We've all been there, a few weeks of holidaying in Ibiza, or perhaps you're one of the lucky ones who did a season, you come home and people are asking you "so, what did you do? Tell us some stories!" You sit back for a moment and that blank realisation hits you - you cannot remember a single story. There are undoubtedly hundreds of them to share, but for a time where so much good stuff was happening, it's easy for your mind to just give you absolutely nothing.
So, in steps Ibiza Spotlight! We've rounded up what we think were the Top 10 Moments of Ibiza 2012. That is, the most amazing things to have happened to the people and the island they live on this past summer, with a few honourable mentions at the end.
You're welcome.
IMS Finale - Loco Dice
On pure location alone, the setting for the International Music Summit Finale will remain one of the most impressive for years to come. Commanding views over Ibiza Town, the marina and up to the top of Dalt Vila, the UNESCO site allows for only the two parties of the IMS. Loco Dice enjoyed the best time slot of the evening as the sun set perfectly behind him and things got serious.
Previous editions of the IMS Grand Finale have, of course, had impressive lineups, but seeing the likes of Loco Dice, who undeniably enjoys the respect of the vast majority of dance music lovers, in the setting of Dalt Vila is a moment of pleasure all those in attendance are unlikely to forget any time soon.
Ibiza 123 Festival - Elton John Lenny Kravitz & Sting
Many people say we have it pretty good for music on the island during the main season. They have a fair point, we enjoy 5 solid months of musical variations every night. But then a group of people combined minds and throw together one of the most unusual lineups for Ibiza's very first proper festival. Given the interesting challenge of trying to cater for everyone's tastes on the island, we saw the likes of Nicolas Jaar and Sting share the same stage, giving a solid base for 2013's festival to build on.
Highlights were for many no doubt the headline live performers on each day. Whether that was Elton John singing 'Tiny Dancer', Sting singing 'Roxanne' or Lenny Kravitz looking like the absolute dude he is, even when trying to rock out next to Luciano. Even by Ibiza's standards, this was a rare treat, one we are all keen to experience again for the festival next season.
We Love - Innervisions Terraza takeovers
On no less than four occasions the boys of Innervisions - Henrik Schwarz, Dixon and Ame - took the Terraza, slapped it about a bit, and made sure everyone knew we were their bitches for the night. Many Monday mornings have been devoid of work and filled with pleasant music from the guys of Innervisions, and I think we can all agree there are few better ways to start the working week than enjoying a Terraza sunrise at We Love.
Ibiza Rocks House - Freddie Mercury's Birthday
Seriously, guys... This. Party. Was. Ridiculous.
Imagine a few hundred people strolling about a Spanish Vila come Hotel sporting Muzzy's of the the most gentlemanly nature whilst 2manydj's drop all manner of nice beats - all in honour of Freddie Mercury's birthday. Throw in the threat of being shut down by the police, and the party quickly shifted indoors to the famous Freddie Mercury suite. After an impromptu group rendition of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' whilst waiting for the room to be setup, things continued to get silly.
More moustache tomfoolery, bed bouncing (shoes on too, naughty) and hillarity ensued as 2manydj's squashed into the worlds smallest (and only?) bedside DJ booth to drop every classic track you could think of. If you ever tired of that though, there was always several rooms filled with musical memorabilia and photography to sway past, beers in hand, muttering to yourself about how you wish you were around in those days man. Legendary.
ENTER. - Sven Väth's return to Space
Word on the street is...well, listen, lets just say that Sven apparently had his reasons to not have played at Space for ten years (!). But when he eventually did come back at the end of August this summer, thanks to Richie Hawtin, he gave the lucky punters in the main room a morning that will be hard to beat - ever. "Music sounds better with you...". No more needs saying.
DC-10 - Carl Cox
Nowadays, DC-10 normally doesn't really get going before 8 or 9pm. But when you announce Carl Cox is going to play a four hour Terrace set at Circo Loco, starting at 6pm, you can be bloody sure the place will be crowded with people when the first beat hits the speakers. Treating us with a brilliant house set, covering favourites old and new, and radiating his incredibly positive energy from the booth, Carl Cox once more proved he's still on top of the game - at exactly fifty years of age. His birthday bash as well as his yearly funk & soul fiesta, both taking place at Sands, were another two great special events of the summer - well done Carl, oh yes oh yes!
