As one of the first to arrive at the opening of Swedish House Mafia’s Masquerade Motel at Pacha, I got a chance to see the club in all its glory as it slowly filled up. By 1.30am the dance floor was heaving with a mixture of die-hard SHM fans, rich and glam Pacha VIPs and house hungry revellers.
Pacha’s grand entrance, high ceilings and antique aesthetics perfectly suited the SHM second stint at their Masquerade motel theme. Just like last year their personalised SHM chandelier hung with pride from the centre of the ceiling, which, alongside a glass wall platform in the main room, added to the ostentatious theme and also created an air of mystery as to what it was there for.
Pacha Resident of nine years Andy Baxter had the challenge of warming up the night with a two hour set and although the upper level and terrace were busy with the early birds the main room was still pretty quiet and chilled yet he provided a strong set with a mixture of deep tech house to more uplifting house tunes with some Spanish flavour.
Now by this point I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Swedish House Mafia especially after catching them at their pre party set at Mambo earlier in the evening, where their feel good vibe had already begun. With 2 hours to go until the infamous trio began their fourth season in Ibiza, Pacha needed to pull something special out of the bag to control the crowd's excitement, and they did…
Up stepped Alesso, who Sebastian Ingrosso has pioneered under his own record label ‘Refune’, The crowds hands immediately went in the air as the slightly nervous 18 year old gave what seemed to be the set of his career and remixed classics such as 'Roxanne' by Sting and The Police. Mainly smashing out progressive tech house from the speakers the Swedish rising star made it clear the party had began.
4am had arrived and Swedish House Mafia finally entered the booth, and although they were worth the wait, four hours was a long time to be counting down the seconds. Now the main room’s hysteria reached a new high with the trio introducing themselves and opening their residency, which will be at Pacha until 26thSeptember.
With the huge success of their debut album ´Until One´, documentary and 2010 Ibiza season, SHM have a huge fan base and high expectations to live up to, and it was obvious from the start that they love what they do and were as psyched as we were to be checking into the Masquerade Motel.
Influenced by Daft Punk at the start of their career they once again showed their love for the French duo by dropping One More Time and Around the World. Also, keeping with the current charts they mixed Adele’s ‘Rolling in the deep’ and even pulled out a performance of their newest release ‘Save the world’ with a live PA from vocalist Paul Martin. With each track played creating a surge of frenzy through the crowd, their set simply got better as the night went on. Similar to last year there was confetti, horns, explosions and flame throwing and rather scary (perhaps sexy to some) dancers, all of which mostly took place in the DJ booth. The trio even took the time to read people’s messages on their phones and take picture of themselves with their cameras.
The positioning of the DJ booth added to the parties intimate feel and made the whole night feel like a private event. Admittedly their popularity has its downside as it took sheer determination to get to the bar, the toilet or anywhere else. But SHM didn´t disappoint as they wowed the crowd with´Teenage Crime´, ´Rise´, ´Miami to Ibiza´, ´One´ and ´Leave the World Behind'.
The scale of the SHM’s following added to the party atmosphere, but a good level of patience or pure love for your fellow raver is helpful. I’ve questioned why Pacha with only a 3-4000 capacity hosts such a popular event, and the opening party answered my question and proved that it is the perfect club to feel how much the trio’s performance engages with the audience. From start to finish Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso put on a night that surprised me, but also lived up to my expectations.
A true experience of Ibiza cannot be complete without going to one of Pacha’s parties, and for me Swedish House Mafia is the event to see. They may have lost some fans along the way partly down to them moving into the world of commercial, but you can´t argue the fact that Swedish House Mafia deliver and entertain in style.
