Yesterday the second helping of the Ibiza 123 Festival kicked off with a little help from Rocket man Elton John - yes Sir Elton John! Bagging one of the world's biggest stars was a commendable achievement even for Pino and gang. After being introduced to the crowd by island regular Pete Tong, Sir Elton John stunned the crowd with his friendly nature and beautiful voice - his pretty dazzling jacket with 'Fantastic' embellished in jewels across the back went down a treat too.
Before he belted out a selection of hits, The Heritage project aka. Amnesia legend Alfredo and his son Jaime Fiorito warmed up the festival crowd; Rob da Bank, Labrinth (live), Sub Focus and Tiny Tempah (live) continued the party bringing a bit of diversity to the waterfront stage plus a slightly stronger following compared to day one. Things got into full swing as 2ManyDJ's partied through until sunset mixing in dance-floor favourites such as the late Donna Summer's 'I feel love', Prodigy's 'Out of Space' and 'Yeah Yeah' by Bodyrox ft. Luciano. From old school hippies swirling florescent wands around in a state of glee to the dedicated clubbers fist pumping the hummid air, everybody on that manmade field was loving the 123 festivities.
An adoring anticipation was in the air as 9pm approached - Sir Elton's set time, and arriving in style as the red hot sun lay to rest in the picturesque horizon the globally renowned and much loved star strolled onto stage waving his little arms in the air and grinning from ear to ear. A previous Ibiza Virgin, Elton John greeted the crowd and appeared more than happy to be performing on the White Isle for the first time. Taking his pew at a pretty sexy Yamaha Motif XF8 the glammed up chap opened with 'Your song' and was immediately joined by his backing choir - the festival goers of course. Truly knowing how to work a crowd he performed his older, classic material plus a few newer tracks but the ultimate pleasers were hits like 'Rocket man' and 'Tiny Dancer.'
Later joined by Australian band, Pnau - who he has been working on a new Roctronic material with since joining forces in preparation for Ibiza 123, the collaborating acts opened with track 'Sad' which brought a more up-tempo sound to the festival and the world's of rock, hip electro and band culture fused together nicely. A personal favourite for me was their track 'Good Morning To The Night' as it managed to emphasise the talents of both acts, creating a lovely union of sounds. The rather mystic group, Pnau were dressed in Asian inspired clothing and bounced about the stage with excitement whilst Elton John continued to tap away at the piano with his magic hands. Possibly a little over shone by the legend, Pnau went onto perform their own material which made way for Fatboy Slim's penultimate set.
Fatboy Slim took the gig to a different realm with vibrant visuals, extravagant graphics such as bright crazy faces, city skylines and retro DJ equipment which flashed across the screens as he created an ear buzzing combination of electronica and recognisable tracks. Dropping his own record 'Right here right now', 'NYC Beat' by Armand Van Helden and Sir Mix a lot's hit 'Jump on it' kept the crowd riled up for Steve Angello's closing set. Treated to a colourful, loud and exciting fireworks display day 2 was rounded off to the fierce sound of one third of the soon to be split up (Nooooo!) Swedish House Mafia, Steve Angello.
So, with tomorrow being the final day of the Ibiza 123 Festival and offering a collaboration between Lenny Kravitz and Luciano things can only get better - and far more interesting...
