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!
Tuesday 8 August
What's this? The suggestion of some flu-like symptoms upon waking. Ugh. The most I moved from my bed was a quick dip to Natural Pau for a shwarma and a juice, but any consciously ingested goodness was the proverbial locking of the stable door after the horse had bolted.
I had promised the girls that I'd go for dinner with them in Ibiza Town, so I had little choice but to man up, put my face on and drive on over. It's all mind over matter, Lissy.
After some dreamy pasta for dinner, we hit the cobbled back streets of town for a little mooch around the boutiques. Despite best intentions, window shopping always turns into literal shopping - and with the girls providing positive reinforcement to anything shiny that caught my eye, it was in danger of turning into a full on spree.
But, you know what, the motto I live by recently is treat yo'self.
Pav, Phoebe, and I got matching necklaces, which are, let's say "inspired by" the famed Van Cleefe that all of the celebs are wearing. Fake it until you make it, is apparently another motto I've adopted.
Because of the San Ciriaco public holiday, the streets were a little crazy and so too were the queues for the ice cream parlours. I waited patiently in line for my gelato hit.
Adding sprinkles and everything, Vivi's Creamery is my new favourite gelateria, which is apparently owned by the former Formula One driver, Nico Rosberg and his wife, presumably called Vivi. Little bit of Ibiza trivia for you there.
Timed to perfection, we heard the first firework sound just as we were served our ice creams, so we scurried down to the front of the port to get the best view.
What a show it was! I was pleasantly surprised by the perfectly synchronised display. Just when you think Ibiza can't give you any more, she surprises you again. The fireworks went on for around 15 minutes. We just stood there in awe the entire time, mesmerised by their beauty.
It was a magical moment. So much so, it wasn't until the walk back to the car I realised I was still feeling rough.
Friday 11 August
The girls from home had now gone back to the UK and everything was in disarray.
I think I had suppressed my symptoms of what felt like a horrible bug. In wanting to make sure the girls had a good holiday and see them as much as possible, I had neglected my own health. On Friday, it hit like a tonne of bricks: pounding headache, blocked sinuses and a sore throat.
Despite best intentions of heading to 528 to see CAMELPHAT play for another celebration of Pacha's 50 years, a two hour siesta turned into a deep sleep that I desperately needed. Sometimes you just need to listen your body.
There's a consensus in the workers' community, that if you can last until the first weekend in August, then you've made it and earned the final third of the season. Trust me, that each summer many soldiers fall well before that date.
That hurdle was reached, but now I am paying the price. I might not currently be standing, but I am still here.
Luckily, team work makes the dream work and three of my colleagues stepped up to attend in my absence. Hayley looked like she had enough fun for everyone!
Saturday 12 August
After a heavy duty 12 hour sleep, I was up and out by 10:00 and desperate to get out of the house for a little fresh air. This inevitably involved shopping.
It's a busy couple of weeks at Casa del Spotlight as we have a number of guests coming in and out. Stevey's good friends George, Holly and Sophia were the first to arrive. George gifted me a jar of Marmite from the UK and I couldn't have been more thrilled.
I do miss a weekly shop in an English supermarket.
First of our August guests to arrive were the Braintree gang
Our household doubling in size overnight meant that we had to get creative with the sleeping arrangements. This meant some pulling the short straw bed-wise.
Still not feeling one hundred per cent, I managed to avoid the peer pressures of the group to get on the booze and sesh. I knew that if I got on their level, I would not be in a fit state for when my own friends arrive on Monday.
With the group splintering and veering off in different tangents, I joined the party headed to S'Arenal beach in San Antonio for the Ibiza Global Festival - a free party held every year on the playa.
We met other friends and colleagues on the beach and watched an incredible line-up of DJs perform. I remained sensible and sober for the duration, but this didn't put the brakes on having fun.
Musically, it was absolutely impeccable. From a smooth, sultry House set from Baloo, to a little chaotic and more uptempo set from Nosefin, followed by the king of Tribal House AMÉMÉ, and finished off by Nic Fanculli. The track that stood out the most was AMÉMÉ's Power. It went off.
I finished off the night with a pizza and left the others to crack on. I believe their night went from the San An slingshot, to carrying on the night around the pool to watch the spectacular Perseids meteor shower.
Perseids is known colloquially as the tears of San Lorenzo
Our photographer Pete managed to catch the perfect shot of it from his house - mother nature at her finest. What a marvellous 24 hours on Ibiza. But we're only getting started!
Monday 14 August
It would be a lie to say I woke feeling completely refreshed, but my only option was to put a brave face as yet another group of pals were arriving imminently.
The girl gang touched down in the evening and we headed straight to dinner at Mint by Mambo. It was our friend Tim Payne's (neither the notorious cricketer, nor the head chef at Pikes) first time in Ibiza, so a trip to the Sunset Strip was a must.
Heidi was playing next door at Café Mambo ahead of her appearance at Hï Ibiza. After being introduced, I told her I first saw her play at Bestival in 2016 on the Isle of Wight. She seemed to vividly remember her set there.
By pure coincidence, an old colleague from my days working in real estate in London also happened to be holidaying here with her younger sister. Though self-confessed House music novices, I insisted they join us at the club for the experience and show them how it's done.
In the end, we didn't hit DC10 until 03:00. Kilimanjaro was closing the Main Room, with Enoo Napa b2b Caiiro playing before and it was an absolute vibe. We squeezed our way to the front of the crowd and it was close to a mosh pit there. The music was so good, we soon forgot about the over-crowding. Afro House is a top tier genre that is in its prime right now.
I'm pleased to report Mimz and her younger sister had the time of their lives. There's nothing better than seeing your friends experience Ibiza for the first time and falling in love with it the way you did.
If you're looking to skip the madness of a post-Circoloco taxi queue, my new hack is to walk ten minutes to the roundabout and holler one down. You might get ignored a few times, but eventually one will stop, saving you precious hours of your holiday time.
We've had many late nights chatting nonsense and a handful of early morning post club dips, but this was our first proper poolside afters at Casa del Spotlight. The excitement of us all being reunited clearly had an intoxicating effect.
From a very intense game of Dobble, to occasional dips in the pool and deep chats around the table, we bonded watching the sun come up whilst listening to music. Reports of skinny dipping cannot be confirmed.
We finally called time at 11:00, just as the heat was starting to get too intense. Don't expect to be hearing much from any of us tomorrow, least of all me. As luck would have it, 15 August is the Assumption of Mary public holiday throughout Spain.
Track of the week
Francis Mercier & Magic System | Premier Gaou (Nitefreak Remix) | Spinnin' Deep
played by Kilimanjaro at Circoloco, DC10
Thirsty for more misadventures in clubland? The next entry from Lissy Lü's dancefloor diary is online now.
Read previous weeks' capers here:
Girls on tour
One night in Magaluf
Radio 1 weekend
For daily insights, you can keep up to date with the life and times of Lissy Lü by following our TikTok channel here.
