Glitz, glamour, fire, lasers, inflatable giraffes, bible-goers on stilts… Last night Privilege put all their tricks in a sequined bag and emptied it onto our heads as we stomped to an eclectic mix of musical styles.
Entering the main room I was hit by a visual assault - my eyes dazzled by sparkles, streamers, lasers, spots and the odd cheeky fire burst… as you do. Privilege podium and stage dancers were out in full force and not-so-full outfits, flashing plenty of smiles and plenty more cheek – you know which kind. This was accompanied by the sonorous call of Nalaya hyping the crowd and ringing in the opening of Privilege for this season with a medley of the biggest pop and commercial house anthems of the minute. Personally I’m allergic to any Rihanna, but I can’t deny the room was heaving as the crowd sang, danced and hipstamatic-ed their way through to the end of Nalaya’s slot.
Vocal tones were swallowed by a driving bass pedal as Markus Schulz took to the decks, representing A State of Trance. Opening with Cheesecake by Four Strings, Schulz was his usual animated self - a beaming bundle of fist-pumps and finger points as he hammered out a mixture of uplifting and banging trance tunes.
Leaving the main room to check out the newly designed Vista, I was immediately struck by the success of the changes. What used to be Coco Loco and La Vaca, is now one large space, whilst the old restaurant is now Vista Box, a smaller dancing space. Still using the original architecture from when Privilege was Ku, Vista’s white scaffolding is encased in glass, revealing a ‘vista’ of Ibiza town which twinkled beautifully last night, but which will really come into its own at dawn.
The atmosphere here was quite different to the main room – human slinkies and clowns traversed their way through the crowd; two bible-clutching preachers stalked their way melodramatically across the room, openly aghast at the revelry and blocking their ears against the devilish bounce of some sweet and unholy bassline from Vista headliner Hernan Cattaneo. Cattaneo, meanwhile, had slightly raised his usual bpm in recognition of the occasion and a varied crowd - and was knocking out a smooth set which had the masses swinging. Inflatable pool toys permeated the vista via airborne catapult or as the latest fashion accessory adorning some giggling punter. It was silly - and it worked.
There was little-to-no cohesion about the night musically, but the heads behind this opening party obviously weren’t attempting any. What we got was a showcase of the different musical styles and parties we could expect from Privilege this season, with the operative word last night being “show.” The musical dissonance caused a few displaced revellers some distress – a tech fan stumbled his way blindly through the lasers of the main room as Schulz’s commercially-friendly trance roared down upon him; a Rihanna fan ran in circles in the vista as techy basslines swung along without a lyric in sight - but the vast majority of the crowd lapped up every minute.
With attention to detail, architectural metamorphosis and a remarkably varied line-up, the largest club in the world delivered a spectacle worthy of its dimensions. Privilege is open for business.
