- I've been going to Sundays at Space since We Love... began in 1999. They tore up the rule book back then—in creating a 22-hour marathon day and night event—and basically continue to do so nowadays, taking on the unique challenge of programming six different rooms over some 14 hours of partying each week over the summer.
The focus, as always, begins on the Sunset Terrace where the no-nonsense house and percussive sound lives on. Sunglasses and hands in the air are compulsory, as is at least one person wearing a Speedo and several people with razor sharp elbows. When the Sunset Terrace closed at midnight, after a fairly "old terrace"-style set of Hipp-E & Halo house from MYNC, numbers were fairly evenly split for the Terraza and Thomas Gandey, AKA Cagedbaby, and the Discoteca for the imminent arrival of Simian Mobile Disco.
The nature of the beast that We Love... have created meant that Heidi's set of acid/Chicago-infused house became the sandwich filler between the powerhouse sound of Cagedbaby and the uncategorizable 2ManyDJs. Interestingly, the crowd, rather than swelling in size, largely stayed the same throughout the different styles of music, a testament to the open-minded and anything-goes spirit indicative of the party's success down the years. By the end of their set, 2ManyDJs had the Terraza dance floor looking like a Hieronymous Bosch painting.
Photo credit: Phrank
Of course, there is an element of lucky dip about the We Love line-ups. The week before had Jeff Mills and Joris Voorn in the Discoteca, with Prins Thomas debuting in Ibiza on the Terraza. The week after had Steve Lawler, The Juan MacLean and Steve Aoki. Clearly, the party's big names are a veritable paella of assorted big fish. What is rapidly evolving from its role as side dish, though, is the offering of the smaller rooms. The Red Box/Caja Roja is one of the best underground gigs in Ibiza, with an intimate room, good sound and guests like Motor City Drum Ensemble, Levon Vincent, dOP and Jozif. The Burlington Project event here is a solid party its own right. Today's guest, Sebastian Voigt, and top resident Ryan O'Gorman kept the knowledgeable crowd locked in a groove with some classy deep house and tech cuts.
Moreover, the Premiere Etage, where the likes of Ian Blevins—one of the island's most talented residents—trotted through Paradise Garage classics and leftfield Balearic beats and El Salon, which featured Shaun Reeves, offer a perfect escape from the intensity of the bigger rooms. Both of these spaces have a proper back room feel to them and have become just as likely to provide those good time party memories as anywhere else in the club.
Finally, to answer the question everyone always wants to know about: Yes, the party was busy, peaking sometime after midnight for the main headliners, when the Terraza in particular was throbbing, but there was a vivacity throughout, which is no small feat when dealing with a club the size of Space. All things considered, still pretty much the quintessential Ibiza clubbing experience.