Space once booked Gilles to play straight after Carl Cox. How he got through that, I’ll never know…
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Think I’ve heard Giles talk about this, might’ve been part of a radio 1 Ibiza essential mix, says it was one of his worst gigs ever 
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I think he’d smash it these days… A while back I’m not so sure. We were there when Armand Van Helden started playing R&B on the terrace (TLC I think). We loved it. Everyone else not so much…
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Sometimes when you hear a DJ play you can almost hear the hard work and loads of hours of gigs that have come before a set, and this is a prime example. Bit of a masterclass.
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Johnny Walker was the otther one with Oakie according to folklore
Weirdly there’s still a BBC website page up with photos from that night!
BBC Radio 1 | Ibiza 99 | Radio 1 In Ibiza BBC Radio 1 | Ibiza 99 | Radio 1 In Ibiza
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did you read that in the Ed Gillett book? it’s such a funny anecdote.
That is where its from… I’ve not read it but saw it in a review of the book. I need to have another go at the book as I couldn’t get past the first chapter…
i liked the book overall. but i don’t think you need to worry about skipping pages/chapters every now and then if you’re not feeling it.
Heading over this weekend. My travel buddy Dave is joining Bekka on the 1s/2s at Paradise Lost on Saturday if anyone’s in town. That bar is always good fun 
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Awful, depressing, bizarre.
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Eivissa 19-25 September
As our rusting white and blue GNV ferry set sail for Barcelona earlier, on a warmish September morning, I realised we would have over 8 hours to kill. So I took the opportunity to pen a few thoughts on the last few days. It was either that or total immersion in a muted Greek tv channel on a pixelated screen.
First, a bit of context. The truth is I didn’t think this trip would happen. It had been been a ‘challenging’ year for my gf & me since our last visit: financially & emotionally. Equally, I wondered if you can still get excited about somewhere with fewer and fewer surprises. But I persevered and Sept 19 saw me once again down Barcelona harbour, with my missus joining us later on the trip.
Now, GNV isn’t exactly a luxury Cunard liner. The toilets are putrid, the food options spartan, the diesel stench ubiquitous but, equally, it serves a purpose and can be done on the cheap. Indeed, it actually worked out cheaper to take the car over (cabin incl) and back, than fly over and hire a car. Amazingly, foot passengers can get tickets for as little as 8€. The journey is tedious but I quite enjoy the crossing. You come across all the misfits and oddballs you don’t really find any more in an increasingly conformist/sterile BCN.
Ageing bikers, earth mothers, boho club chicks in wall to wall tats, guys in ponchos, bleary eyed renegades who look like they haven’t slept since the Zapatero administration. (And lots of men in pony tails. 30 years never happened). Many of them sprawled across the floor on makeshift airbeds. Of course, none of this is exactly revelatory, but it still hits you how different that island is to the mainland, a self-contained ecosystem which plays by its own rules.
I certainly don’t know anywhere else where within 10 minutes of disembarking you’re confronted by hundreds of wasted punters pouring out of a ‘world class nightclub’, with police roadblocks not far away. Driving in Ibiza can be a hairy experience at that time. It is bizarre why there are so few traffic lights. The San Rafael junction with the Eivissa-SE road does unsettling things to your blood pressure.
We stayed at the Aparthotel Duquesa Playa in SE. Aside from a dripping ceiling in bathroom 1 and an unofficial ant colony in bathroom 2, I rather liked it. They offer guests a 10% discount on breakfast at the bar next door. Zumos and toasties from heaven. Two friends arrived later that day. One of them had landed a last min gig at Paradise Lost (the recorded highlights of which might make it to Soundcloud soon). I always enjoy it there. Our old mate Bekka has been DJing there for years. She has an immense musical knowledge, and is now opening a new record store in the old town near Sigma, or somewhere around Carrer de Carles III I think, so look out for that one.
Amidst the dearth of appealing music options, only one or two things really stood out. I’ve long respected Willie Graff, so we hotfooted up to Akasha. It was disappointing to hear Pippi in the garden banging out horrific 90s/00s cheese which spiritually felt so out of place in a place with Dalias’s history. I want to hear freaky drummers and mad psychedelic shit, not Junior Jack, Kid Creme and other bargain bin detritus.
The tourists there didn’t seem to care, enthusiastically lapping up the energetic stage dancers in a sea of videos I’d strongly wager noone of them will ever watch again. At some point, we made an emergency executive decision to take shelter in the market browsing through and pretending to be interested in fedora hats. 200€! Never trust a hippy either.
