Cocoon has belonged to Ibiza's Amnesia for an impressive amount of time and is now entering its eighteenth season. Monday saw another highlight ticked off the list leaving me with only three words: best Cocoon ever.
Cocoon head honcho Sven Väth has courteously provided the White Isle with only the finest of techno since the beginning. The techno heads living or visiting the island religiously boost over to Amnesia for the opening every year. Each raver is left spellbound and yearning for more. Here are some of the reasons why the party is as fresh as ever.
Great vibe
Dorian Paic opened the Club Room and set the vibe with his signature grooving sounds while DJ Koze warmed up for Väth in the Terrace, immersing us in his eerie remix of Mano Le Tough's Energy Flow. By this time the room had started to fill up yet still left us with enough space to dance while being perfectly busy. Cocoon is a breath of fresh air to party in particularly because the vast majority of the crowd are hardcore music lovers. Everyone was in a fantastic mood, ultra friendly and simply thrilled to celebrate the opening of the 18th season of one of the island's favourite parties. With some fab tunes, the crowd got into it big time, jumping around and all, the entire night through. Zombie dancing is no more, sir!
A range of flavoured techno
I have a soft spot for nose-bleed techno, in other words music that sounds like it's leaked from a Dax J set at Berghain, and that is what I got. Cocoon has remained Ibiza's #1 party throughout the years purely for its range of tuneage. Väth brings a unique set of plus ones every week to play alongside him.
This opening had resident Ilario Alicante truly showing his dark side, tunes such as the legendary Age of Love kept the energy at a high. Sven sounded as if he had straight up continued his set from last year's closing at Benimussa Park, experimenting with Jamaican steel drum sounds and his favourite African samples, as well as my colourful notes of the night, which describe "Väth with a tune that sounds like you're listening in on your mum and dad watching TV adverts in the 70's when you're supposed to be in bed"... yeah.
Some of the finest tunes of the opening.
Never a dull moment.
The combination of excited ravers and pounding music will never leave you bored. At just the opening I witnessed some heart-warming sights. The island's famous hippy Francisco waved his walking stick about, joint in hand, on the dancer's block in the Terrace. A member of staff casually changed a lightbulb behind Sven's head as he blew the crowd away with building site clangers. One poor guy had his face frozen by a broken ice machine. As usual, this brought on only a friendly chuckle by all those involved. Past years have seen a Superman crowd-surf his way to the booth where he then sat with Sven, as well as the whole toilet paper trick, with loo roll reaching one end of the Terrace to the other.
The after parties
All those in favour of knighting the creator of after parties say aye! God bless Sven Väth and his stamina. Cocoon has kept us going with the best after parties since cavemen discovered fire. This particular after party, although it did leave us stranded in a tourist-filled beach, continued in a villa situated high up in the hills of Ibiza. Even after events unfolded leaving the party without music, it took over Pikes with determination. Next time you're Cocooning, look out for the magic wristbands. You'll be in for a treat.
