OK – so everyone, including us, has already been talking about ENTER. non-stop for the entire season, but Richie Hawtin and his team have got a lot of things right with this party and deserve the tidal wave of acclaim that's washing over them. So for one last time (don't hold us to that) let's talk about ENTER.
Hawtin certainly has a knack for creating nights to remember, as he works from the bottom up. Since night one, ENTER. has been recognised for its attention to detail and intimate vibe. Ibiza's gargantuan clubs can be terribly impersonal - at times one can feel like one's presence on the dance floor is neither here nor there. Not so with ENTER. The El Salon pre-party, like every week, was a very familiar affair, with Richie darting all over the room greeting people, taking photos, pouring sake and hopping on the mic to thank everyone and welcome us to the evening. I even spotted him pouring a sake for Pepe Rosello, owner of Space and Fujioka-san, brewer of the drink in question. Richie makes us feel like we're involved in the night, and that someone actually gives a bucket whether we have a good time or not. This sense of community on the dance floor is the crux of what makes Ibiza brilliant, and it can't be said for all parties out here.
Not only does Hawtin get that making things personal is important, he also knows how to pull out the big guns to get a party talked about. Convincing Sven Vath to return to Space after a ten-year hiatus for four hours of morning magic in the discoteca was a feat worth talking about. DJing out of a rubber boat on the beach was a promotion worth talking about. And it was only last week that the island's worst kept secret came to fruition, when Hawtin and Luciano played back-to-back for each other's nights, even constructing a clubbers crossing to help party-goers make the treacherous and tedious 50 metre journey across the road from Ushuaïa to Space. Again – a night worth talking about. And then there's the aul black dot tattoo caper. Genius. Everyone competing to advertise Hawtin's night for free in the most creative position (I'm a fan of the leg dot, can't get used to the neck dot and still hanging out for the eye patch dot).
When I entered El Salon for the final ENTER. instalment I was hit by a barrage of whoops and cheers and fist pumping – any ideas one might have had about easing one's way into the night gradually Maya Jane Coles was mercilessly smashing to pieces over the El Salon turntables. It was easily the rowdiest I've seen the place and I would have sacrificed a goat to get my hands on MJC's full tracklist (in the meantime, rub your ears in a few that I salvaged: Zebra Katz feat. Njena Reddd Foxxx - Ima Read, Spectra Soul feat. Tamara Bless - Away With Me and Deepworm - Why). She wound the tempo down a little towards the end with tracks like Ame's remix of Howling (featured in our August Top Ten), entertaining us well over the usual time slot. Enjoy those excellent tunes, because track indentifying got a little difficult from here on in, as the soulful vocals were shelved and dark and dirty techno basslines came out to play for the rest of the night.
Apart from the effortlessly awesome Maya Jane Coles, standouts for the night included Matador – who was up hills and down dales in the discoteca, taking us on a fluctuating expedition through techno, Nick Curly – who was knocking out deliciously nasty beats in the Terazza and, of course, Mr R. Hawtin himself - who brought the discoteca to a heavy and triumphant close in the morning hours with standout tracks like Mark Henning – Trojan (no way! Richie reads Spotlight too! This one's in our September Top Ten), which sounded about as grizzly as we were all looking by this point, and the classic Egyptian Lover track, Egypt, Egypt. By the end of proceedings Richie and company were dancing on tables, as messy as the rest of us, and I chuckled to myself in anticipation of the after-party to come.
Party on Richie et al – you've earned it!