That ended and we entered Akasha. I was impressed by the club itself. A very unusual design insofar as the DJ is right in the middle yet without being the focal point. (The End was similar back in the day IIRC) High fidelity and expansive sound which covered the whole space. There was no specific ‘sweet spot’ as such. The early music policy again seemed a bit odd. I mean, who wants to hear The Goodmen ‘give it up’ in 2025 in all its faux-batucada infamy? My guess is that they threw in the cheese to keep the garden stragglers happy before the professional clubbers took over.
Either way, by the end I was flying. Someone gave me an ‘ice cream’ which did the trick. I know Graff spends a lot of time in NYC. There were nods to François K, Keith Worthy, Scott Ferguson and other titans of druggier deep house. In a past life I guess this would’ve been a weekly adventure. Whereas I rarely get out now. Someone was telling me that in IBZ, you have to maximise anything even vaguely leftfield while it lasts, which usually isn’t long. Today’s NIU might be tomorrow’s El Row storage unit…
We also discussed the Sven Vath/Gerd party in the old zoo but with the rave flu setting in by then, that idea soon died on its arse. Aside from a beaut of a sunset stop at Cala Gracio (partially ruined by shocking bassline garage on the cluster of party boats) we didn’t really venture west. Pomelo was decent enough although not nearly as down to earth as the old chiringuito. Driving through SA I noticed no discernible aesthetic improvement. The town was crawling with deadeyed, barechested blokes in manbags. We didn’t hang about…
I’ve come to realise over the years that so much of the adult fun is to be found along the stretch of land mass between the capital and Es Canar. Indeed, SE has almost become a second home in recent years. I mentioned elsewhere how much I enjoyed WOM. Excellent vibe & tuneage. We had good meals at The Royalty (the albóndigas, whoah) and Kathmandu. The crepes at Project Social are custom-designed for hangovers and the local supermercado Mercadona is a lifesaver for anyone on a budget. Over 6 days, I think we spent barely 400€. One of our friends generously paid for the apartment and we deftly swerved the corporate clubs as per usual.
Meanwhile, there were obligatory returns to Bar Anita, Cala Pado - and Cala Llonga. Last year we saw a man die there on the beach as the paramedics frantically tried to save him, and it really affected us, but this was an altogether happier visit. Can Nuts is excellent for a chalkboard special and really stands out from anywhere else there. We weren’t so lucky elsewhere. Formentera never happened. Es Birra had no music, Can Pilot was shut, whilst the unexpected karaoke at Can Suldat prompted an abrupt u-turn. I wanted to meet Bernat who runs Babel but that appeared to be shut for renovation. And for the first time in living memory, we didn’t bother with Pikes at all.
As ever, it is about the people though. The zany French girl at Paradise Lost, the eccentric waiter at the Cala Martina chiringuito, the wild stories David Phillips shared with us at WOM, the octogenarian flamenco guitarist on Carrer de la Virgen… Whilst i was collecting my missus at the airport, our friends checked out Huey (ex-FLC) promote his new book at the Soho Farmhouse and he was apparently pretty cool & generous (despite some rumoured Trump-esque leanings…) I really enjoyed Can Jordi Blues Station too. There’s a real bonhomie there, all ages & nationalities and it feels like the musicians on the porch really enjoy it.
I always feel a bit sad leaving Ibiza even though this time I felt pretty knackered and fluey by the end. As ever though, everyone we met in bars, shops, and restaurants was super nice. At no point were there any issues with cabs, cops, queues, bouncers, barging, balconing or dangerous anarchists wielding water pistols. At 50 you have neither the will nor the ability to go wild anymore but the island still has so much else to offer the ‘seniors’
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Great write up 
A nice amouse bouche for my trip over next weekend. I’m in and out though. Saturday morning to Monday morning. Intrigued by Akasha, might see if the gang fancy a looksee Saturday night
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Stayed round the corner from Project Social last year and our go to place morning noon and night
Soul Food on a beach north of SE had a nice vibe as well
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Great read as always 
Dave Phillips has some good stories from the Bhs days especially the Halloween parties we were lucky to attend few years ago…
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really interesting guy. sounds like he’s more into freediving these days than parties
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Yes that’s some crazy $hit…the bar la cura they had Ibiza town was the go to place out of season when getting there from Ireland we had to go Via Barcelona… when you recognise people from the flight in the bar you know are in the right place… Sadly like Many it’s long gone
he was talking a fair bit about Barcelona. He knows Professor Angel Dust, the Mexican DJ who got banged up in Panama. Was also saying how BITD he started a few parties in BCN which later got ripped off by other promoters eg La Terrazza. I guess that sort of thing was standard issue in those days but this was all news to me
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I loved La Terrazza, had some amazing nights up there.
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His friend Jeremy he would DJ with still lives in Barcelona i think… Really good guys.
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