Space is billed as the club with the most awards won in Ibiza and it is indeed a great club. In comparison to Pacha, Space does not use as much pyro, crazy lightning, confettis etc, but that never stopped them to be a major player for 20 years in the Island (and at least the speakers don’t kill you). It also happened to be the club on the other side of my hotel’s street, which made things even easier for me. Now, I am not a Cox or Tenaglia fan, but I have always wondered what the fuss was about these 2 and this was the perfect chance to kill 2 birds with 1 stone – we are talking about 2 big veterans of the dance scene.

I arrived at 11PM and, again, in a couple of minutes I was inside the club. Club was already rather full (doors opened at 9PM), at least the Terrace, which was the one I visited first. Some DJ was just taking over when I showed up, I did not get his name and that’s a shame because he really delivered for 1 hour. Then the MC showed up and said “everybody, Carl Cox will start in 5 minutes in the Main Room” and the crowd IMMEDIATELY left the Terrace. In a couple of minutes about 75% of the people left… wow, that DJ must have felt heartbroken. So I joined the trend and stayed in the Main Room for 2 hours. Carl Cox’s set had its moments but overall wasn’t that good. Obviously, we are talking about a scheduled 7 hour set, but I am keeping that in mind and still found the set rather dull. I went back to the Terrace and to my surprise Giles Petterson was playing. He was not scheduled to be in this night by the time I got my ticket, but I was aware he would be there. I just thought it was still early for him. Guys in Ibiza are too busy promoting their parties and selling their tickets and club security just knows how to say “keep moving”, so basically you have to pray to be lucky enough to listen to your favorite DJs from the start.

Petterson’s set was amazing and very eclectic, but I only caught 50 minutes of it. Too bad, as it was by far my favorite of the night. I have heard him before in Portugal and found him impressive and again he didn’t disappoint. Tenaglia took over at 2h30 and 1 hour and 30 minutes later, I was not impressed. He creates a great connection with the crowd and has a lot of fun while playing but his style of house is just not my cup of tea, I guess. So I went back to the Main Room.

Or should I say… tried to go? The place was PACKED and I couldn’t even see the booth from where I was. I stayed for a little bit more but since Cox’s set wasn’t changing much, I decided to leave. I usually stay until the end of the parties, but this time I didn’t think it was worth it. Not to say it wasn’t a good party, it just wasn’t my style and already knew that beforehand but wanted to go for the reasons mentioned above.

Here are some pics:

Space – Carl Cox closing 22sept09

–	–	–
–	–	–
–	–	–
–	–	–
–

My flight got delayed 1 hour but I still managed to arrive to Pacha on time- I was there by midnight and a couple of minutes later, I was in. Beautiful club and the Dark Forest theme looked great. The club was predictably empty when I got in, but in a couple of hours it got PACKED. It was very hard to move at times, but eventually everyone found a good spot.

One thing I noticed instantly was that this club is LOUD. Even with my earplugs (which are pretty good) I felt the ringing afterwards, not to mention that the bass tickled my hair several times! I do not have a problem with that but I feel sorry for the rest of the clubbers who probably were half deaf before the Mafia actually started their set.

Sarah Main was a great opener, playing dark, interesting beats warming up for 1h30 before AN21 took over. I have never listened to a set by this guy and I am glad I did, as I found his style to be very unique and fun- he will probably get much bigger in years to come. 2 hours later, it was all about the Mafia, playing from 3h30 till 7AM. I am a big fan of Ingrosso, Axwell and Angello so I was not surprised with the tunes they played or by the fact that they put on one hell of a show. I have seen Axwell before in Portugal and he caught my eye there, but this was something else.

I think they played the perfect set, which was a mix of old classics (like Modjo’s “Lady” or Stardust’s “Music sounds better with you”) with their current productions (such as the great “Leave the world behind”, which opened and closed the night with the special ibiza intro mix and the original mix) and plenty of mash-ups (such as Show me Love/Satisfaction). All flawlessly mixed of course. There were too many highlights to mention as the set was pretty much banging all the way till the end. I was especially happy to get to listen to Angello’s new track “Monday”, with the acapella of “Finally” layered in. Angello took the MC role too and did a great job to keep the crowd ecstatic, which was frequent throughout the night.

The fact that Erick Morillo showed up just to give some love to the Mafia made the night even more special. A legend in house music showing respect to these bunch of newcomers who truly deserve the success they are getting. In the end, the Mafia thanked everyone for an unforgettable Summer and I have no doubt in my mind that next Summer they will have a residency again. You could tell they were genuinely happy and flattered to be a part of Pacha this year and without a doubt they were more than up for it!

