Last night's clubbing review patrol began with a novelty pre-session in San Antonio's West End, with a gaggle of mates just arrived fresh off the plane for some hen do nonsense. Party juice sunk, we dodged obstacles down the strip like a Takeshi's Castle challenge, before landing on Vista Club's doorstep for the Solid Grooves opening.
The London-based label and party knocked down Balearic doors last summer with a slew of exclusive dates at Sankeys and this season, it's erupting with techno and house lava from within Privilege's side section, Vista Club. I was buzzing to be out, purely down to being able to stroke the sweet cheeks of some familiar faces, so to get in there for a party that's been hugely hyped for its first full season, with a mad passionate team behind it, tickled the pleasure bone.
Avoiding the mammoth queue that had snaked its way round the club early doors, I slammed in with the best of them to chase down the beat. One Records head honcho, Subb-an, stepped into tech house territory, with low gradient sweeps through a seamless 60-minute set packed with groove power. Another Brit mix master, Huxley, slid into BPM control and got an instant thumbs up from my palm with Point G's remix of Mr Ks' hypnotic house driver, 'Groove On'. Anything that sounds remotely like it's travelled through a time tunnel from the early dance years gets an approval from me, so Pig & Dan's recently released track, 'The Saint', with its euphoric vocal peaks and rave energy was one of those straight to the front moments when your face nearly meets the booth. Face sonically bruised, I continued to take a welcome battering from Huxley and the approval whistling was rife. If you could get techno scented shower gel, I'd be in there under the shower head with the whole bottle slathered on, sliding from wall to wall like something out the X-Files. Huxley for me dug out a beast kind of damage, ending on a fiendish, chugging techno brute from Marco Farone titled 'Boost', which was released on Adam Beyer's Drumcode label this year.
When surprise guests are announced, sometimes pessimism slips in and you think to yourself that it's going to be an underwhelming moment when their identity is finally revealed. I'd actually totally forgotten a surprise guest was billed until a wee present dropped behind the Vista Club's booth box in the form of blonde bombshell, James Zabiela. This guy is a marvel for the eyes when he's spinning the records into motion - there's more hair movement than that of a hairy dog leaning out a car window. Danny Daze's fresh Kompakt release,'Swim', fed the swarm of clubbers a parade of synth riffs and belting beats and it was a night of new releases, with Gregor Tresher's 'Quiet Distortion', also getting an airing.
I'd lured the hen do crew with pictures of the sunrise that Vista Club famously frames, so I was looking forward to get a look at their faces when the orange orb began to emerge from the dark hours. Michael Bibi was the man to take us into daylight and he did so with a beauty of a track from Joey Alter, titled, 'I Feel You', which samples Nina Simone. Her sharply dramatised voice lends itself so well to dance records and having her taking us through one of Ibiza's famous sunrises was a goosebumps moment. It was a solid opening by all acounts, with plenty of roaring reviews scooting along the disco bus on the way back to San Antonio.
WORDS | Aimee Lawrence PHOTOGRAPHY | Marc de Groot
