Radio 1 DJ Mistajam is no stranger to the multiple, diverse events that happen all over Ibiza throughout the summer, having played at many of them since the beginning of the 2012 season. This year, however, the electronic music fanatic returns to the island with a much more intriguing goal: to unite all subgenres of bass and electronic music and their respective fans under one roof for a crazy weekly party.
Upon entering Gatecrasher for my first time last night, the first thing I noticed was the glamorous décor and layout of the club. Given that the majority of bass music nights I visit back at home take place in dark, gritty rooms where you lose your mates if they walk more than two feet away from you, I found it surprising to see hundreds of Grey Goose bottles on the wall behind the bar. However, it did look undeniably cool and provides a chic, contrasting backdrop to the music policy of the party.
As soon as we made our way to the dance floor, London-based rapper Meridian Dan took to the stage for a live PA show that pumped the crowd up for Mistajam’s DJ set. In spite of a few minor PA difficulties and intermittent feedback during his brief show, the up-and-coming grime artist succeeded in captivating partygoers and by the time he played breakthrough track German Whip, everyone began to liven up and the front of the dance floor became more densely packed with bass enthusiasts.
Mistajam stepped up to the decks at around half 2 and played a set that fused multiple genres of electronic music. Opening with his unreleased special version of Disclosure’s remix of Artful Dodger’s Please Don’t Turn Me On and then rapidly transitioning to several classic house tracks including MK’s Burning was a great way to win over the crowd early on. On an island where you find yourself constantly exposed to new music and forever eagerly awaiting the release of a track you heard in one of the big clubs, it’s actually refreshing to hear tracks that you not only already know well, but are also the ones that got us into electronic music in the first place. This is where Mistajam thrives as a live DJ, by concisely mixing between new tracks and old and not being weighed down by any single genre. With that in mind, my favourite part of Jam’s set had to be when he switched it up from house to UK garage. Double 99’s classic track Rip Groove was the perfect bridge between the house and garage parts of his set, and made for welcome increase in tempo. As a lover of garage music, hearing tracks that I used to love as a kid being played through Gatecrasher’s immense VOID sound-system was a great experience that can’t be compared to many other clubs in Ibiza, and gave several of my childhood favourites a new dimension (Craig David’s Rewind was never THAT good on cassette).
Mistajam’s Speakerbox party is one that has loads of potential and features an eclectic line-up like no other this year (Tinie Tempah, Clean Bandit, Bondax and Katy B to name a few). The opening party was not as busy as it could have been but as we enter peak season, both holidaymakers and workers will see that Speakerbox is one of the key parties to try this season. Upon his arrival to the stage last night, Mistajam said, “This tonight has proved that grime can work in Ibiza”, and we couldn’t agree more.
WORDS | Janson Goldberg
