Crack does Ibiza: Pt.1

We Love… at Space, Ibiza | July 28th

Crack had the pleasure of being shown round Space – the club where clubbing as we know it on the White Isle began – and aside from our wonderment at the grandeur of the venue, the other observation is more straightforward – it’s absolutely fucking massive.

It was with the greatest of pleasure that Crack accepted the first of two extremely generous invites to host a room for Sunday night Ibiza institution We Love… in the beautiful El Salon – perhaps the best looking room in the venue, and certainly the most debonair. Bringing our two favourite cohorts in the form of Pardon My French and WLT, we buckled in for a night that could amply satisfy the longings of any electronic music fan.

Ducking in between the Terrace and the Discoteca proved to be the most fruitful method of exploration with the sounds emanating from each making for a perfect separation of techno in the main room and more fluid sounds on the Terrace.

After tending to our own space, Crack’s dalliance with super-club clubbing was made all the more pleasurable by the wealth of super-friendly people and the clearly obvious fact that the carefully chosen acts on the line-up had scared off the Essex brigade – they were all getting down to a bit of Avicii over the road at Ushuaia. It’s a solid fact that Ibiza polarises dissonant musical groups and it’s with more than a confident smile that we look at tonight’s line-up and recline into our night knowing that Space’s booking means we aren’t going to be left in a musical hinterland.

Firstly, breakthrough Swedish live act, Skudge, pushed the techno button with more ferocity than any of their previously listened to productions suggested they might. Their bruising stuff acts as ‘thrown in the deep end’/’welcome to the jungle’ introduction to our night and it also showcases the incredulous level of lighting and sound production in the venue, with every last neon being deployed to confound and push the senses. We move on to witness Ivan Smagghe’s electro laced, house groovers that are totally engaging in the Terrace and his set makes way for Miss Kittin who continues somewhat of a similar French theme.

Back in El Salon, Crack couldn’t be prouder of our boys who are building up quite the loyal crowd – Pardon My French with their disco infused house bubblers and WLT with a more techier exploration of the genre. After remaining here until the 5am closing time with a B2B back session that looked and sounded like the aural equivalent of three kids who’d been let loose in a sweet shop, the result was some serious dancing and one of the most joyous takeovers we’ve had the pleasure of doing.

After polishing things off with Derrick May’s techno education from yesteryear and subsequent 7am scramble into the DJ booth to talk him post set which resulted in mass hilarity at the eagerness of one Crack journalist to get his man, there was a palpable sense of achievement at the end of the night. We retired to Playa d’en Bossa beach with beer crate in hand and Space conquered.

Crack returns to Ibiza on August 25th, again to Space to host El Salon with Pardon My French and Lukas. Full info on that night can be found here

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Words: Thomas Frost

Photos: Inmamontepicante.com