Club review: Zoo Project with George Fitzgerald & Jay Shepheard, 23/06/12

Skiddle returns to one of the world's most unique clubbing venues for The Zoo Project with Jay Shepheard, George Fitzgerald and more.

Jayne Robinson

Date published: 29th Jun 2012

Most, if not all of you will be at Zoo Project at least once if you are visiting Ibiza this year. The hugely successful party runs on a Saturday from around 4pm til midnight; a day party that has become renowned for its residents, its club design and the flocks of clubbers that paint themselves up as funky animals for the occasion. We'd like to say 'for its music' too, but this isn't always the case; we talked to a couple of girls at this one who “hate house and techno...” When I asked them why they were here, they said it was for all the other aspects of the experience.

The Zoo Project utilises more of the venue - a huge abandoned zoo if you hadn't already guessed - on a Saturday compared to its Wednesday night party Channel Zoo. Today they had loads more chill out areas with huge cushions, more restaurant areas, more dance areas and also a lot more people using the pool - which you can pop into for a swim if you're getting a bit hot and bothered from all the dancing!

Today was our first Zoo Project since arriving on the island (although we've been to Channel Zoo a few times) and the Seal Pit (which is exactly what it sounds like) was being headlined by Jay Shepheard and George Fitzgerald. In a normal zoo you would usually see the seals and their trainers here. But there aren't any seals unfortunately, just DJs and their mates.

Arriving at about 7pm we went for a boogie in the second dance area, a stage proceeded by plenty of ground space for a dance floor. It was really busy already, and the residents were playing a range of decent deep and tech house to the masses of crowds already forming. After a little while we headed to our favourite spot, the Seal Pit, to catch Jay Shepheard spinning some beats.

Shepheard was playing up-beat deep house to the packed 'staircase' in front of him. People were going wild to the music, our happy moods emphasised even more by the rays of sunlight beating down on us all. It really is a great setting for dancing. After a while George Fitzgerald took to the stage, his bass heavy house music pulsating around the pit, mixing the old and the new with smooth bassline classics such 'as Every Freakin' Night' amongst others. The crowd was dancing down low, bouncing around to the bass while Fitzgerald smashed his unique take on bass and house music.

The two headliners had both performed sets based around both of their own sounds but also the sound that the Zoo Project has become so well known for; fun deep and tech house that all in all provides the perfect soundtrack for a day frolicking around in the sun in an abandoned zoo.

Words: Jack Law