- Sundays at Space have long been a ritual amongst partygoers in Ibiza and accordingly remain an overall barometer of how any particular season is going. So when it was announced that the Space Closing Party, the traditional curtain call for the season, was to be brought forward a week to make for a bonanza We Love... and Space Closing Fiesta, the event justifiably billed as Ibiza's weekly music festival—based on We Love...'s provision of dance music from every niche of the electronic music spectrum—further cemented its place as one of the island's most important parties.
Rain in Ibiza during September is not uncommon, but almost non-stop rain for two weeks is almost unheard of. Such was the scene, though, that accompanied the near entirety of the 19-hour marathon from 12:00 PM on the Sunday through to 7:00 AM (officially) on Monday. Forget sunglasses and bikinis: Wellies and free plastic overcoats were the order of the day. Nonetheless, spirits were not to be dampened and the Sunset Terrace was busy early doors to enjoy the fine-tuned terrace sound of We Love... legend Jason Bye and Alfredo. Sure, it's not quite the old Space Terrace, but as the drizzle continued to fall through the mesh net roof and Rob Da Bank came on and started with the old skool anthems, the hands stayed in the air far too long, and even the most weathered of cynics had a smile on their face.
Photo credit: Josie Mack
Further fun and frolics were had outside on the 5,000 capacity Flightclub Arena, AKA The Car Park, where after Space residents Guy Gerber and Wally Lopez laid the bass heavy groundwork, and Steve Lawler rounded off with the Mannheim-esque groove that seems to have infiltrated his recent sound. As outside closed at midnight, the rain was really quite heavy, so much so that there was nothing left to do but laugh about it and keep on dancing.
One of the revelations of Space this season has been The Red Room (Caja Roja), where Ryan O'Gorman's Burlington Project has caused mayhem in the 150 capacity space. Guests like Martin Buttrich, Robert Dietz and Simon Baker have made the room an underground purist's delight, compounded by the intimate vibe and quality sound system. I just about managed to squeeze into the full-to-bursting room to see Clive Henry to well and truly smash it before the room had to be closed off...due to its popularity.
Photo credit: Josie Mack
Downstairs in the cavernous interior of Space, it was one of the masters of techno that We Love have invested so much faith in this summer, Jeff Mills, who was throbbing the room with a relentless, pulsating techno set; a stark contrast to his Detroit counterpart Carl Craig some weeks earlier whose sound, while equally as compelling, had a much greater warmth and musical depth. Nowhere, not even Cocoon, can boast such an array of underground and pioneering luminaries as We Love have offered this year, what with the likes of Derrick May, DJ Pierre, Hell and Slam on hand at various points during the summer.
Elsewhere, Nick Curly, who will definitely feature more regularly in Ibiza in 2010, powered through a fierce house set on the Terrazza before Smokin Jo played Cocoon Anthems to the now perfectly busy room. The one musical lowlight of the evening for me came in the form of the DJ set by Hot Chip duo, Felix Martin and Al Doyle, whose brand of FX-laden electro almost completely killed the vibe started by Curly and Smokin Jo.
Photo credit: Josie Mack
After a somewhat sluggish start to the season for We Love..., all things considered, it has once again proven to be one of the busiest and most popular nights. (Those "all things considered" including having to program seven different rooms (often for over 12 hours), dealing with a plethora of new beach bars offering competing events nearby (read: Ushuaia) and of course the fact that the British market, from which a large proportion of the We Love... crowd is drawn, has taken a noticeably dip this year.) There have been some incredible moments: Grace Jones' performance will remain iconic, Joris Voorn and Radio Slave have seen their stars grow even larger and Paul Woolford's residency is now the stuff of legend. No doubt the plan is to do it even bigger and better in 2010.