If you were hoping for a detailed chronological recount of Ushuaïa Ibiza Opening Party, I’m afraid I’m not your girl. Sometimes you just have to put the pen and paper away and get in the moment. Sometimes you just have to put your hands in the air and enjoy the track without shazaming it. Sometimes you just need to chat to that person in the toilet queue for half an hour and miss a few tunes. I think you know what I’m getting at here… I don’t remember much but I remember it was great.
So let’s do it this way.
The highlights:
-Feeling the palpable change in energy when Loco Dice first got on the decks and the party cranked up a notch.
-Looking down on Ushuaïa Club from the top of Ushuaïa Tower as the sun was setting behind the hills. Forgetting to play it cool and waving furiously at strangers below us (they weren’t feeling it).
-The first fireworks going off and everybody having an “aaahhhhh” moment looking up at the sky.
-Hearing Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ for the first time in an Ibiza super-club, courtesy of Luciano. I hoisted myself up onto the edge of a VIP platform just in time to see the entirety of Ushuaia lit up, with every hand in the air and every voice at full blast. Fully aware that one month down the line I’d be wishing this song was never written, I enjoyed the moment for all its worth whilst the track was still fresh and exciting for all.
-Two giant, luminescent, floating, flashing, twirling caterpillars coiling their way around the black sky and dipping low over the crowd as Luciano indulged in one of his trademark ethereal and melodic breakdowns.
-Having awesome club chats with some new friends from Switzerland who were over here on a football training session. The team was leaving the next day and had yet to touch a football - they worked the cardio on the dance floor though, right?
-Sven Väth’s entire set. Actually anything he does ever is a highlight.
-Putting on my hoodie once it got dark and uncharacteristically chilly and watching four thousand girls in bikinis and hot pants shiver. It’s the simple pleasures in life.
The lowlights:
-The crush. For a few hours it was much too cosy, and the process of making your way from one end of the club to the other became pretty unpleasant.
-The relentless wedgies on the Ushuaïa dancing girls (lads might put this in the highlights box but it looked pretty feral to me).
-No impromptu pool invasion. One of these days…
In our recent interview with Ushuaïa head honcho Yann Pissenem, he claimed he intended Ushuaïa to be like an amusement park for adults. Install a wave machine in the pool and you’re good to go, Yann. A lot of things fell perfectly into place for the Ushuaia Opening Party and, whilst music was paramount, the success of the night can be largely put down to some clever bookings and scrupulous attention to detail. Saturday night was a sign of good things to come.
