With Ibiza as good as closed for the season, have a read of what it is like nowadays on the white isle when you find the right parties and go to the right venues - Simon and Helen's nights out in Ibiza were EPIC - for those of you interested in some of the more commercial Ibiza vibes, Ibiza is coming to Dubai this weekend with the opening of:
O'Beach (next to Zero Gravity) on Thursday 24th of October
Ushuaïa at Dubai Harbour with Calvin Harris on Saturday 26th of October
Also Playa Pacha at Five Lux is opening Sunday 27th of October with Latin vibes and will do their first party on 2nd of November with house and oriental beats
Also Café del Mar at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi re-opened a couple of weeks ago
Ravers in Dubai is taking a bit of a break to recuperate from last week's double weekend with techno at Room 3 - 25Hours hotel Dubai and house in Stars N Bars Abu Dhabi! But pencil in the following dates that we are looking at for the moment to do another Together old school house party:
Sunday 1st of December (national holiday weekend) - desert rave (location TBC)
Friday 6th of December - Together (location TBC)
Friday 31st of December - Together (location TBC)
For those of you fancying a bit of a dance this weekend, Ravers in Dubai recommends the following parties out of plenty of choice again on what is currently an overloaded calendar in Dubai - all details in attached party calendar:
Thursday 24th of October - Psytrance with Damru at 11.11 Lounge and Bar (EFT)
Friday 25th of October - Dancewerk at Casa Latina - Ibis SZR
Saturday 26th of October - Halloween party at Terra Solis
Saturday 26th of October - Boris Bresjcha at Hive Soho Garden
Saturday 26th of October - Blisstronic psytrance at Oxygen club (EFT)
Saturday 26th of October - Sacred Circle at Desert Dream Al Ain road
Bart the Raver is taking a bit of a break due to cycling commitments but is looking forward to partying with you again next weekend, Saturday 2nd of November - Carl Cox at Hive is definitely on my to do list ! Edit: SOLD OUT - can anyone get me guest list access please - preferably back stage ????????????????
Enjoy the party weekend !
Simon and Helen do Ibiza - part 2...
With some brilliant times at Pikes behind us, it was time for part two of the party holidays and Helen's big birthday celebrations!
Our raving partner in crime flew in on Monday, so we headed down to DC10 for Circoloco. The three of us had been there during its glory days in the mid-2000s, and again in 2012.
Sadly, it wasn’t the same this time. Yes, we all know we’re getting older and that nothing stays the same, but this was ridiculous. We arrived early at 8 p.m., thinking a big-name DJ would be playing the outdoor stage before it closed at 11 p.m. Tania Vulcano and Chloe Caillet played outside. What we didn’t realize was that the terrace (the main area) was already packed by 10 p.m. with zero chance of getting in. All you could hear was bass rumbling and see phones held aloft.
Out of necessity, we went to the smaller “main” room to see Recondite and Call Super, who was fantastic! He played two hours of insanely fast, bassy house music. The atmosphere was superb—he nailed it! By the time he finished at 2 a.m., the overcrowding was becoming a real issue. There were a lot of bad vibes in the crowd, with people forcing their way through. We eventually got outside to see a sea of people with no DJs playing (by law, music has to stop outside at 11 p.m.). That meant a good proportion of the crowd was outside, listening to no music, with little chance of getting back in. Not great for a €70 ticket! Anyway, we went back in for Prospa, Blondish, and Krystal Klear, but by 5 a.m., we’d had enough. We never got into the terrace. Best track: “Black Box” by ANOTR (it went OFF!).
By this point in the holiday, we already knew we’d bought tickets for five nights out of six after booking Pikes again. There was no turning back.
After Pikes on Tuesday, we went to the 25th anniversary of Cocoon at 528, with Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin, Marcel Dettmann, and Roman Flügel. 528 is a fantastic venue for afternoon club music. We arrived with Marcel Dettmann already playing as the sun set in the background. It was an older crowd, the system sounded great—it was all good. We moved between the two stages for the other DJs, finishing with Sven Väth until 11 p.m. Sven’s set was quite good, though the genres shifted a lot. At one point, he played “A Thousand Nights” by Gregor Tresher, a Cocoon classic from the mid-2000s. It didn’t quite fit here. Best track: “Birth4000” by Floating Points.
We legged it just before the end, knowing the traffic would be nuts. We left hearing “Knights of the Jaguar” by Rolando in the distance. My sister-in-law is good mates with a fairly big-name DJ who was playing at Paradise at Amnesia, so we got guest list entry after Cocoon. Visiting places like that makes you wonder if you should still be raving in your mid-to-late 40s. The three of us sat surrounded by a pool of hammered 20-year-olds. We left at 1 a.m, very, very early by Ibiza standards.
The following day, our friend flew back to the UK to assume his adult responsibilities, while Helen and I went to Club Chinois. We arrived at 1 a.m. to hear Honey Dijon already banging it out. We’ve seen her a few times, but this was by far the best. She was supported by Derrick Carter, and both of them nailed it with four hours of top-notch tunes, acapellas, and just a general party vibe. This was our first time at Chinois, and we were both impressed. It has a superb sound system, great interior, and visuals, and it’s not too overcrowded. We left and walked back to our hotel at 5 a.m., very happy. The holiday was back on!! Best track: I genuinely can’t remember—I hardly took any videos as I was dancing so much.
By this point in the holiday, we (or should I say I) were starting to feel the strain. We changed our tickets from Elrow closing at Amnesia to Apollonia at Chinois. Unfortunately, after having a few drinks on Saturday afternoon and watching Leeds pummel Coventry on TV, we both reached our limit. We never went out again.
Thankfully, this meant we could enjoy the sights, sounds, and food of Dalt Vila for the next few days. I was genuinely upset that I couldn’t make the most of the rest of my time there. I would have loved to go to Apollonia at Chinois. Marshall Jefferson and The Martinez Brothers were also playing, but I knew my time was up.
If you haven’t been to Ibiza, GO AS SOON AS YOU CAN!!
If you haven’t been for a while, it has changed a lot! The use of phones by younger clubbers is a real issue. It’s a vibe killer. We are not the target market, and you have to respect that younger people are different, generationally different (up to a point).
There are still places to go to experience the real Ibiza. Go to Pikes. If you love dancing and music, you’ll love Pikes!!
Who in for next year?
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