Simon Dawson reports on the latest addition to Defected's Saturday take-over of Ibiza - our Pacha pre-party residency at the Ushuaia Beach Hotel...
Friday evening I left a depressingly grey London and after an unnecessary frisking at security, two airport bar pints, 30 minutes watching Andy Murray and a flight sat next to two die-hard Defected fans it was touchdown Ibiza.
Saturday the team broke up, with some heading to Pacha to oversee the internal production, others over to Ushuaia to set up and ensure everything was in place to go ahead without any hiccups. I had the strenuous task of keeping the talent (Copyright) in good spirits ahead of what was going to be a long, long day. So after some well earned sun-bathing and numerous rounds of tea, and an intense interrogation of the both of them on impending fatherhood, we thought we should do something remotely constructive at least, so an intimate little interview was filmed poolside to be used as exclusive bonus content for the forthcoming Copyright In The House compilation (watch this space!)
After that it was time for some music preparation...which basically consisted of us shouting out old house records we thought would work well at Ushuaia (Gav – I’m taking credit for ‘Tropical Soundclash’ and Blaze’s ‘Lovelee Dae’..although Sam reckons he already had this one earmarked, but I don’t think he did ;)). With that, the team returned home - we fed, we washed, we triple counted how many of us there were, who was going in which car and we booted it down to Ushuaia with The Shapeshifters Pacha Magazine covermount mix getting us well in the mood.
Click here to view the full photo gallery from Ushuaia
I’d seen the videos, checked out the pictures, read the reports and listened intently to those who were fortunate to experience the opening of Ushuaia with Cadenza a few weeks previous, so I already had a good idea of what the venue would be like...and on arrival it certainly didn’t disappoint. Huge swimming pool, devastatingly beautiful girls just lounging around and a great big stage at one end with a fantastically shaped DJ booth right in the middle with a Function One monitor system that was, it has to be said, just too loud – but hey, it all adds to the party right?
Access All Areas passes were dished out, various introductions made, a few last minute additions to the guestlist and we were in. As we climbed the steps at the back of the stage we found Sam Divine and friends holding their own party in the DJ booth – more introductions to new friends, hugs to Divine, kisses from Shovell and the party was well and truly underway.
Sam was on for the first hour, brilliantly setting up the night ahead with a deep house set that danced the thin line between the underground and absolutely accessible beautifully (Maya Jane Cole’s mix of Tom Middleton’s ‘Cicada’s’ and Guti & Luca Bacchetti’s ‘Finale’ being just two of the standouts) – the party was in full swing and with it, Copyright took over.
When Vogue’s Ibiza blogger, North Yorkshire lass and all round party monster Maya Claughton stepped up to me and declared “I stayed in last night for you fuckers, it’s Saturday......let’s go BIG!!!”, she may as well have been carrying a great big gauntlet and smacked it down at the tip of my nice new navy espadrilles. The timing couldn’t have been better as Copyright guided the huge speaker stacks through Maya Jane Coles’ ‘What They Say’, Robert Owens’ ‘I’ll Be Your Friend’ and Copyright’s own DJ Gregory / River Ocean bootleg. The crowds were growing, the dancing was increasing and those in the Defected entourage were getting royally stuck into the buckets of beers and bottles of vodka that kept on arriving. The girl wanted big, Copyright gave her BIGGER.
Copyright ended their set and hot-footed it across to party number two at the legendary Cafe Mambo with a few of the crew for some tasty sunset beats, chicken dippers and numerous shots most likely thanks to Alan & Christian, Andy Baxter and the rest of the Mambo mob. For those of who choose to stay at Ushuaia, we were treated to some Spanish house thump that would have rocked the foundations of the Bernabeu thanks to DJ Chus and David Penn. Their own remix of Reboot’s ‘Enjoy Music’ and some cheeky remixes of the Nightcrawlers’ ‘Push The Felling On’, Todd Terry’s ‘Something’s Going On’ and Copyright's brand new ‘Story of My Life’ ensured that the swelling crowds were bumping and smiling as the sun started to dip. As David and Chus finished and went back for a well earned rest before the last shift at Pacha later on the decks were handed back to Sam Divine to close the show.
Sam who had spent the majority of the time between her sets up in her hotel room frantically burning up CDs of tracks to play, arrived back in the booth with her party entourage from earlier now almost double in size and filling the DJ box. For the final hour of the night Sam without question destroyed it, playing a perfect mix of bouncey, dubby tracks mixed in with crowd pleasers. Notable mentions were Son of Raw’s ‘Black Man in Space’ which had the whole DJ booth contingent all doing the air trumpet (well funny), a Nina Simone remix and Dennis Ferrer’s ‘Church Lady’, which was undeniably a real Defected moment – looking out to see 1,500 plus people all with their hands in the air singing along to the “glory, hallelujah…let them show you the way” chorus was simply magical.
One of the brand new 10th anniversary remixes of Finally fittingly brought the party to a close, and with the crowd applauding and cheering Sam, she was understandingly having her own emotional moment. The crowds refused to leave, we were reluctant. Everybody smiling, saying how amazing it was and how we didn’t want it to end, but…Pacha awaited. Time to sober up, get our game faces on and get stuck into the main event!
Words: Simon Dawson
Photos: Charlie Turner and Gavin Mills
Defected In The House is at Ushuaia every Saturday throughout the season - Click to buy tickets
Defected In The House parties at Ushuaïa commence in the late afternoon and the parties end before we open for Defected In The House at Pacha.
Click to buy tickets for Defected In The House at Pacha Ibiza every Saturday until 24 September
