Since I've been living in Ibiza over the summer, I've only been out clubbing on a handful of Saturday nights. After a hectic week travelling here, there and everywhere to clubs all over the island, I find it's usually good to get a 24-hour break in order to feel refreshed for the following week. However, when I saw that Dixon and Âme's co-founded label Innervisions were taking over DC10 as part of Movement Ibiza's Saturday night series, I just couldn't resist heading down to the club to hear something new. Having only been to DC10 once before when I was on holiday with friends last year, I was excited to say the least.
Arriving at nearly 2am, we headed for the main room to check out the last few tracks of choice from Gerd Janson. The terrace remained closed all night and the main room was all that was on offer in terms of music, which was a shame as I was looking forward to showing one of my favourite rooms on the island to my friends who've come to visit. Yet in spite of this, the fact that only the main room was open gave the party a much more intimate feel and as a result, the party atmosphere inside the club was contagious from the second we walked in. Janson played a pretty down-tempo, groove-filled warm up set that did well to keep the crowd on its toes. Looking back to the entrance of the club, people were beginning to flood in in anticipation of Innervisions co-founder Dixon's two-hour set.
I had seen Dixon DJ once previously in the main room at the Warehouse Project in Manchester last year. However, the mix he played back then was clearly delivered with the huge size of the room in mind. I was keen to see how his track selection would change given the much more intimate setting of DC10's main room. Immediately I was surprised, as Dixon's set opened with hooky woodwind melody and pulsating bass-line that instantly captivated the now tightly packed crowd. As the lights lowered, there was an eerie feel inside that mixed with everyone's excitement to form an intoxicating combination. Right from the off, Innervisions music plays with your emotions and senses and as a result becomes something more than an audiovisual experience.
The first half hour of Dixon's mix was clearly dedicated to bringing the funk and all around us, serious shapes were being thrown. However, Dixon isn't one to play it safe and stick to one sound for too long. After a groove-laden half hour, the music took a distinctly tribal turn with offbeat percussion and pounding bass that made people dance without consciously choosing to. Considering the syncopated rhythm of each track Dixon played, the German label boss had no problem keeping transitions perfectly in time, as you would expect from a DJ with that much experience in the industry.
As we headed into the last half hour of the mix, thunderous bass and arpeggiated melodies were the order of the day which, when delivered through DC10's main room sound-system, pack an unbelievable punch. Dixon closed his performance with a remix of Caribou's Can't Do Without You, which got the crowd singing in unison and gave the dance-floor a real community feel which, on an island where people come and go every week really does say something. In fact, I preferred Dixon's set to the previous time I'd seen him play and found a new enthusiasm for his work as a DJ and producer.
Since it was all about the main room, the courtyard had an extremely relaxed atmosphere (even factoring that the club is by the airport runway and planes fly 20 metres overhead). After a few minutes taking a breather outside, we were ready to go back in and check out Âme's live set. Though I haven't followed Âme's work that closely in the past, I was looking forward to experiencing a live set in the club as they tend to sound completely different to DJ sets. Single stems and elements of tracks can be added and taken away, and as a result can sound a lot more free flowing and floaty. Âme were no exception last night, as Frank Wiedemann stepped up and delivered a pretty soulful selection of tracks. In the space of a mere hour, Âme played a diverse show consisting of haunting screams, funk, and perfect use of dynamics throughout. A particular highlight was the inclusion of their remix of Tiga's Plush. Fifteen hundred people in a packed room chanting ‘I don't need a calculator, to know I'm gonna see you later' was quite something. The whole set from start to finish was very vocal infused which made for a refreshing change from many of the acts I've seen on the island this season.
One of the things we all picked up on in the club was how incredibly social the vibe was inside. In most clubs nowadays, everybody tends to face the DJ booth in an almost worshipful way, yet people of all nationalities were dancing with each other and not viewing the booth as the focal point of the room. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it was one of the best dance-floors I've been a part of. Everyone in the main room last night found themselves ‘Lost in a Moment', and it's just a shame that the party was a one-off for the season.
WORDS | Janson Goldberg PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
