Martina Club - Ibiza

The Garbi Disco was a legend of the landscape on the Ibiza club scene; unparalleled cheese, europop eurosleaze and 14 year old girls having their first shandy with their dad by their side. Then the Garbi had a big refit in 2008 to overcome the power consumption problems and the Garbi Disco turned into Martina, a 1000 capacity club right in the heart of Playa d’en Bossa.

As a relatively new entrant to the Ibiza clubbing scene, Martina has had to pull out all the stops to get a slice of the attention so focused on stalwarts of the scene like, Pacha and Privilege. Cleary bankrolled by some kind of Russian oligarch type, the club announced itself in 2009 with the introduction of a Wednesday night called Five which left some people open mouthed when line ups including the likes of Audio Slave, Dave Clarke and DJ Hell were announced. Since then the club has gone from strength to strength and even the smaller nights with local DJs have being doing unpredictably well.

Martina is a very sexy club and as with many of the best Ibiza institutions, there’s always plenty of naked flesh on display – on the podiums and the dance floor. The main room of the club is as neon lit as the entrance with large screens, projects and several stages for getting up and showing off on. There’s also a VIP area behind the DJ booth with couches for getting down and dirty on or falling asleep in once you’ve overdone the champers.

Martina has an eclectic mix of nights, from the weekly Tuesday ‘erotic party’ of Hardcore De Luxe, to the Salsa sessions on a Saturday night. The music follows the Ibiza staples of a mix of house and techno. After small scale events last summer with local DJs and two-bit promoters, Martina have done what anyone in the dance music business should. That is, live or die, you have to at least try and give it a shot

The problem with any club trying to break the Disco Mafia is that you either need to do something totally different (Zoo Project with Gala Night, Garlands during their free party days) or you need to throw some cash at the thing, well, that's exactly what they've done, with one of the surprises of 2009 with their star studded line up for Wednesday event, called “Five”.

Es Paradis Ibiza

Es Paradis first opened its doors in 1975 and by the efforts of owner Pepe Aguirre it quickly became one of the forerunners of the Ibiza nightlife. With its original & spectacular décor, mainly white with its vast natural plantation, thanks to the work of designer Lluis Güell, the man also responsible for the design of Cafe Del Mar, Es Paradis is unique and considered as one of the most beautiful clubs in the world. The stunning decor was typical of the glory days of old Ibiza and the early days of the electronic music invasion in the late 80s and early 90s. By the mid-90s, Es Paradis was one of the main attractions for people coming to Ibiza for music and partying. DJs like Sasha, Danny Rampling and David Morales represented the best of those who played the club during the 90s.

Es Paradis has 10 bars , 2 dancefloors and boasts one of the best sound systems currently in existence. It is supported with 14.000 watts of sound and 300.000 watts of lighting in the two rooms. The Gallery (upstairs) and the exclusive VIPs area, transform the nights at Es Paradis into a unique spectacle of light, water, music and color. Its unique fountains, flood the central dance floor and turn it into a refreshing pool during the Water Parties. Es Paradis' Water Party is one of the most iconic in Ibiza and has to be witnessed to be believed. It is a ritual amongst young clubbers to the island, a true baptism.

The exceptional landscape is covered by an enormous pyramid roof. It weighs over 120.000 kilos and each side can be opened during the day to provide vital sunlight for the living plants and trees inside. All of the world’s biggest DJs have played here. Todd Terry, Danny Rampling, Tall Paul, and Sonique to name a few, as well as celebrities such as Puff Daddy, Geri Halliwell, Jordan, and Jade Jagger graced the marble dance floors.

Travelling to Ibiza without a visit to the legendary Fiesta Es Paradis' Water Parties, is just not complete. Every Tuesday & Saturday throughout the summer you can dance away before witnessing the dance floor turning into one crazy swimming pool…

Privilege Ibiza

Privilege Ibiza is the "world's largest nightclub" according to the Guinness Book of Records, with a capacity of 10.000 people. It is located not far from San Rafael, Ibiza, and is a true experience and a unique place on earth. For fourteen years, Privilege hosted Manumission, one of the island's most famous events. After a dispute between the club owner and Manumission's organizers, the event moved to Amnesia.

Privilege was first called Club Rafael and started life in the early '70s as a community swimming pool with a small bar that served mainly the San Rafael locals. The club was later known as Ku club and during the '80s, it was Europe's greatest disco. Outrageous and hedonistic, it was Ibiza’s open-air version of New York's Studio 54. In 1978, it was sold to three Basques, one of whom was the famous Spanish footballer Jose Antonio Santamaria. They changed its name from Club Rafael to Ku after the nightclub they already ran in the Spanish town San Sebastian.

Privilege holds the Guinness world record for 'Biggest club in the world'. It is huge - you need more than one night to see everything the club has to offer. When you enter the main room you are surrounded by colorful lights and an extraordinary sound system. You don't believe your eyes when you see the huge swimming pool and one-of-a-kind stage with erotic and artistic shows. Our garden is the right place to chill, the dome gives you spectacular views of Ibiza in the fresh air and our restaurant offers top-quality Mediterranean cuisine. But Privilege is also a bit like a chameleon - expendable decorations change the face-off the club every night.

