Last Saturday, we danced until sunrise on the famous Amnesia Ibiza nightclub terrace for the longest closing party of the summer.
Trying to find the words to do it justice seems impossible, but I will give it my best shot. Incredible music, amazing people and the very best vibes. Starting at 23:00 and finishing 'late' (sometime on Monday morning), we made sure to get some sleep for this one... and bring our sunglasses.
After partying the afternoon away at the Ushuaïa Ibiza closing party, we took a quick break to freshen up before heading to Amnesia for one of the most anticipated events of the season. Lot's of energy was needed, but today, we were in it for the long hall. With an awesome roster of talent hitting the decks nice and early, we showed no signs of slowing down and we headed straight into round two.
John Woods kicked things off in the main room whilst Les Schmitz opened the Club Room. As I arrived at 01:30, FUSE favourite Archie Hamilton had recently taken over from resident DJ Caal, and was now in full swing of a funky session bringing some tasty minimal tech groove to the Terrace. The crowd loved it and the podium in the centre was packed with ravers letting loose and showing off their best moves.
Up next, the man with the hat and the King of euphoric rhythm jumped on the decks and turned it up a notch. Going full throttle, he played a fast building mix of thumping BPM and rocking tech tracks. Slightly heavier than when I have seen Kölsch play before, but that might have been down to the techier line-up and heavier crowd. Nevertheless, his trademark melodic anthems found their way into the set. 'Grey', 'Loreley' and his remix of Butch's 'Countach' made for magical evening highlights.
Admittedly, I was very anxious as to how Patrick Topping would follow such a pumping set. The pressure was on, but the DJ Award winner quickly set the tone and took us into a completely different 'Galaxy'. It was 05:30 and this was the point now where it felt like we were about to enter a new chapter of the night. It was time for the weaklings to leave the hardcore champs to slowly dance into daylight.
Over in the Club Room, the techno heavyweights continued to blast the best techno music you will hear on the island as Luca Donzelli, ANNA, Nina Kraviz and Marco Faraone had the room firmly fist-pumping through until morning. In the darker room of the two, the deep red lights slashed through the crowd and the dancefloor proved a mecca for heavyweight techno fans.
If I hadn't been out partying all day, I might have been able to hack the intense BPM a little better. The KV2 Audio vibrated the room with immense power and my heart was thumping. ANNA interacted with the audience below the booth with a smile. As my legs began to quiver, we moved back to the main room ready for the first back-to-back of the night.
Mar-T and Cuartero rolled out deep, windin' tech-house that was occasionally marked with decade-diving old school spirit. As the night turned into the day, a new lease of energy excelled on the terrace. As we glanced around at the forest-like decor we could see the bright green trees and leafy props that hung around the balcony and over the booth. It felt like we were dancing in a mysterious forest and the music enchanted us all.
Villalobos and Luciano played the final extraordinary b2b of the party. The club was packed, all hands were in the air dancing for hours until our bodies would give out. In disbelief, we turned to find ourselves grooving next to Jamie Jones and the Martinez Brothers. This was a family affair, and everyone danced together as one.
The Amnesia terrace is a very special and nutty place when the sun comes up. The audience is filled with people of all ages, nationalities, races and genders. People from across the world have been dancing together in that very space since 1974, so as we boogied as one at 11:00, we remembered that we were helping to make history once more.
The best memories were made here. Thank you Amnesia, we will see you next year.
Words: Holly Woulfe