Ibiza Rocks - New Order
These band members have been through thirty or so years of drama to get to this point. Formed in 1980 after their singer committed suicide when the band was called Joy Division, the current lineup has various differences to the original, namely the ommision of Peter Hook. That being said, the vocals of Bernard Sumner sounded just as great as many of the original fans from the 80s will no doubt remember, and the performance was next level.
Typically Ibiza Rocks caters for the younger crowd, but for this gig the pool side boasted one of the most cosmopolitan crowds you could imagine. Music fans of all ages gathering in one place to enjoy one of the legendary bands of all time. As you would imagine, the second those first few drum beats of 'Blue Monday' were heard the atmosphere peaked. Ibiza Rocks did well bring this lot to the stage in 2012.
ENTER.Cadenza - Collaboration at Ushuaïa & Space
One of the most-hyped parties of the summer - and not without reason - was Luciano's and Richie Hawtin's collab party mid-September. By then, Luciano had cemented his status as king of Ushuaïa and Richie's new project ENTER., happening just on the other side of the road at Space, was already hailed as THE new night of the island. Needless to say that, when after a lot of rumours all the details got confirmed and the two titans finally teamed up for a one-off 12 hour combo at Ushuaïa and then at Space, half of the island made its way to Playa d'en Bossa.
Amnesia - El Cierre Closing
As one of our writers, Jordan Smith, declared, 'this is why I'm in Ibiza.' There's something mildly ridiculous about setting your alarm for 6am on Sunday morning and trying to get an early night in preparation for 10 hours of partying in the sunshine baked Terrace of Amnesia. By this point we'd already had Privilege and Ushuaia closings, leaving the latter only 6 hours previous, but what was left of our minds and bodies was fully commited to enjoying music from semi-retired DJ legend Danny Tenaglia, Steve Lawler, Mar-T (listen to his set HERE), Maetrik and finally Marco Carola.
The last hour of music from Carola was masterful. Powering through past 6pm with the latest Amnesia closing in years, it was proof, if needed, that Carola really is King of the Terrace.
Monza - The Final Lap
Only happening a few days after most of the closing party punters already had left the island, and with a somewhat restricted door policy, this was the stuff legends are made of and a party many will still talk about in years to come. The combination of Ibiza's most amazing villa party location, Ricardo Villalobos in a brilliant form (with Vera and Binh on decks as well), a great crowd and the simple fact it was the last Monza party EVER made it an absolutely unforgettable event for anyone attending.
Honourable mentions
- Cocoon Afterhours
Even though the German techno mega brand had some new and quite fierce competition on the island this year, the 'Jungs' still know how to throw afterparties. Their afterhours summer started with a big daytime fiesta at Punta Arabi after their opening party in June (with Sven Väth getting all romantic throwing Maceo Plex' Under The Sheets as last track) and by mid-summer, Cocoon had found their 2012 home for their Tuesday daytime shenanigans at La Sal Rossa right on Playa d'en Bossa. The closing party afterhours obviously also were held there and... oh my, what a party!
- ENTER. Closing Afterhours & ENTER.Salinas
As already mentioned earlier, the ENTER. crew did some simply amazing stuff on our beloved island this summer. The ENTER.Salinas beach party was definitely Ibiza's most-talked PR gag of the year...and yeah, I mean who would say no to a free shot of sake while dancing in the waist high water with a few hundred other Hawtin lovers at Salinas beach in the middle of August? Same goes for their closing party afterhours, held at Sunset Ashram in Cala Conta. Location, location, location!
- Modeselektor at We Love
Dipping in and out of the music with comical voices and a multitude of different styles, this was one of the live performances of the season. Making perfect use of the Discoteca's setup, Gernot and Sebastian dropped their own track 'Berlin' and all our lives have been better ever since.
- Running into Todd Terje at Cocoon
It was around the time your average Joe's alarm goes off for work (read: 7am) and we were fist pumping away in Amnesia's Terrace at the final Cocoon for 2012. Closing season was already taking its toll on our energy store and we found ourselves lagging a bit, nodding our way through dark and driving techno on autopilot. In need of a change of scene we peeked back into the main room to discover a dance floor alive with bouncing and bopping body parts; Sven had just dropped Todd Terje's disco bomb Inspector Norse and it was the best ear medicine our techno-ed out ears could have ask for. I'll never forget how we ran into the room with new found energy and shimmied about that dance floor like we'd just got a new hip replacement.