There is only one man in the world who can proudly say he has headed his own night at Space for 10 years. Carl Cox’s Revolution is now amongst the most established parties on the island and continues to provide the highest quality of clubbing around week after week.
This sort of success isn’t easy to achieve, even for a DJ with such notorious skills. His determination to push his concept forward year after year and take some serious risks along the way has paid dividends. He is famous for being the first person to bring emerging UK sounds like drum & bass, breakbeat & dubstep to Ibiza and this is only one aspect to his unique approach. Presenting a whole range of the most talented electronic artists over the summer, usually only giving them one, long set, seems to bring out the best in each of them.
This was certainly the case this week, with a line-up more focused on established talent. Carl Cox is also one of the only nights that starts to kick off well before midnight, with clubbers flocking in to check out Cox’s warm-up set on the sunset terrace. Giving him the perfect opportunity to showcase his latin-house sound, he casually whipped the dance floor into a frenzy and set the tone for the night ahead.
Umek, one of Carl Cox’s residents for the last two years, started the night in the Discoteca. Playing on two laptops and with various gadgets on show, his expertly layered tech-house beats made sure the dance floor was pumping from the very start. Umek’s key ingredient seems to be something a lot of other techno DJs lack, fun. Playing with so many different beats at once brings a great reaction from the crowd and Umek made sure that everybody wasn’t just dancing like crazy, they were smiling too.
When Lucca took over, the room was ready for her more uplifting and intense sound. Anticipation was rising for Carl Cox’s main room set and Lucca’s driving techno only added to this. By the time it was Cox’s turn, the Discoteca was fully packed and ready for mayhem. Using a combination of his skills on the microphone, some wizardry on the decks and fantastic lighting and visual production, he made an entrance nobody will be forgetting any time soon. His set was typically spectacular, effortlessly switching between all kinds of techno, always picking the perfect record to lift the intensity. With the temperature similar to being locked in a greenhouse in the afternoon on one of Ibiza’s hottest days, Space’s multiple rooms provided some well-needed chill out space.
Over on the Space terrace, a more house-driven sound was on offer with a less-intense but equally enjoyable atmosphere. Steve Moulder’s flowing warm-up set gave the terrace its vibe for the night, cool beats and crazy drops. Riva Starr took it took the next level with a series of drops that took made sure everyone in the room was totally lost in the moment. Nic Fanciulli, on his birthday, finished things off in style, creating a genuine party atmosphere, each tune gliding seamlessly into the next and keeping things very lively until the very last beat.
Meanwhile the sunset terrace was treated to an epic back-to-back set by Space Residents Marco Loco & Mo’Funk. Playing all sorts of old-school disco and funk beats mixed with house and loads of amazing scratching on top, it was an incredible performance and a crying shame that the volume was so restricted.
It just seemed to be one of those nights when every DJ who played was on their best form. With a hyped-up crowd feeding off this energy and giving it back, the atmosphere only got better as the night progressed. This will go down as another great night for Carl Cox and there will surely be plenty more where that came from.