The day had finally arrived for the island's most talked about party, the Space Opening Fiesta. Starting the show at 4.30pm and running through until midday the event isn't for the faint hearted, light weight or early bird; and only those with incredibly comfy footwear or energy will run the course. Not doing a bad job ourselves arriving at 6pm and leaving soon after 6am we thoroughly enjoyed the evening and have sore feet to prove it. Although compared to previous years the line-up wasn't as ram packed with superstar DJs, it did contain many of the amazing yet understated talents of EDM.
Starting our evening in the car park, which is only open for the opening and closing parties during the season, the production and sheer scale of the venue was quite astounding. A firm staple in Space opening history Wally Lopez got the party started and was, of course, kitted out in his famous Oakley glasses. Taking over from the Spanish face of electronic music was Orbital, a duo from the UK who had a ridiculous amount of energy that was carried over to the crowd. The two men who both looked like a typical dad turned cool, hypnotised the car park with their break beat tracks featuring trembling basslines and eerie female vocals which perfectly suited the sci-fi-esq style of their set. The pair were even sporting glasses with LED lights just to add to their performance even further.
Wanting to check out what else the 'worlds best club' had to offer we caught the first sets of the evening in the Discoteca - hosted by DJ Mag. As the car park was still heaving there was plenty of room to enjoy the opening sets by Detlef followed immediately by Blackhall & Bookless. Dropping Dan Ghenacia and Shonky's tune 'Close to the edge', Blackhall & Bookless did a banging job of warming up the main room for its evening of fun and got us perfectly in the mood to welcome Carl Cox to the outdoor stage.
Making our way back through the crowd filled with many happy people, some of which could be seen in all sorts of unique and semi ridiculous fancy dress outfits, we eventually reached a plot which was perfect for our little Carl Cox appreciation party to stop and have a dance. As the Space legend got behind the decks and started smashing out a thumping techno set supported by futuristic graphics and lighting the crowd went wild whilst awaiting the anticipated drop. Within his first few tracks he had built his sound up from a pounding bassline to a melodic riff of keys and shouted 'fantastic, fantastic' to welcome his loyal fans. He was later joined on the stage by four robotic female dancers which matched the overall theme of the production. Having just celebrated his 50th birthday Carl Cox was presented with a gift to which everybody sang happy birthday to him and the techno master gave everyone a short speech before continuing with his fierce set. For the first time in Space history the car park was left to party on until 2am, which made the events buzz reach a whole new level whilst keeping the other rooms at a more pleasurable capacity.
Heading into the main room to catch a bit of Sasha's set, which brought a trippy green light show into the Discoteca, the smooth mixing dance music legend incorporated deep progressive sounds with a tribal influence into his set. Steve Lawler went onto give a deep bouncy set using Traktor technology and was joined by Dubfire, tINI, Richie Hawtin and David Squillace in the booth. Considering that the Discoteca is the largest of Space's rooms it managed to maintain a very intimate and spirited atmosphere all night. Young Blue Marlin resident Danny Avila could even be seen strolling through the crowds.
Later Nic Fancuilli dropped Camisra's track 'Let me show you' which increased the Discoteca's bouncy vibe further and made way for a more uptempo set from Paul Rich who mixed in Fatboy Slims 'What the F***' record. Throughout the night the Discoteca was home to some very well known talent such as tINI, Sasha and Steve Lawler but also brought some real quality sets from lesser known artists to the speakers making the opening party a far more exciting and unexpected evening musically.
Over the course of the night we also ventured into the Sunset terrace, El Salon and Premier Etage to ensure that we had checked out the whole venue and something that remained consistent from room to room was the euphoric feel in the air; and although the party is definitely the most popular during the season (and their closing alike) there was a musical adoring calmness flowing from room to room making Space's opening fiesta the most perfect way to see in the 2012 season.
