Carl Cox has been one of the foremost champions of dance music for more years than the vast majority of us have been a part of the scene. The guy turned 50 years old in 2012 and honestly, I'm pretty sure he looks, acts, plays and behaves the same way he did when he first got into this game. His face, laugh, 'oh yes oh yes' catchphrase and sound are as relevant and loved today as at any point in his career... maybe even more so now. It is of course natural that a DJ comes and goes in popularity, but it is a true testament of someones mark on a scene when they have been so proactive for this long... and so consistently.
The Tuesday night slot has long since been the playground for Carl Cox and his ever evolving musical revolution, moving to its current incarnation as 'Music Is Revolution'. But, in the last few seasons Ibiza has undoubtedly grown in popularity with the explosion of EDM and general mainstream dance music culture and as a result Coxy and the team have seen more and more challengers to their Tuesday night throne crop up. The same can be said for most nights of the week now, and promoters have to work hard to bring something different or unique to the table, although having an artist of Coxies stature on your team can only be a good thing.
The party is run by Safehouse Management who have taken the We Love... Space Sunday parties under their experienced umbrella of knowledge, with the new-for-this-season 'Float Your Boat' parties acting as warm-ups for both Carl Cox Tuesdays and We Love Sundays. 2014 will see some of the biggest line-ups Space Tuesdays have seen, with a well respected selection of headline artists as residents for the season, some extra special nights and our very own 'Ibiza Spotlight presents...' room hosting. All in all, plenty to be excited about as I take you on a tour of the highlights this season.
We're straight in with a particularly naughty looking 10 hour long set from Carl Cox at the opening party on 24th June, with support from another master of the techno world - Danny Tenaglia - who has been more of a fixture on the Ibiza circuit since announcing his retirement from dance music a few years ago (it later turned out to be 'we're on a break, folks) and Spanish star Uner. The week later it is the island exclusive for Laurent Garnier: the French maestro of music who should be any self-respecting dance music fans top 5 DJs list. The 22nd July will of course be one of the biggest parties of the season as Marco Carola shifts his attention from his Friday party at Amnesia to tag-teaming with the Cox-meister. Last years performance was talked about all season long and no doubt we'll all do the same this year.
On then to August and it is difficult to pick out the best night on account of the aforementioned consistency. Certainly seeing Guti play live at Space with Davide Squillace, Lucca and Joseph Capriati will be a big one and certainly one to cater for the well known Italian week or so on the island. September is always one of the best months for clubbing on the island and the strong line-ups for that month are reflected as such in all the clubs. Carl Cox and Space will be no different as things get serious and tough on 9th September with Adam Beyer, Matthias Tanzemann, Umek and Sebastian Leger all getting the boom boom bang bang in with more tough stuff the following week from Ben Sims in particular.
The closing party has remained a tried and tested formula for as many closing parties for Carl Cox as I've been to. They are some of my favourites no doubt with Loco Dice, tINI, DJ Sneak and Yousef (no doubt made up after Sneak's insensitive comments re: Circus Liverpool) and Just Be of Layo & Bushwacka fame. 16 weeks ahead of us guys - starting at the end of June. More or less a month from now... best start warming up.
