Aside from a very busy New Year's schedule, Ibiza's super-clubs are on sabbatical now for winter. However, the island's global influence continues elsewhere in the world.
During the low season, we bring you club reviews from Ibiza favourites at other party destinations from around the world.
With temperatures cooling across Europe, including here on Ibiza, we thought we'd better get away from some winter sun. Destination: Miami for Art Basel week. Amid a packed itinerary of parties, exhibitions and industry hang-outs, elrow brought Delusionville to Factory Town.
elrow | Factory Town | Thursday 1 December
Pulling up outside Factory Town we'd be forgiven for thinking we'd crawled into the wrong neighbourhood. From the outside, the complex, or at least what remains of it, is dilapidated. The roof is conspicuous by its absence.
Located on an industrial block in the city's Hialeah district, Factory Town seems far removed from the bright lights and glamorous clientele Miami's party scene has a reputation for.
But as children of the Acid House generation will tell you, what more do you need for a party than a disused warehouse space?
elrow is the first in line of a stream of international outfits that includes Afterlife and Music On in the coming days - a programme to immerse within.
Despite the contrast, this grey and rugged location is the ideal blank canvas for elrow to splatter its colourful and eccentric personality across.
Our arrival at the gate comes only a few hours after landing at MIA and a lengthy queue at border control. If the jet lag and lack of a substantial meal haven't disorientated us enough, tonight's show is the trip-fest Delusionville.
Fittingly, the theme which debuted at this year's Ibiza closing party is a collaboration with American surrealist pop artist Ron English. The provocative father of POPaganda brings a radical and imaginative world to life.
The fine arts scene is booming here, attracting cultured and diverse international visitors. During Art Basel week, that influx of aesthetes intensifies. Wandering galleries and collections by day, many of them are keen to party by night - us included.
A psychedelic canvas stretches across the vast main stage at ceiling height. Already the dancefloor is bustling hive of activity.
DJs Cloonee, BLOND:ISH and Manda Moor take turns in pumping out the music, as pop-culture caricatures are given a gaudy and sometimes nightmarish LSD makeover. Mickey Mouse, Ronald McDonald and Slimer are some of the familiar faces subject to this treatment.
elrow's signature blend of drop-heavy Tech House is dispersed by big hands-in-the-air moments that come via Eric Prydz's Pjanoo, the dub version of Armand van Helden's You Don't Know Me and Oakenfold's remix of Sorry by Madonna.
An avalanche of inflatable beach balls with evil grins are fired into the crowd and pinball around, before a trademark ticker tape explosion monsoons the dancefloor.
The site's sprawling layout and features remind us of those of Beaver Works in Leeds and Mannheim's imposing event space Maimarkthalle. Merch stalls, jewellery stands, gourmet food wagons and a plentiful supply of hired toilet facilities give Factory Town a festival feel.
Chill-out zones are dotted around the complex, each equipped with shabby chic furniture. Other out-buildings host audio-visual displays that run the entire length of 50-foot walls - elrow an early adopter to the potential of AI technology and digital tokens.
Amsterdam's flavoursome label and party collective PIV takes care of business over on stage two. With production stripped right back to bare bones and sound tightened, DJs such as Prunk, Toman and Jaden Thompson put the modestly formed crowd through our paces.
Above us a laser creates a false canopy on a film of dry ice. But the music? Oh, lordy! Too good to stop moving. This groove-focused style of House is still taking root here, but PIV has shown there's plenty of potential for it to thrive much like it has in Europe.
Toman's No Worries (RMX) is just one of the heaters to get an airing.
Before we leave, there's still time to head back to the main stage's carnage and catch Paco Osuna take to the booth. If the Spaniard was holding anything back for his own Now Here showcase tomorrow, he didn't let it show.
Nobody should be left under any delusion that elrow is the biggest clubbing brand on the planet. Just when you think it can't get any bigger, it does!
For tomorrow's itinerary, we'll be digesting the confrontational and thought-provoking street art and graffiti that graces bohemian Wynwood Walls. But for now, elrow, Ron English and PIV have given us plenty to chew over in the meantime. Our culture never felt so borderless.
No rest for the wicked, elrow returns to Amnesia Ibiza on New Year's Day for a 2023 opener of epic proportions. Adam Beyer, Arielle Free, Eats Everything, Fleur Shore, Ilario Alicante, Manda Moor, Mason Collective and Matthias Tanzmann are all involved. Nowmads will be the theme.
Tickets are selling fast, but there's still time to grab yours if you want to join us and see in the New Year in the right way. Head below for further information.
In the interim, we'll bring you more Ibiza worldwide reviews from Miami and beyond in the coming weeks. For an in depth analysis of Ibiza 2022, read our full season review.
PHOTOGRAPHY | by Toni Villens
