The port still has that old-Ibiza feeling, when all the clubs were open-air and anything was possible - it's a lot to do with the parades but also so much to do with the characters that inhabit the area - it feels like they haven't changed in forever and I love that.
So we meandered our way over to Pacha at about 1.30 and got our groove on on the terrace with total hottie DJ Mo'Funk and 90% of Ibiza's industry peeps. The Pacha Terrace is THE industry meeting spot on the island and is always the best place to catch up on gossip over a shot of hierbas or two.
Then it was straight to the main room, dropping into our second home, the Pacha DJ booth, just in time to hear Defected head honcho SD play an utterly BLINDING set which literally knocked everyone’s socks off. We can’t remember how long we danced for, how hot we got, or how many times we thought we should leave but couldn’t, but by the time Bob Sinclar came on AGAIN we weren’t going anywhere! Bob, Rae, Simon, Tuccillo – the highlights are too innumerable to remember, let alone mention. See you next week!
Maya x
Defected In The House is at Pacha every Saturday throughout the season - check full line-up details here
Click here for details of the Defected In The House summer residency at Ushuaia, every Saturday before Pacha
