Is this the end for day parties in Ibiza?
It's been a year of expansion for two famous venues that lie under the flight path of planes landing at Ibiza's only airport, Space and Dc10.
The former replaced Manumission's Carry On with Day Off!, wooed the biggest weekly gay party in Europe La Troya away from Amnesia and was there to pick up the pieces when the Ibiza Town venue Penelope fell apart after starting so well in 2005. Monza replaced Steve Lawler's Viva on Thursdays, and the polysexual Gorgeous became Space's first ever Saturday night residents, tho their initial partner, Balearic People, crashed and burned before the end of the season.
Dc10 tried out three new promotions. Londoner Damian Lazarus's Friday nighter Stink stunk, but subsequently the Tania Vulcano-fronted Pandemonium (below) came up smelling of roses. Mr C's Superfreq parted company with Underground and put on three Wednesday night parties in September.
Pandemonium @ Dc10 - September 15, 2006
Pandemonium @ Dc10 - September 15, 2006
Pandemonium triptych - September 15, 2006
Pandemonium @ Dc10 - September 15, 2006
Pandemonium @ Dc10 - September 15, 2006
Pandemonium @ Dc10 - September 15, 2006
The common thread is of course timing. Apart from Day Off! these were all night time events, a trend likely to continue. The authorities in Ibiza have made their position clear - the current situation where one club closes and the next opens is not wanted. The "24 hour march", as it is commonly referred to, is considered injurious to health and Ibiza's international reputation. The afterhour scene, already curtailed in the district of San Antonio, could become a thing of the past island wide.
2007 may go down as the first year in which there are no legal events beginning after dawn and before midday.
Of course the vacuum will almost certainly be filled by a host of smaller, unlicensed gigs. Private villas have already been designed with mini clubs inside. The sheer volume of people looking to continue the party will make the policing of this predicted phenomenon virtually impossible.
Do you habitually take a pair of sunglasses when you go out at night? Does a sea of faces similarly clad in the dawn light cause you great joy? If so make the most of the upcoming entertainment - you may not see its like again.
Day parties in Ibiza from now till October 2
- Matinee @ Space - this morning and the closing party next Saturday (September 3)
- Mulletover's final morning session @ We Love Space's closing party tomorrow (Sunday September 24), preceded by a Saturday night party
- Circo Loco @ Dc10 have two more 8am starts - this Monday (September 25) and the closing party (October 2). Line ups in the this way in the Spotlight party calendar
- Space's monumental closing party is on October 1. Click the link below for tickets.