We Love has been my place of musical worship for the last 7 years worth of summer sundays. The much earned days of rest during the winter months are spent looking forward to, and waiting for, that aural variety that Mark and Sarah Broadbent offer up. I mean, there's no denying that the 2012 season has been a struggle for quite a few promoters, even for a brand as strong and well respected as We Love. With the extended season in place to attract a greater number of people to the Ibizian clubs coupled with the increased choice of quality nights island wide, the actual result has seemed to just spread the same number of people out over a longer period. It will be interesting to see if anything changes for We Love next season...
That being said, of course, the We Love closing party was up there with the very best. Having written about last year's closing and comparing it to this one, it's a tough call to say which was better; but then the blurred out vague memories of the 7/8 hours I spent inside the world's best club start to fade back in to focus. Two names emerge out of the darkness in particular - James Zabiela and Modeselektor. Both presented me with some of the greatest sounds I've heard since DJ Derek picked up a microphone, and that old rasta wannabe from Bristol has got mad skills, there's no doubting.
I mean, taking a quick glance over the rooms it's clear to see which caters for which crowd. The Terraza was all about your typical clubber, with some big names in there both old and new to keep people happy, whilst the Discoteca was, arguably, for the more serious music enthusiast. The kind of person that has delved deep in to the depths of Beatport and the like to source out some of the most unique, and often craziest music you'll be likely hear for a while. I'm talking Groove Armada vs Modeselektor; perhaps that puts it all into perspective for you.
I won't lie, I knew very little about Modeselektor before Sunday. I spent the day casually flicking through videos and tracks of their music, before I came to this one. The recording of their live performance from Budapest this year was the perfect introduction to one of the greatest hours of music my ears have ever had the pleasure of going slightly more deaf to. Potential tune of the night came from Gernot and Sebastian, aka Modeselektor, in the form of the absolutely oustanding 'Berlin'. They certainly did their home town proud with that one. That slow beat, the synths and the vocals all combined together create something entirely unexpected. It's best described as 'unique', experience it for yourself over on YouTube. Probably best on repeat for an hour or so.
Before getting in to too much detail on the main rooms of the night, it's worthgiving the side rooms the shout out they deserve. There are few better places to start a party than in El Salon. Although most opt for the very cool Sunset Terrace, this year hosted by Jaymo & Andy George of MODA fame, or perhaps the Premier Etage heading up by Alfredo, I find the post-midnight atmosphere in El Salon to be exactly what I want. The music was down quite low, so I went for a casual lean at that bar whilst a mini rave went off around the dj booth, with Little Boots dropping all kinds of old school rave classics. As you will know if you've read the article on 'The Wasted Heroes', designer Russell Reid sponsored El Salon, and I spotted a few of the cool t-shirt designs about throughout the night.
To the music then! As you would expect a typically wide range of genres were heard. Shackleton was the first to be seen in the Discoteca - going for music that had elements of bongos and drums with a tribal feel to it, really fast paced so I suspect that kicked up the energy levels for those in attendance. Of course this was followed by the aforementioned Modeselektor. Certainly the highlight performance of the night for me as the whole setting came together very nicely, with some "Hey Bitches, you want more? OK, cool" shouts from the guys over the mic in a weird German-chipmunk-child accent... Not sure what to say about that to be honest. Except that I liked it.
Zabiela seemingly enjoyed his last We Love set of his 2012 residency, in hostingthe room with his forthcoming label - Born Electric. The Groove Armada remix of Alex Jones 'Higher Level' was easily the most euphoric moment of the party, inspiring a room full of people with arms raised, all mostly due to that synth breakdown. Spine tingling stuff. Mark Henning's 'Trojan' was another track to go down well, particularly if you were standing front and centre in full view of the sub-woofer stack.
Of course, Groove Armada were probably the main attraction for the night, working their way through classic acapellas we all know and love, 'Superstylin' and Nomad's 'Devotion' stick out the most. Set wise it was pretty typical from what we've seen from the boys all season; a great set, run in parrallel with the laser and LED screen which they also control. Using cameras in front of the booth they can create live adaptive visuals as they wish. The sort of multitasking previously seen only in women.
Both rooms were closed out by long-time We Love servants Simian Mobile Disco in the Discoteca and Paul Woolford in the Terraza, and both were still going by the time I left nearing the 8am mark. I'm slightly ashamed I didn't stick around till the end, but then it is closings time elsewhere too, and it's best I learn to pace myself. Although near enough 8 hours in any one place is still pretty decent going.
Whilst I'm riding the crest of this 10th wind I'll say this; if you want to savour the flavour of Ibiza at its finest, to experience what all the fuss is about, then We Love should be your destination of choice. The party works, it evolves, it improves, and it educates. Think of it like Sunday School when you were a kid, but with a lot more bass and smiles. All hail We Love.
