With the start of the 2013 Ibiza season just around the corner, Defected's Ben Lovett clues us up on what we can expect...
Ibiza has evolved with each passing summer but change really is afoot this year. Different electronic music trends have come and gone, just as Ibiza’s clientele has matured (in age) and its physical landscape has drastically shifted. Much has been made of the money in the Balearics these days, clubland’s original ravers back as handsomely salaried professionals and family heads, demanding better accommodation, fine bars and eateries, and more conveniently scheduled, upmarket dancefloors (hence the shift to daytime pool parties...it suits their children’s bedtimes....). A younger generation has also discovered the White Isle, a wide-open, digitally savvy tribe of thrill-seekers comfortable with dance music’s positioning alongside rock, indie and the concept of live concerts. Perhaps this summer’s biggest development, however, is one away from Ibiza’s current cultural frontline of guitar-driven festivals and swish boutique hotels.
Pacha Ibiza is steeped in Ibizan history. The club was built in the early Seventies on a rather depressing and hopeless half-acre of marshland. Owner Ricardo Urgell opened it in 1973 as an escape from General Franco’s brutal Spanish dictatorship and soon after it became a stylish yet hedonistic magnet for affluent locals, hippies, counter-culture artists and jet-setting glitterati. But recently, certain media have picked up on the controversial, rather perplexing comments of Ricardo’s younger brother, Piti, 65, last month, Piti reportedly saying that electronic music has failed to evolve and is “for idiots”. In an interview with the New York Times this month he adds: “The DJs wanted more money to play less. It was an abuse. We had to come up with a new plan because the old one was going to explode.”
On the other side of the Atlantic and most of the way across a continent, Las Vegas is, increasingly so, big competition for Ibiza, certainly in terms of drawing artists in with increasingly high wages. Super club Hakkasan, costing a reported $100m to build and spanning an epic 80,000 sq ft, opens this spring and, super-tuned by America’s newfound fascination with EDM, has attracted serious attention from artists and fans alike over the past few months. Light, housed within the Mandalay Bay Hotel, will also open soon, fusing dance rhythms with the jaw-dropping aerial spectacle of Cirque du Soleil. Already, though, the neon city has established itself as a major dance music player. The world’s biggest DJs are regularly booked for lengthy high-pay residencies at flagship casino and hotel-backed clubs like Marquee (within The Cosmopolitan) and Bagatelle (at the Tropicana).
Pete Tong summarises the situation smartly: “DJs doing well in the US market will be increasingly torn between the two locations [Las Vegas and Ibiza]. The zeitgeist moment for Ibiza has arrived. It’s no longer the only game in town.” And Pacha’s former Music Director Danny Whittle adds: “I told them two years ago not to look at Ushuaia [Playa d’en Bossa’s swish beach hotel and outdoor club space] as competition, look at Vegas. What is attracting people away from Ibiza? And that is Vegas.”
Many within the club industry view Whittle’s exit from Pacha as a costly mistake, the club’s hierarchy misunderstanding the current global market for major DJ talent. It was Whittle, after all, who introduced David Guetta (who, admittedly stays), Swedish House Mafia and Fatboy Slim, and cemented Pacha’s brand and financial standing.
“This is going to cost them a fortune” Whittle says of Pacha’s new formats. “I am either dealing with madness or genius, and it’s just about to come out in the wash.” Whittle claims that some acts, in his time at Pacha, were paid more than €100,000 but that all of them generated three times that amount in revenue for the club. And, it would follow, an engaged audience.
There are other departures from Pacha this summer. Luciano’s Cadenza extravaganza Vagabundos is no more, owing to commitments elsewhere which new Ibizan competitor Bomba will be able to accommodate. Defected In The House is also be moving to Bomba, a new club owned by illustrious restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani and managed by Mr Whittle.
“A thousand people will fit into Bomba” Whittle indicates. The club, almost next door to Cipriani’s plush Ibiza Town restaurant (he owns several famous clubs, hotels and restaurants around the world), promises immaculate terrace and roofed dancefloor spaces, expansive VIP and lounge areas, a custom Pioneer sound system and Cipriani’s legendary focus on customer service.
