Top raver, booth lurker and our very own AM to PM girl, Lissy Lübeck shares her thoughts and inner musings from Ibiza's clubland.
Ahead of her return to the island for summer 2023, we're re-serialising her infamous dancefloor diary, starting today.
This is my confession and sermon.
Thursday 1 September
Today's agenda took me to San Carlos in the north of the island.
Having only previously been to Las Dalias to take my visiting friends to the market, I hadn't realised Akasha was hidden right in the midst of it all. Obviously it was a very different vibe to the night market as it had quite literally been turned into an al fresco dancefloor. Sven Väth was in the throes of blasting out hardcore Techno.
Being outside under the Ibizan palms in a super intimate setting really felt like an authentic island clubbing experience. After things moved indoors, I was excited to see what Akasha had to offer. Boy did it go above and beyond my expectations! It was like a Balearic Boiler Room.
For those who have yet to go, picture high ceilings, a DJ booth right in the middle of the dancefloor with LED visuals on the walls and bars either side. The sound system was on point and the crowd were proper Techno and Sven die-hards.
It's the perfect place to get lost in the music - a world of its own. We met some amazing people in the smoking area, two Italian guys who have both moved to the island with their families. We then met a couple as we were leaving at 05:00 who worked for Sven at Cocoon.
They were very sweet and told us to message them any time we needed guestlist. These kind of contacts are the ones worth keeping.
Friday 2 September
After getting home in the early hours, I treated myself to a lie-in until around 14:00. Once up, I was on taxi duty for the first few hours, as Steve decided to leave his car at Akasha after consuming more alcohol than planned! Better safe than sorry.
Whilst on the road, I made the impulsive decision to reroute via Ibiza Town and run a few errands. By errands, I mean returning some overdue clothes to Zara, stocking up on toiletries and generally having a mooch. I do love venturing into the Old Town and having a browse. For full disclosure, I have a mild shopping addiction.
After getting home, I played with the dogs and kept them entertained. Their favourite game is fetching balls and sticks from the pool - easily pleased.
The biggest revelation, was deciding to stay in on a Friday night - shocking to the core. With this, I mustered the enthusiasm to cook myself a nice dinner of chorizo, mushroom, pepper and creamy cheesy pesto pasta. Domestic goddess in the making.
Well fed, I caught up and made some TikToks in bed. Coincidently, our last TikTok was of Sven Väth playing at Pikes, which went down very well with our growing fanbase on the platform.
Sunday 4 September
What a lovely day! The sun is back to shining on this beautiful Sunday. Ginger and lemon tea in hand, I'm ready for a big night ahead. After a couple of much needed nights off, I'm super excited to get back to the clubs tonight.
Tonight I'm on double duty. Paul Kalkbrenner live at Ushuaïa is the first port of call, before rerouting to Amnesia to see Bicep live - it doesn't get much better than that!
A victim of excess - my laptop has seen better days. A casualty of an intense season
Journo problems: my laptop has stopped charging, which is kind of an essential piece of kit. Fortunately my boss has let me use his MacBook Pro. After logging on, I discovered Safari doesn't work and needs all sorts of updates… back to working on my phone!
Seems like an excuse for another dip in the pool, joined by the dogs of course. They're like having children - constantly needing to be entertained.
Today was meant to be the day that I satisfied my craving for a roast dinner. It's been four months without my favourite meal, but I forgot to book somewhere… oops. Next week, for sure.
Monday 5 September
Last night, not only did I attend Ushuaia followed by Pyramid at Amnesia, I even managed to squeeze a stop-off at Hï Ibiza for Glitterbox in between.
Bicep were sick and the Terrace was packed up. They played a bit different to their usual, which was a nice surprise. After Bicep finished at 04:00, lots of people dispersed so we actually had room to dance for Special Request. 150 bpm but amazing tunes.
A very late night ended with me trawling the streets of San Antonio, chasing thrills with my boss' daughter. Some might say I'm a bad influence and led her astray. I'd say she held her own.
This evening, I indulged in a lovely steak dinner at Cera with two of Radio 1's finest: Danny Howard and Jaguar. Name-dropper? Who, me? We talked at length about music, upcoming artists we're excited about and even discussed what's next for social media. Three of my specialist subjects right there. The fat was chewed.
Afterwards we hotfooted it across the island to Danny's weekly residency at Amnesia Presents. We arrived at around midnight and it was already heaving! Danny and Jag went back-to-back in the Main Room. A highlight of their set was when Renegade Master got dropped, which was a track that got me into House music many moons ago. It went off like a rocket.
Unfortunately, Gorgon City were heavily delayed due to travel issues. But to make the best of a bad situation, Danny went b2b2b with Sonny Fodera and Dom Dolla to plug the gap. Not bad as substitutes go.
Home by 06:00 and straight into bed. Next stop: the land of nod.
Tuesday 6 September
My favourite day of the week in terms of music, so you'd think today's diary entry would write itself. Wrong! Under normal circumstances PIV Records at Cova Santa and The Bros' playing with one of their mentors Louie Vega would be enough to coax me out.
Yet here we are. I'm nothing but unpredictable.
In any case, I hear a rumour doing the rounds that has made me clear a space in my schedule for tomorrow night. Living in Ibiza, you quickly learn to keep your plans flexible.
One chore ticked off the list was collecting my misplaced car keys from Amnesia's lost and found department. After over 24 hours of surviving on the island without wheels, one car successfully salvaged. That lucky streak shows no sign of ending.
Celebratory McDonald's Drive-Thru in honour of being reunited with my car. Even this nocturnal queen is allowed to be basic every now and then.