Privilege attracts clubbers from all over the planet that keep travelling from place to  place in search of the real spirit of House Music. In many occasions, tourists and locals mingle with celebrities such as Puff Daddy, Jean-Paul Gautier, Jade Jagger and Madonna to celebrate the wild nights in the club.

DC-10

DC10 is a nightclub in Ibiza, located in a converted former airplane hangar and is well known for its underground spirit and the warehouse party vibe. The club’s terrace has a capacity of 1.500 people. DC-10 opened in 2000 by two Italian guys, Antonio and Andrea Pelino, and in its original format, party sessions began at 6 am. In 2002, the club's reputation began to take off, with its roster including both European and British DJs such as Danny Tenaglia, Sasha, Steve Lawler and Pete Tong.

The club's reputation grew rapidly along with the resurgence of the popularity of the minimal techno genre with many of the club's residents at the forefront of this, including Tania Vulcano, Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos, Cirillo, Loco Dice, Jose De Divina and later, the Romanian trio Arpiar, Zip, Matthias Tanzmann, Jamie Jones , Clive Henry, Cirillo, Dyed Soundorom, Dan Ghenacia, Sossa, Damian Lazarus. The club also attracted high profile regular guests such as Richie Hawtin, Josh Wink, Magda and Dinky.

The club's popularity also rested on its perceived existence outside the established group of Ibiza superclubs. Run by two Italians, it did not conform to the huge, polished, purpose-built corporate identities of the larger clubs, and in terms of music and atmosphere was far closer to the warehouse and open-air raves of the acid house era. Originally, with a completely uncovered terrace, until it was covered completed in 2006, and spartan appearance, it was the antithesis of many of the rest of the island's clubs. With planes flying low over the club and clubbers of a more European make-up than bigger venues, it had a hedonistic outlook and attitude. After all it is the only club that once had a plane on its roof.

The history of the club is indelibly intertwined with that of its flagship Monday parties, CircoLoco and Pandemonium, which began in 1999. CircoLoco is a techno party with all kind of genres and has become the driving force behind keeping the club going. Dedicated clubbers from all around the world are still travelling to Ibiza just to be there for the famous  CircoLoco in DC-10.

Space Club

1989 was a year to remember as the date that Space Ibiza opened its doors. It was the only club in the world where one could dance in daylight, everybody wanted to get in, and even the best DJs of the time wished to be a part of it. It was the place to be!

 Afterwards in 1999 Pepe Rosello, the founder and owner of Space, created together with Darren Hughes and Danny Whittle, the famous marathon 22 hour Sunday parties, starting at 8am on Sunday until 6 am of next Monday. There was a lot of different DJs that played diverse musical styles so people could go from one arena to the other and choose the place they liked best. Although it was a difficult bet to attract all these visitors for so much time in one club, these parties became the meeting point for Ibiza residents and a must attend for everybody else on the island.

In 2001, it was awarded Best Club in the World by the Dance Music Awards and in 2005 it was once more awarded as Best Club in the World, in Winter Music Conference and House Music Awards .Also in 2007, DJ MAG England did a vote among one thousand of the finest DJs of the moment and they select Space Ibiza as Globe’s Finest Club.

While the nitrogen blasts, confetti explosions and theatrical face-painted performers on stilts make Space one of the most carefully engineered, pyrotechnically advanced clubs ever to exist, it is the rare affability of its crowd that makes the club so exceptional. Shiny faces in every room, unrivalled warmth and a lack of pretension borne out of a sense of privilege, a mutual cognition that the experience is one to be savoured.

A hedonistic escape from everything negative, ugly or unpleasant in this world. Complete immersion in booming sound, nebulous apparitions and explosions of light to be treasured, remembered and anticipated until next time. Space Ibiza does exactly what every club should do - and more.

Amnesia Club

One of the best clubs on the world is located in Ibiza and it’s no other than the famous Amnesia. Having won the “World’s Best Club” award from this year’s DJMag contest, it is commonly considered as “the place to be” by clubbers from around the world. Amnesia has also been awarded for 3 consecutive years the prestigious Best Global Club award in the Winter Music Conference in Miami. 

Being one of the oldest clubs on the island of Ibiza, Amnesia opened in the 1970s, and survived closures and memorable summers alike before it finally cemented its position as one of the island's premier clubs in the early 90s.

The club is located close to Ibiza Town and very close to Privilege, with which they are the island's most popular nightclubs. The club can easily have 5.000 people on the dance floors and was the first major outdoor club on the island. Like Privilege, it is famous for its sunrise dance floor.

