Space Opening Fiesta is renowned for being THE Ibiza opening party to be at, and last night as a Space virgin I saw why. It's easy to forget that you're at just one of the many club nights in the Ibiza calendar, as Space feels like a festival in its own right. When there's a DJ getting feet moving out on the street before you've even handed your ticket over, you know you're in for a good night.
The fiesta kicked off in the Flight Club, the huge outdoor arena erected for both the opening and closing of Space's summer stretch, that brings the capacity up to an eye watering 15 000. After a sun-drenched afternoon of raving to the likes of David Moreno and Agoria (yes, he played Scala of course!), dusk brought with it the most hotly anticipated act of the night, newely reformed Deep Dish. The grammy winning duo, made up of Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi, who parted ways in 2006, made a spectacular comeback in Miami earlier this year, with a massive night at Ice Palace Film Studios and the release of their well received single Quincy. For their debut on the White Isle, they steered away from the perhaps easier route of rehashing their tried and tested sets of the nineties, and instead served up a solid mix incorporating elements from both their house and techno solo ventures.
Other big names came in the form of the Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx, who took to decks in succession, keeping the crowd hooked right out to the outer corners of the sprawling expanse that is the main room. Over in the Terrace, those present for South London Ordinance were going nowhere quickly as the infectious, shuffling beats of tracks like Radio Slave's Don't Stop No Sleep just kept on coming. Not to be outdone, Harvey McKay followed smashing out his new track Start Running.
The visuals were impressive as ever; Space is certainly one club that knows how to put on a show. Someone had raided the fancy dress box and girls draped in swathes of material danced above the crowds, while the lights towering above the Flight stage pulsed up and down with the bass. The main room, an absolute monster of a space, was swamped with smoke from the cannons and moody lighting, perfect for switching off and getting lost in the music.
The eclectic mix of rooms in Space made exploring all the more interesting. Compared to the arena-esque feel of some of the others, El Salon, or the living room, manages to capture that intimate, grungy atmosphere you rarely find outside of a traditional, cheap cider fuelled, someone's-definitely-going-to-get-grounded-for-this house party, with Paul Reynolds providing the soundtrack. Throwing in funk and disco classics from the likes of Micheal Jackson and Chic, he kept the party going well into the early hours, with the crowd barely thinning out till the sun was up and the doors were closing.
Space has definitely taken off for the summer, and won't be coming back down to Earth any time soon.
WORDS | Joanna Wright PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
PHOTO | Clockwise from top left: Paul Reynolds bringing the funk in El Salon, Nic Fanciulli in Terraza, James Zabiela and Sharam also in la Terraza and Chemical Brothers in the Discoteca.