Here are some pics:

Pacha – SHM closing 21sept09

–	–	–
–	–	–
–	–	–
–	–	–
–	–	–
–

Last week I mentioned I would be making a very special trip soon… so here are the details…

I am about to realize one of my dreams, spending a week in Ibiza with only Clubbing in mind. I chose the closing week since the line-up is amazing everyday and it will probably be even bigger than usual since it will be the last date from each party in 2009!

I hope I can update my blog everyday while I am there, if I get a connection. If not, I will post a full report when I am home. Here is the line-up for each party I will be attending:

PACHA – 21/09/2009
Swedish House Mafia Closing Party
Axwell
Sebastian Ingrosso
Steve Angello
AN21
Sarah Main

SPACE – 22/09/2009
Carl Cox Closing Party
Danny Tenaglia
Carl Cox
Angels of Love DJs
Mr Doris

PRIVILEGE – 23/09/2009
Meganite Closing Party
Gabry Fasano
Paco Osuna
Valentino Kanzyani
Adam Beyer
Mauro Picotto
Riccardo Ferri (live)
Technasia

AMNESIA – 24/09/2009
Cream Closing Party
Paul van Dyk
Eddie Halliwell
Gareth Wyn
Sasha
John Dahlback
Anthony Probyn
Sean Hughes

EDEN – 25/09/2009
Wonderland
Eric Prydz
Pete Tong
Rob Marmot
Tomas Hedberg

After last month’s Trance mix, I bring you progressive house, this website’s most popular genre! In the end of the mix you will find 2 great “Go Home” tracks and a special tune I found out that doesn’t really fit in this mix so I decided to feature it as an “Encore”. I hope you like it!

Next week I’ll update my blog regarding a (very) special trip I will be making this month. In the meantime, enjoy the mix!

Download it here or stream it below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

1- Dirty South & Sebastian Ingrosso – Meich (Original Mix)
2- Underworld - Cowgirl (Bedrock Mix)
3- Riva - For How Long (Wippenberg Remix)
4- Freemasons feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer) (Bitrocka Italo Mix)
5- Huggy & Dean Newton – 747 (Main Mix)
6- Marco V - Unprepared (Extended)
7- Luke Chable – Lime (Original Mix)
8- Norman Doray and Tristan Garner feat. Errol Reid - Last Forever (Original Dub Mix)
9- Pryda - Waves
10- TV Rock feat. Rudy – In The Air (Axwell Remix)
11- Jan Johnston – Sleeping Satellite (Kenneth Thomas Mix)

Encore
Ulrich Schnauss – A Letter from Home

This is a full-on trance mix. When I started, Trance was all I would play, so it felt a bit like going back to my roots. This has the Paul van Dyk influence that my trance mixes usually have, but with a bit of the Armin van Buuren sound in between, by request.

This is not the usual monthly mix; it was specifically made for a person who is truly one of a kind. And it is way overdue. I am sorry it took this long, hope you like it. You have some tough times ahead of you and hopefully this will cheer you up. You are very tenacious and taught me a lot, and I admire you. Keep doing what you’re doing, you are a very talented and gifted person. I’ll always be around to remind you how special you are.

Download it here or stream it below.

Enjoy!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

1- Arnej - Dust In The Wind (Intro Mix)
2- Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat. Ana Criado – Sunset Boulevard (Paul van Dyk Remix)
3- Activa pres. Solar Movement – Eclipse (Original Mix)
4- Ronski Speed feat. Ana – The Deep Devine (Gareth Emery Remix)
5- Nadia Ali – Love Story (Dresden and Johnston Vocal Mix)
6- Starchaser feat. Lo-Fi Sugar – So High (Original Mix)
7- Reflect feat. Delline Bass - Need To Feel Loved (Adam K and Soha Vocal Remix)
8- Absolute - Skyhigh (Original)
9- The Thrillseekers feat. Gina Dootson – By Your Side (Martin Roth Vocal Mix)
10- Airbase - Escape (Der Mystik’s Final Chapter Remix)
11- David Forbes and William Daniel – Freefall (Original Mix)
12- Gordon Coutts – Lead Line (Original)
13- Terry Bones vs. Fred Baker – Introspection (John Askew Remix)
14- Alex M.O.R.P.H. and Woody van Eyden feat. Michelle Cit – Turn It On (Original)