Amnesia is home to the successful Manumission night since 2007. This unexpected mid-season change of venue from Amnesia's biggest rival, Privilege, took place over a dispute between Manumission's organizers and the club's owner.  The most successful club night ever in Ibiza is Cream, created and founded by Joseph Murphy in 1996. It was the most talked about club in Europe, and the hardest club to get into, with thousands of people travelling to Ibiza for this specific club and very often being turned away. Although it is still one of the longest-running UK nights on the island, Joseph Murphy sold the brand in 1998 to Cream UK. Cocoon is another popular night held in Amnesia, that attracts many clubbers.

One of the secrets to its success lies in the quality of its sound. Today the club has one of the most advanced sound systems and many DJs love to perform their gigs in Amnesia. It is a place where the true feeling of clubbing has never lost its place. Its all about music, dancing and having fun , after all…..

 Have a taste of clubber’s Paradise….

Pacha Club

Pacha is a nightclub brand originated in Ibiza, Spain. The first Pacha club opened in Sitges outside Barcelona in 1967. The Ibiza club, is the best-known venue today. During 2009 Pacha, acquired El Divino and converted it to a luxury restaurant and music bar. In a poll of most popular nightclubs in 2006 conducted by DJ Magazine Pacha was the fourth most popular.

Pacha club in Ibiza opened in 1973, and is one of the island's best-known nightclubs. It is  located near the harbor in Ibiza Town and used to be the only major Ibiza nightclub which did not close its doors during the winter season. The club's capacity is 3.500 people. The club is best known for its high profile club nights that run every night of the week through the summer. The most successful parties included “F**ck me I'm Famous” hosted by Cathy and David Guetta, “Subliminal” hosted by Erick Morillo and “Swedish House Mafia” hosted by Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. Pacha's own night, called “Pure Pacha”, has attracted guest DJ's including Basement Jaxx, Calvin Harris and Sander Kleinenberg. The club was also featured in the 2004 movie “It's All Gone Pete Tong” and every September hosts the famous DJ Awards where it owns the 5^th place in the World’s Best Clubs Awards for both 2010 and 2011.

Four decades after its first opening in Sitges, Pacha has been successfully established in many different countries all over the world, as Brazil, United States, Russia, Germany, England, Egypt, Portugal, Austria and in the biggest Spanish cities like Madrid, Valencia, Bilbao.

Pacha club in New York is located on the West side of Manhattan and is made up of four floors. The first floor is the club's is main room, which features a powerful sound system and the intelligent, LED and conventional lightning system. The second floor is the mezzanine, which overlooks the main floor and accommodates the club's VIP area. The third floor is made up of the Funky Room, named after Pacha Ibiza's pre-club lounge space, and has a V.I.P. section called «The Shower Lounge", where there is live shower dancing. Lastly, the fourth floor is Pachita or "little Pacha", with a capacity of 400 people and suitable for dancing, lounging, or seated presentations. Each level, except for the mezzanine, has its own outdoor smoking level.

 There is also a Pacha Magazine, which publishes six issues a year, monthly from May to September, and a winter issue in December. The magazine is also available for PDF download or you can read it online from your laptop.

The only way to understand its great influence in the world of clubbing is to attend one party of Pacha. For those who can’t, we are here to bring you the vibes...

House Music – The Establishment

House Music did not take long to be established. From Kraftwerk and “The Belleville Three”,  (Juan Atkins - Derrick May – Kevin Saunderson) to Daft Punk and Paul Oakenfold ,it was just a matter of few years to have this great impact in the dance scene. Starting from US and breaking through the whole world, it was originally played in warehouses or other large empty places and the events were called “raves”.

The first in Europe who embraced this music were the major UK dance clubs like The Hacienda (largely funded by New Order), Ministry Of Sound, Fabric, Cream and many others. On its first steps, House Music was considered “underground” and only for the worthiest that could really feel its energy. 

Following UK’ s path, Ibiza took its part in turning the whole House Music scene from “underground” to “glamorous”. Huge dance clubs and spectacular events made thousands of people to hear it, dance with it and therefore love it. It was no sooner than early 90s that almost every UK club had its “little brother” in this Balearic island. All the top DJs were gathering every summer to give the ultimate show and be worshipped by the frenzy crowd.

It is fair to admit that a quite important factor that made this kind of music to have such a vast growth was the drug that went along with House Music. As every music has its drug, House Music was largely accompanied by Ecstasy. It was a golden era for the drug dealers worldwide who could easily push their product and promise “harmless euphoria” and “non-stop dancing”. Many teens took it just to keep on dancing all through the night and only when going out to party and were so called “Saturday Users”. Because of its low after effect and the sense of warmthness it offered, it was originally called the “Love Drug”. Nevertheless many people argue with that, supporting that this music revolution would have taken place with or without the drug.

As years go by, there is a great evolution in the means and the equipment used to play this music. Starting with the first Dj decks and mixers, we have now come to a point where everyone can give it a try from his laptop with the appropriate software.

In my opinion, the best way to feel the energy of the music and the pulse of the crowd would be to attend in such an event. For those who still have second thoughts, see for yourselves…