Top raver, booth infiltrator and our very own AM to PM girl, Lissy Lübeck is back for summer 2023, sharing her thoughts, experiences and inner musings from Ibiza's clubland. A year older, but a year wiser? Probably not.
If you heard it from anybody else, you'd dismiss it as hyperbole, but Lissy Lü's real life is like that.
Partying as a profession is a hard life... but somebody's got to do it!
Monday 17 July
Last night we went for a naughty meal at our favourite local, Tapas.
Between us, I calculate we managed to order 90 per cent of the menu. I casually dropped into convo, "So, any more interviews this summer?", expecting a firm no as we're now in peak season and our calendar is pretty full. To my surprise, Steve replied "Maybe Capriati tomorrow?" Casual!
As last minute as these interviews tend to be, I woke up from my siesta around 17:30 and I checked WhatsApp to discover we had to leave at 18:15 to make it to the 19:00 interview. I quickly slapped on some make-up, got dressed and drove down to Marina Botafoc.
When I say I've never felt heat like it, my make-up had sweated off onto my new white top by the time we'd reached our destination. Great start (!)
Myself, Jo and P Dawg (that's Pete) met him outside of where Joseph Capriati was staying and headed on down to a more picturesque setting to conduct the interview, mainly so Pete could take some aesthetically pleasing photos.
He rocked up with his girlfriend who was as glam as ever - she looked fabulous! Capriati himself was a true pro - so enthusiastic about his party, Metamorfosi. He expressed how hard he'd been working over the winter to bring his visions to life, for an even more impressive season than last.
After around 20 minutes of great chat, we wound things up and headed our separate ways. You can read the full interview soon.
Afterwards, we headed into the Old Town for La Tana, a great authentic Italian joint hidden down the back streets. The homemade pasta there is insane! I managed to sweat even more whilst sat there, and to be quite honest, all I wanted to do was go home and shower.
Tuesday 18 July
I'm boring myself moaning about it, but the heat today was like being in an oven! There's no other way to describe it. My phone read 34°C, so I reckon that the big screen in San Antonio definitely claimed the temperature to be in the 40s. elrow at Ushuaïa tomorrow will be fun…
Life is all about striking a balance. Aside from the extreme heat, today was super chill.
I didn't emerge from my air-conditioned room until the late afternoon. Ending my self-imposed exile at 18:00, I persuaded Steve to collect the barbecue from Tim's so that we could have a wholesome evening by the pool.
We haven't managed to do this yet, and we're halfway through the summer already! (cries)
Stephen really came good with the food and he even managed to do the Mercadona trip all by himself (he seems to have some sort of irrational fear of supermarkets).
I was in charge of making some vegetable and chorizo skewers and after chopping all of the veg, I realised that we didn't have the vital ingredient - the actual skewers. I improvised and chopsticks were used as makeshifts - just call me Gordon Ramsey. They worked a treat.
Also on the agenda for the evening, was Yahtzee - my favourite childhood game. I have fond memories playing it with my grandpa at his house in Spain when I visited as a little girl, so the nostalgia is real.
I decided to play with Steve and Jo whilst he tried to manage the BBQ simultaneously. They didn't appear to be the most enthusiastic participants. Debutante Jo did win, but I’m not convinced either of them will be rushing to play it anytime soon. I'll wait for my best friend Gunter (Emily) to come out and play with me next week. Can't wait.
Tucked up in bed by 22:00, I watched a little bit of English television making full use of our communal VPN. Today was well needed in order to be sufficiently rested for a mini clubbing marathon tomorrow…
Wednesday 19 July
One of those days when you don't pause for breath. I didn't even manage to squeeze in an hour siesta. I can hear the sympathetic groans.
From our weekly content meeting at theHUB, Hayley and I headed to Playa d'en Bossa for the first elrow Ushuaïa show of summer. Keen as beans, we actually got there before it had even opened. This meant having a little wander down the strip and poking our heads into some clothing boutiques to see what bargains we could find.
