Club review: Departure @ Itaca, 15/06/12

Departure is a nice little party to look out for. Dominated mainly by workers, the intimate setting of Itaca's roof terrace is perfect for a deep house warm up before the party moves downstairs to the main room.

Jayne Robinson

Date published: 21st Jun 2012

Week in week out Departure play host to well known deep house DJs backed by a team of residents; a bunch of mates, some of who have been involved with the night back in Manchester where it resides at Joshua Brooks.

So far Departure have brought the likes of popular names like Wildkats, Alex Niggeman, and Droog, always a treat as the guys behind the night cleverly build anticipation with the line up sporting a surprise guest each week. Usually until the day of the event you don't know who is going to be headlining, what you do know is that they won't let you down. Tonight Departure favourite Claudia Lovisa was set to call the shots in the main room.

The party generally starts on the roof terrace and soon after we got there resident DJ Oliver Drops took over with a fresh tune selection that always gets the people going. As usual the crowd were loving it; good tunes and an intimate roof terrace full of like-minded ravers and workers all having a good time.

Holiday-makers buzz off the atmosphere so it's definitely one to check out when you're out here. He worked through delicious deep beats before gradually upping the tempo with fist pumping tech house beats like Loko's 'Scarlet House', people in the crowd miming the stand out piano riff. Sometimes the tunes could have been a bit louder, but this is tricky, possibly due to the outdoor music curfew across the island.

We headed down to the main room for the rest of the party. Claudia Lovissa was at the head of the decks, a DJ who definitely knows how to work the crowd through her tune selection. Pumping tech house was the flavour and as we walked into the room we knew it was going off as she dropped one of last years Ibiza favourites, Davide Squillace's remix of Audiofly's 'Fela'. The tunes kept coming as the crowd happily pumped their fists to the party techno house for the rest of the night, enjoying big hits like Maceo Plex's 'Under The Sheets'.

After a while we went to the seating area outside. On both sides of the club there's plenty of seating to accommodate the crowd in a nice setting by the beach of San Antonio. It's a nice place to chill. There's a lot of bars in San Antonio by the beach; Ibiza Rocks and Orange Corner to name but a few, but they have nothing on Itaca. Itaca guarantees good tunes and a good crowd, which is why Departure works so well in there. The night itself offers the same valuable components that give rise to a decent party. Check it out for a sweet alternative to the big clubs.