24 Hours in Ibiza (Circo Loco & Cocoon )

In 2015 there’s more party paradises than ever before. Groove Fest offers an all-inclusive rave to the Dominican Republic, budget airlines enable you to skip carelessly towards European festivals with ease whilst Croatia has driven its own very unique vibe onto the agenda. If you want fun abroad, you're spolit for choice.

Alongside this though is an island which has been at the forefront of our hedonistic desires for nigh on thirty years; Ibiza. The Balearic destination certainly doesn't have it's all consuming status as the singular options for dance music lovers it once had, but that hasn't dimmed the overall view of it. If you love dancing, chances are you'll love the White Isle.

Our Ibiza fix this year rested on a smash and grab trip which took in two of the most important parties the island, and indeed the globe, has had to thank this century.

Although both are clearly a world away from the underground manoeuvres offered at the likes of Berghain, they can both still lay claim to powering the techno trend during the middle of the last decade, making superstars out of the likes of Loco Dice, Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos and more. We're talking of course about the Monday double whammy of Circo Loco and Cocoon.

It's been nearly a decade since the last time this writer has stood in DC10, a period of time far too long. All those hallmarks which had made the club stand out so well in the past decade, the cosmopolitan crowd, free spirited atmosphere and that unrelenting feel of blissful abandon all remain. It's as if we've never been away.

When we arrive Acid Mondays are chugging through a sumptuous selection of house music, but the lure of outside raving is too much for us and we saunter into the garden where one of the original dons of the club is playing, Tania Vulcano.

It may have been the heavyweight names of Luciano and Loco Dice which secured the vast majority of the plaudits during Circo Loco's vaunted golden age, piloting the minimal trend, but it was the Italian lynchpins of Vulcano and fellow resident Cirillo who really pushed the club along. On the evidence here it's plain to see that hasn't changed.

Vulcano's set, ninety minutes during the dwindling sun and the increasingly swelling crowd, is a masterclass in patient building. Each track selected reveals a further layer of sound, nudging along slowly towards more and more impactful grooves.

Whether an upturn in bass or a slightly more frenetic drum kick, Vulcano's sound broods before puncturing the crowd towards the end with euphoria. An absolute master at work, and a set that completely sets the tone for the next few hours we spend in the club.

She's followed by Tiger & Woods, who may have made a name for themselves as shady edit maestros but here are pushing a much more metallic techno driven sound which sits a little uneasily with what's left of the sunshine, so we scurry inwards to discover more.

Sashaying from room to room we're entranced by Culoe De Song's emotion drenched techno, Kenny Glasgow's gilt edged funk and Cirillio's trademark whooping grooves. The star of the show though falls to Frenchman Dan Ghenacia.

One third of Apollonia, the selector continues Vulcano's model for patience by teasing the crowd with straight up house and angular techno before erupting with an unknown gloriously funky filtered groove that has more than a faint whiff of late nineties DJ Sneak about it, sending the packed crowd into raptures.

There's a sea of hands, smiles and complete joy as it ripples through the speakers, a proper Balearic moment you just can't find anywhere else. DC10, we won't wait that long next time.

Cocoon in this instance was on a slightly different vibe, a destination for ravers who aren't faint hearted. This just doesn't apply to the music policy of the night's vaunted guest but also his appeal, as Richie Hawtin's thunderous techno has brought out the crowds which require a steeliness to deal with.

Amnesia at points like this gets very busy, with the lure of stratospheric DJs like Hawtin allayed with August being by far the busiest month on the island. The Terrace leaves you hard pressed for elbow room as a cosmopolitan European crowd flock to see two titans of techno perform.

The night's resident overlord Sven Vath manages to make the lack of space less of an issue, particularly when throwing down the classic '20 hz' from Capricorn (above) in all its percussive glory. It's a set that although not quite seeing him at his vintage best, manages to lay the foundation for the evening with his trademark atmospheric switches between synth drenched sounds, oscillating grooves and rippling sonics. 

In between the wait for Hawtin to take over we make frequent trips to the more sparsely populated Main Room for quick breathers. Dubfire is in command there, whose élan for a measured and metronomic approach sees him send the crowd into spiralling delirium.

Now as an eye witness it's impossible to say anything other than his set is a success, those swerving Sven all jostling energetically to the Deep Dish talisman's robotic sounds. But the familiarity of each record, from the similar kick-drums to the measured drops, wears a little thin to these ears at times. That said the atmosphere is relentless and there's few better clubbing spaces in the world to take a 'breather' than this seemingly second room of Amnesia.

 

These were the scenes @amnesiaibiza on Monday when we went to @cocoon_official Look out for our report next week

A photo posted by Skiddle (@skiddleuk) on Aug 28, 2015 at 12:04pm PDT

The Terrace though remains where it's at, and we manage to secure a decent enough spot to catch the end of Vath as he hands over to the Canadian techno tyro. Hawtin immediately takes it up a notch, pummelling from the off with his measured and wild stripped back techno. 

In the blur we catch snippets of tracks from the likes of Gaiser, Truncate and Post Scriptum, recognising melodies and riffs here and there, but with Hawtin it's never really about individual tracks, more the sum of their parts.

As he stitches together a pummelling techno assault the room becomes increasingly wild, whoops and cheers pounding in. It's well past five AM and the Terrace is heaving with thousands of ravers losing it in unison. Anyone who tells you Ibiza is dead needs to stand in the middle of a scene like this of unrelenting dancefloor mayhem.

We eventually decide to dip into the Main Room once more where Popof is holding court. The French DJ originally had a more electro drenched template, and whilst he's certainly become more measured over the years towards a more driving techno sound that love of fiendish synths remains.

Textures of IDM and Italo puncture his sound, and what starts off as a sparse crowd quickly fills as he swiftly veers from one groove to another. Ripples of dark electro weave in and out for a dark and twisted finale to the evening. It's a glorious way for us to sign out on a hugely enjoyable frenetic trip to the White Isle.

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