I fell in love with these little handmade Nike Jordan keyring shoes. Unable to haggle the prices down, I walked away empty handed. I'll be back next week.
With half an hour spare, we headed to the top of the Ushuaïa Tower to get a bird's eye view and some footage of the calm before the storm.
At 17:00 we were finally able to head inside. Rumour has it that today was the hottest day of the year, with temperatures reaching around 35°C. By 18:00 the crowds had gathered and the party hotel was filling up fast.
It's always an incredible day at elrow Outdoors, as the production levels make it an epic spectacle that's off the charts. It's a colourful utopian explosion come true, with confetti, dancers in the craziest multicoloured costumes and 30 foot handmade props.
Where else do you get this? Though lots of fun, we could only stay for an hour or two, as we had to get back to get ready for the big night ahead.
Still to devise a full battle plan, I made an impulsive decision seconds before I walked out the door. Jo and I headed down to the Sunset Strip to join everyone at Café del Mar for the opening of Clockwork Orange, moving onto Space Eat & Dance for espresso martinis.
Everyone else headed to SWAG, but Paradise at Amnesia was calling me. No way I could pass on the line-up. Plus friends were arriving and heading straight there, so my decision was made.
Upon arrival, the queues at Amnesia were already huge even by midnight, which had everything to do with the killer line-up. Jamie Jones b2b The Martinez Brothers, Chris Stussy, Apollonia and more - a sold out Amnesia was inevitable.
I went from the booth for Ben Sterling at 12:30 to 02:00, to my mate Chris Stussy in the Music Box afterwards. Many trips between each room trying to track down people followed. It was madness.
Weaving your way through a sold out club in 30 degree heat is a test of temperament - or at least mine. In the end, I located and even bumped into a few other pals along the way. It's always fun having friends from home fly out, as it's all new to them and you can guide them.
The rest of the Spotlight team joined for the final hour and we lapped up the space we had on the balcony with our VIP wristbands. A highlight for me was when The Bros' dropped a naughty remix of Jorja Smith's latest single Little Things. I need to find it to put straight on my own USB!
I could've stayed all night however, we called it a night before the mad rush at the end. How we got home is anyone's guess, but the taxi queue was too much to bear - that much I can tell you.
Sunday 23 July
A joyous day as my best friend Emily arrived on the island. Her flight was meant to land around midnight, however it was more like 02:30 in the end!
Due to the delay, I decided it would be sensible to get some sleep in before her arrival. It was weird setting an alarm for 01:30 in the morning, however I promised her we'd go out and have it large on her first night. It was also kind of mandatory that we ventured out, as a few more friends from home were here, so we felt obliged to meet up.
I put on my make-up and glad rags and she finally arrived.
Friends reunited and an inquisitive Cleo joins the rooftop picnic
Our plan was to go to Black Coffee, however it was 03:00 by the time she was ready and our friends called to say that a few people were refused entry because of their attire! Oops. It worked out well though, as we ended up getting a taxi to their villa in Cala Tarida and having a party of our own. I set us a curfew of 08:00, however this deadline was very much overshot.
It got to around 09:30 and the party was still in full swing. We decided to pull the plug and book a taxi home. A bit worse for wear, I had an early morning dip before bed. Shutters down, we were out till 18:00.
I expected us to awake around 16:00 naturally, so I was shook when I woke up and saw it was so late! We got up, dragged ourselves for dinner and came back for a very wholesome evening.
Although we slept through, Spotlight comrades Hayley and Tim were able to attend Recinto Ferial for Clockwork Classical. Myself and Gunter played games, ate snacks, watched crappy TV and had an early night for our big night out tomorrow...
Ready for more misadventures in clubland? The next entry from Lissy's dancefloor diary is online now.
Read previous weeks' capers here:
An enforced detour back home
Rubbing shoulders with A-listers
For daily insights, you can keep up to date with the life and times of Lissy Lü by following our TikTok channel here.
