Aside from a very busy New Year's schedule, Ibiza's super-clubs are on sabbatical now for winter. However, the island's global influence continues elsewhere in the world.
During the low season, we bring you club reviews from Ibiza favourites at other party destinations from around the world.
After our fleeting Miami trip for Art Basel week, we found ourselves back in the GMT time zone for what could be our last party blowout before Christmas. Hï Ibiza's 2022 Tuesday night residents The Martinez Brothers took over London's newest events space, The Beams.
Cuttin' Headz x Más Tiempo | The Beams | Saturday 17 December
Dubbed a centre for new culture, The Beams is the latest multi-purpose event space to launch in London.
Located on the Thames Industrial Estate, not far from London City Airport, the venue is a trek to the city's eastern limits. On a weekend where strike action had ground public transport to almost a complete standstill, The Martinez Brothers are really making us work for our dance.
Later on, the sub-zero temperatures will present yet another obstacle to overcome. The things we're prepared to do for a party...
While the space might lack the immediate impact of walking into Tobacco Dock or Printworks for the first time, it more than compensates in its functionality. And that's not to say it's without its own striking features.
Windows at the back of the room allow daylight inside, charting the transcendental move from day to night. Minor details such as traffic flow and crowd dispersion will improve in due course, as the crowd becomes more familiar with the layout.
A second space, used to showcase upcoming DJs and local outfits during the first season, feels like a bit of a forgotten man. But this is only year one. No doubt the formula will be tweaked when the venue returns in 2023, as operators Broadwick Live and LWE react to post Printworks and Tobacco Dock life - both of which will pause hosting parties in the near future.
An ongoing project, this most definitely is. Always leave the masses wanting more.
Today's event, the last in The Beam's opening series, is a collaboration between the hosts' Cuttin' Headz label and Skepta's Más Tiempo brand.
It's likely the light barrier was broken, the speed the party sold out. Blink and you missed out on tickets. At the time of pre-sale, TMB and Skepta were the only names announced.
Although speculation was rife, that remained the case right up until doors open. It would have been easy to pad-out the early card with filler acts. Therefore credit must go to the organisers for not scrimping on the support acts.
Clubbers arrive to find news of Idris Elba, Eliza Rose, Skepta's fellow Boy Better Know member Jammer and Ibiza's own Kellie Allen completing the bill.
Idris Elba's invite today is a little poetic, as many of the more dramatic scenes from Luther were shot in derelict warehouse spaces around Royal Docklands, much like here.
One of the more bizarre or magical moments (depending on your stance) sees Idris drop in the opening lines of Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas. Cue sing-along scenes. It isn't all eye-rolling cheesy crowd-pleasers though.
The Breach-sampling Jack Flip by Goodboys and some of the Garage-y cuts from 7Wallace make up part of a varied set. The selection of music played opens up even further, as Eliza Rose is next to take the baton.
Just a few days ago, Eliza picked up the DJ Mag Best Of British award for Best Track of the year. Her single B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All), a collaboration with Interplanetary Criminal, has been a 2022 staple. The crowd reaction and wave of phones speaks for itself as she unloads it.
You may recall that Skepta caused a stir earlier this summer, as a surprise addition to one of Circoloco's line-ups. DJing is clearly an avenue that the MC is looking to pursue. We think it's inevitable that he will pop up more on Ibiza next year.
Any attendees hoping for some Grime, of which there are surely many, might feel short-changed. What Skepta's set does include, is bass-driven House music with several nods to Dubstep, the occasional stray to Techno and the clever use of some BBK lyrics to awesome effect.
A mixture of applause and whoops ring around the room, as The Martinez Brother's own H 2 da Izzo marks their arrival in the booth. It's now that the tempo is noticeably taken up a few degrees. The stuttering start from earlier is instantly forgotten, as The Bros go into full flow.
M.A.W's Work is mixed into Rizzla and the crowd palpitates. Before long we're swaying to the YSL re-edit. TMB have grabbed the party by the scruff of the neck.
As the mercury pushes on the pressure cooker of the dancefloor, the bitterness that awaits us outside couldn't be further from our thoughts.
Maybe it's a combination of the aerobic workout and the endorphins rushing around our body, but afterwards, the cold doesn't cut nearly as bad as we feared. Leaving with a fuzzy feeling inside, we could well emit this warm glow all the way until Christmas Day.
In a constant state of flux, London's clubbing landscape will look a lot different six months from now. In The Beams, the city genuinely has a centre for new culture with bags of potential to fill the gap left by its predecessors. A blank canvas to experiment and inspire.
London-based TMB fans don't have to wait too long for Chris and Steve to return to the UK capital. The Martinez Brothers present Cuttin' Headz is part of the Final Season of parties at Printworks, as the former newspaper press wraps up its tenure in Surrey Quays.
Being that The Bros opened the curtain at the venue back in February 2017, that ties things up quite nicely on 31 March. There they will play an extended set with the rest of the line-up TBA.
Beyond that, we look to Ibiza! Whilst most people would be fairly confident that TMB return to the same or similar spot as last summer, who can tell? Whatever happens, we're sure that we'll be learning about the plans very soon.
In the interim, we'll bring you more Ibiza worldwide reviews from London and beyond in the coming weeks. For an in-depth analysis of Ibiza 2022, read our full season review.
PHOTOGRAPHY | by Jake Davis
