Friday nights at Amnesia have long been stapled to the memory of Music On.
Things have moved on, and both camps are likely keen to distance themselves from their former association. But for Ibiza's underground old guard, that union lives rent-free in the memory.
Since the party's shift to across the island to rival Pacha, like many others, I have been yearning for just one more Friday night to Saturday morning spent having it off on that Terrace. You know, just like the good old days.
With his brainchild Metamorfosi, former Music On lieutenant Joseph Capriati righteously stepped-up to the plate to introduce his party last season. Personally, this felt not only like the long term suitor, but perhaps the best possible supersede ever. Bold statement? Maybe.
Yet Metamorfosi has evolved into my favourite of the season - maybe even ever. Let's get into it.
Joseph Capriati presents Metamorfosi goes 5-for-5
During the party's criminally short peak-summer run, I've attended three out of five Metamorfosi gatherings. Each one has trumped the last. When I say the closing party will stay etched in my temporal lobe forever, that's no exaggeration. I say that with conviction.
Arriving just before the eagerly anticipated three-way back-to-back of Capriati, Seth Troxler and ANOTR took off, my excitement levels were in overdrive.
Despite breaking my phone just an hour before getting on the disco bus, you could have forgiven me for feeling distracted, glum, stressed - a combination of all the above. Phone-less, but ready to go regardless, what would usually have been a big deal was now a triviality.
Very quickly my communication issues faded into insignificance, almost immediately upon entering the club. If anything, it felt liberating knowing nothing could distract me from the madness about to be unleashed.
Ibiza mainstays Joseph Capriati and Seth Troxler, alongside newfangled isle titans ANOTR, tore up The Terrace for a whole six hours. Unheard of! The extended set was a world-exclusive and, given its quality, if I hadn't known this already I'd probably have guessed.
Complimenting each others styles, each selector worked a mix of old and new records from start to finish. ANOTR's signature tracks of the summer, Vertigo and Relax My Eyes, were just as transfixing as you'd imagine.
Admittedly, I didn't catch much of what was going on in the Main Room. Any snippets I did however, didn't disappoint. There, heavy-hitters Enrico Sanguliano, Sasha Carassi and Reinier Zonneveld supplied a silo of relentless Techno eurythmics.
Unable to capture any IDs in particular (see phone issue above), what tracks I did hear whilst passing through shall remain a frustrating mystery. All I do know is, they were elite.
Back on The Terrace, the b2b2b coughed up a handful of classics that I'd be considered a phoney not to know. Green Velvet's Flash and Patrick Topping's Forget were a couple worthy of mention. 18 year old me was screaming at this point.
Moral of the night being: a rave with no iPhone might be the best thing that will happen to your night. That and also Capriati being a certified legend annointed by some higher power to lead this most holy of dancefloors. Metamorfosi you will be missed, but I have no doubts that you will return next summer. Perhaps you can even consider a longer season? I'm begging.
The ghost of Music On (at least in its former incarnation), can now be laid to dignified rest. There's a new Friday night champ in town. You could say its protagonist has been courting the position for a long time.
Unluckily for us all, that was the last one of the season. But all is not lost.
Saviour HE.SHE.THEY. is back this week to pick-up the baton and ensure that your Fridays aren't spent grieving what was. If that doesn't satisfy your Techno itch, then there's also Pyramid on Sundays which goes all the way to 8 October.
Tech House heads, you can contest with Jamie Jones' Paradise. In summary, you're not short on options.
As for Capriati, he'll be back on his stomping ground for the Amnesia Closing Party on Saturday 14 October. Tickets for that are already on sale (and the eagle-eyed amongst you will already know he also has two remaining dates at Paradise - 20 September and 4 October).
Head to our party calendar and get planning.
PHOTOGRAPHY | by PHRANK