Whittle continues: “We’re going to sit nicely in the middle of places like Sankeys and DC10, who totally specialise in underground, and the big clubs who tend to have the biggest stars.... We’ll have 50 guys working there around the clock to get it all ready for our opening night on 22nd May. The designers and builders know exactly what to do and you’ll be amazed at how quick that place comes together.”
Bomba, virtually over the road from Pacha, promises a punchy, captivating assortment of nights and guest performers. The venue hosts the official IMS (International Music Summit) party on May 22 before welcoming Fatboy Slim on May 23 and Defected In The House, with Dennis Ferrer, on May 25. Specific date-by-date line-ups beyond that are still to be announced but Yousef has confirmed a Thursday Circus slot and Morillo will occupy either Mondays or Wednesday. Defected’s residency meanwhile, running across the entire summer, will also feature Duke Dumont, Disclosure, Noir, Nick Curly, Tensnake, MK, Skream, FCL, Flashmob, Derrick Carter and Copyright. Bomba is shaping up nicely.
What does Defected founder Simon Dunmore, also playing Bomba, think about the shift in scenery? “To keep moving our business forward we have instinctively learnt to make our moves at crucial moments” he says. “We enjoyed eight incredible seasons at arguably the world’s most iconic discotheque but we are pushing ourselves on all levels and it feels like the right time to move on.
“We have spent the last two years repositioning Defected and our new residencies in Ibiza will push the perception of the ‘new’ Defected even further. We believe that it is a bold move but one that will keep our presence in Ibiza fresh and give us longevity.”
The other residency Dunmore refers to is at Ushuaia; within the uber-luxury hotel’s new ‘Tower’ structure. Sitting next to the main venue, the ‘Tower’ offers amazing new rooms soaring high above Playa d’en Bossa; each room features state-of-the-art tech and everything from on-terrace Jacuzzis to chromatherapy (colour and light therapy) systems. It all reflects Ibiza’s ever more affluent and expectant clientele.
Defected will use this weekly Monday residency (June 10 to September 30) to introduce and firmly establish a versatile new sub-label, DFTD. Highlighting fresh Balearic and global house talent alongside special, high quality headline guests in a chic outdoor setting, Defected Presents DFTD promises free entry to all. It’s a warm nod to the gloriously unfettered and pre-commercial Ibiza of old. DJs including Osunlade, Noir, Flashmob, Sam Divine and Sonny Fodera are all booked to bedazzle....
“We’ll be showcasing eclectic new talent and working closely with our friends at associated labels” Dunmore explains. “DFTD will be a free daytime party and is the perfect opportunity for ourselves and all the artists we work with to say thank you to all the clubbers that support us week in, week out with their hard-earned cash.”
The main Ushuaia complex officially opens its outdoor season on May 25 with a stellar daytime party featuring Sven Vath, Luciano, Loco Dice, Maya Jane Coles, Joris Voorn, Reboot, Andrea Oliver and Uner. It’s a titanium-plated line-up giving a powerful indication of what else is to come through June, July and August. David Guetta’s F**k Me I’m Famous will take Mondays (July 1 to August 26), in addition to Pacha, Dice will be hosting ‘Used + Abused’ on Thursdays (June 6 to September 26), Pete Tong’s Le Grand Bazaar will occupy Fridays (July 5 to August 30) and Avicii will play Sundays (June 30 to September 1). Say no more....
Ibiza’s white hot tectonic plates are travelling at considerable speed in 2013. Major White Isle players, both new and old, are shifting musical gears in an attempt to secure their reputations for the considerable future, whilst Las Vegas looms large (or perhaps loudly) in the background adding further urgency to proceedings. That all said, Bomba and Ushuaia’s initial plans for the summer offer a scale as epic as anything so far flung from Nevada. And there’s still a whole host of other exciting parties, concerts and events, under and overground, to get through next week. Rest assured, Ibiza is just getting started....
Word: Ben Lovett
Defected In The House Ibiza 2013 is out 19th May - pre-order from iTunes
