Pacha, pure Pacha. It feels like coming home every time I go there. Pacha was my first party ever, my first Ibiza club and probably my first messy night, so you could imagine how excited I was last night to put my feet on its floor for the very first time this season. Without any doubt, Saturday nights at Pacha are one of the residents' favourites. Not only because it is the best day for the local workers to go out but because on these nights the pure essence of the club comes back to fill the venue with a glamourous and happy amosphere; an atmosphere that the producer Bob Sinclar understands perfectly with his Paris by Night concept, bringing the French extravagance to our cherries club and converting it into a modern Parisian cabaret.
By the time I arrived, and let me tell you it was still early, the queue at the door was growing longer and longer, full of fancy dresses, high heels and glitter make up upon those who were waiting to party to the rhythms of Bob Sinclar and his special guest of the night, Idris Elba. Once inside, a massive (really massive) dancefloor welcomed me chanting and dancing the first tunes surrounded by the beautiful decoration that the club had provided for the Parisian night: pretty ballerinas dressed up in suitably sexy outfits, gold streamers, male and female dancers in sequin-frosted cat suits and neon signs announcing words like Dance, L'amour, Paris... Without any doubt, the best visually impressive production I've seen in Pacha for years.
When Idris Elba, the actor with such a musical soul, jumped to the stage to kick off his very first performance of the Ibiza season, some of the attendees were concentrated on the stairs close to the booth because there wasn't space enough on the dancefloor. The DJ went onto a varied set full of different genres and maintaining a hard and intense bass line along the one hour and a half he played. Idris, also known as Big Driis, proved that it is possible to adapt different styles like reggae, hip-hop or jungle into house beats. We could hear remixes like Red Roses by the trance pharaohs Pep and Rash, Dario Nunez's Banga or Love Shak by Leandro Da Silva, the crowd honouring the moments of silence when Idris cut out the music for them by singing at the top of their lungs. He totally owned the dancefloor from the first beats of his act.
Following him, the French boss Bob Sinclar, who was wearing a black and white striped shirt and beret adding the glamourous and passionate (if a little clichéd) Parisian style to the night. He went for fun dance and easy-to-digest music, travelling from house to hip-hop to funk along his set and filling the dancefloor with a solid two hours of his floor shaking beats and bass heavy versions of commercial favorites. Ever the crowd pleaser, he also gave his fans a selection from his own impressive catalogue like his new tune Feel The Vibe, which I can't get out of my head.
As proved last night, Pure Pacha has become one of the premiere choices of Saturday nights, hosting hundreds of guests who don't want to miss Ibiza's own little cabaret, the modern Moulin Rouge with the best house and commercial music.
WORDS | Natalia Gutiérrez PHOTOGRAPHY | Pure Pacha