Somewhat of an innovation, the Ibiza 123 Festival has finally laid down a mass of bright green grass on San Antonio's wasteland and kicked off the 3 day event which has been eagerly anticipated since whispers of Elton John performing traveled in the wind.
After a week of tropical heat and copious amounts of sweat the sun had finally decided to put its hat on, allowing us to enjoy the first day of the festival without a care in the world - and being able to whack out your best loony swerve sweat free was a welcomed bonus. The sheer size of the festival site was quite astounding and being home to a large VIP section serving Barcardi infused Mojito's and nibbles helped attracted a flutter of 123 girls who oozed sexiness and were clearly enjoying the summer buzz. The impressive stage was set against the beautiful scenery of San Antonio; allowing all festival goers to catch a glimpse of the amazing sunset. Sunday's line-up featured DJ Pippi, Japanese Pop Stars (live), Madeon, Chase & Status, Nile Rodgers presents Chic, Sting, David Guetta and Tiësto. Unfortunately the young talent Danny Avila was unable to make his set in time but with the Euro 2012 final between Spain and Italy being shown on the stage screens the crowd were quite happy to bask in the sun as Spain went onto win 4-0... Viva Espana!
Without a shadow of a doubt Chic and Sting went onto steal the show; although all the electronic acts such as Chase & Status and David Guetta did a great job at getting the crowd going the old school stars took things to a whole new level. Belting out classics such as 'Le Freak', 'Good Times' and David Bowie's hit 'Lets Dance', Chic wowed the crowd from start to finish. All dressed in white and with a passion that was simply infectious, the legend that is Nile Rodgers and his gang proved that they can still "dance the blues."
After the big game Sting and his band took to the stage, a simpler set up than Chic's angelic army, he stood alone at the mic wearing his finest lounging gear armed with his bass guitar. Joined by Peter Tikell - a pretty fierce violinist, Sting's performance maintained the passion and soul of the evenings events and his hits such as 'Englishman in New York' and 'Fields of Gold' topped off with Sting & The Police classic 'Roxanne' helped keep his performance captivating and energetic.
Meeting with Ibiza 123 Festival Promoter, Pino Sagliocco I discovered that the festival was simply about 'rockstars and DJ's joining together for a celebration' and living by his personal rule 'to belief and convince yourself' he beamed with pride at the now obvious success of the event. Proving the skeptics' wrong, the first day of the Ibiza 123 Festival was definitely a hit, it plunged a fire ball of euphoria into San Antonio, both old and young generations were seen dancing on the mud-free greener than green fake grass (take note England) and a friendly and most importantly fun atmosphere was consistent throughout. Finishing with smashing performances from chart-topper Guetta and every trance fans dream being, Tiësto the party definitely ended with a bang... Now for this evening's event!
