Ibiza: a virgin’s guide #2

Ibiza: a virgin’s guide #2

24 June, 2008 | 11.38AM

• Section: Music News Topics: Ibiza
• Written by: TokyoNeon

Last night Beatportal touched down in one of Ibiza’s biggest nights – Cocoon – at one of the island’s most legendary clubs – Amnesia.

This was my first experience of an Ibiza club, and it wasn’t how I expected it to be.

Walking up to Amnesia, there were huge DJ billboards everywhere, and even a kitted-out double-decker bus with Amnesia paint job.


It looked a bit touristy and is perhaps a product of the DJ saturation on the island.


Guest-list staff, for a club of this magnitude, were surprisingly warm and polite – I wasn’t on the list but managed to blag my way in with no hassles at all.


Inside wasn’t what the Ibiza virgin might have expected.


The venue did not create the dark, claustrophobic atmosphere that YouTube videos suggest, but a spacious, colourful, comforting environment.


Amnesia has two rooms and a terrace, and the main one harbours a giant-sized spectrum analyser with blue and yellow LEDs that show how hard the DJ is driving the sound system.


Speaking of which, the amp/speaker combo is A+.


The drinks prices, unfortunately, are beyond extortionate.


A vodka Redbull and two straight whiskeys comes to €60, which prices any ‘regular people’ out.


To sustain an alcohol buzz all night in Amnesia would cost you at least £120, which leaves people with no choice but to find other ways to entertain themselves.


There is a palpable hierarchy in the club defined by the physical barrier separating the V.I.P and dancefloor, which breaks down the overall social equality, making this Ibizan club [and many more, we imagine] a hang out for the rich and famous.


The atmosphere was very good on the whole, but wasn’t as all-out-crazy as one would expect from an island stereotyped as the world’s clubbing capital.


One could see how Ibizan virgins and pros alike could get lost for days, weeks or even years in the party lifestyle here.


It’s like a drug.


Later in the night, I snuck into the DJ booth with Polish DJ Magda for some minimal house/techno madness, and watched her casually rip the venue apart with a memorably vibrant set, that had a running undercurrent of funk and fatness.


She used Traktor Scratch, as did Richie Hawtin in the other room, along with two Technics 1210s and some Pioneer CDJ-1000s.

SUMMARY

In all, Amnesia is a good choice for Ibiza virgins because the atmosphere is good, the venue is pretty special and the DJ line ups are quality.

If you’re the kind of cat who prefers to slum it in East London, then you might find clubs like Amnesia a bit too pretentious.

Loco Dice’s story about P. Diddy coming on his yacht to Ibiza are starting to make sense, what with the £5000+ tables littering these venues surrounded by blonde women trying to get a piece of the action.

Oh, and we found a new drink that was only available behind the main DJ booth – Redbull Cola.

You read it on Beatportal first.

These club nights are a magnet to the world’s top brands who are desperate to market themselves as cool and cutting edge (hence Motorola sponsoring this night), and as such, we guess that Richie Hawtin and co. must be some of the first people with access to this new drink.

Damn tasty, so it is.

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