Ibiza 2006

[Stuart F]

Here's a report of my few days in Ibiza last week with my mate Mark. We had booked it in January and we were flying Easyjet from Glasgow-Stansted-Ibiza on Thursday 10th August and returning on Wednesday 16th August. We were staying at the Hotel Brisa in San Antonio. Photos of our trip can be seen at http://www.stuart-fraser.co.uk/ibiza.htm

Woke up at 8am on Thursday morning and the first thing I heard on my radio alarm clock was that hand luggage was banned from all UK flights due to a terror alert. I cursed in anger as I was planning on taking recording equipment on as hand luggage as we were due to record Ferry Corsten's set at Cream @ Amnesia on Thursday night. I then got out of my bed and put on the TV and that is when I realised I probably would not even be flying at all. Anyway, we decided to take the 2 hour journey down to the airport and see what the official word was from Easyjet.

We arrived at the airport at 12:30pm and found out that our flight was not going at all. We got transferred to a flight going to Stansted at 7.15pm but there was no guarantee that one was going either. In the end, it didn't and I then phoned my contact at Amnesia to let him know we wouldn't be there to record Ferry's set. Thankfully though, he arranged for someone over there to record it for us.

Easyjet then told us it would be likely we would not get to Ibiza till Monday and at this point, we were on a downer and facing up to heading home as there was no point on going over seen as we were coming back on the Wednesday. The Easyjet female member of staff advised us to ask a travel agent to see if they could find us a direct flight to Ibiza avoiding London. It was at this point that I remembered FlyGlobespan flew direct to Ibiza from Glasgow on a Friday evening. We rushed over to the FlyGlobespan desk and managed to get 2 seats on the flight for £35 each. We were delighted and although we would be arriving 24 hours later than planned and we would miss the Essential Selection @ Mambo, we were just glad to be going after such a hectic day.

We then decided we were going to stay in Glasgow for the night at a hotel instead of heading back up the road and thought that our Travel Insurance would cover us. I phoned them to double check and was told that it wouldn't because our cancellation was due to an 'Act Of Terrorism'. This was understandable so we phoned round some mates who stay in Glasgow and managed to find somewhere to kip for the night.

We eventually left Glasgow at 19.10 on the Friday night and when we got to Ibiza, our private transfer that was meant to take us straight to Amnesia the night before was waiting to take us to our hotel at San Antonio instead. As soon as we checked in, we headed straight back out to Pacha where we were meant to be on the guestlist. Unfortunately though there was a cock-up and not even the production of an e-mail could persuade the doorman to let us in. We decided to just pay the 60 Euros entry fee and it was a very good night although tiredness hit us around 3:30am. We saw Sarah Main, Harry Choo Choo Romero and Pete Tong who was broadcasting live on Radio 1. We were suprised to see Pete Tong using Ableton and although his set wasn't really my cup of tea, Pacha was heaving.

We woke up after a decent sleep on Saturday and headed down to Cafe Mambo for the Radio 1 event. The temperature was extremely hot and the crowd at Mambo was increasing as the day went on. While we were sitting on the beach, me and Mark recorded comments for Radio 1 that were used at the start of Fergie's show later on that night. The 'BBQ' show kicked off at 5pm with Pete Tong and a very cool Zane Lowe. Vernon Kay then joined them and he is a very funny and entertaining guy. They then moved from the upstairs studio to the downstairs set up they had and that was when the atmosphere amongst the crowd lifted. Jules appeared around 7pm and while the Trophy Twins were broadcasting on Radio 1, Jules played a few tunes to warm up the crowd before the start of his show at 8pm. When the show started, the atmosphere was immense and the crowd were so noisy, at times we were struggling to hear the music and even Jules speaking. Apparently though due to noise restrictions, they were not allowed to turn the sound up.

Although the music wasn't as loud as we would have liked, the atmosphere remained awesome all the way through. Although some of you at home may not have enjoyed the tunes played, they were doing the business at Mambo. One of the best moment's for me was hearing Jules play Team SR just after the sun went down. An excellent choice and it was so good to hear it in at that moment in time. The tunes then got more energetic and Jules' son appeared in front of the crowd wildly waving his hands back and forward in the air and the crowd were loving this. He stayed there right up until the end of the show amidst chants of 'We Love Baby Judge'. All in all, it was an awesome show and set by Jules and that was one of the best bits of my trip. We also managed to get in one of the Radio 1 website photos at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/summer06/ibiza...bq/3.shtml#jump. We are the two dudes with shades on at the top right hand corner.

I grabbed a KFC on the way back to the hotel, got changed and headed to Amnesia for the Cream/R1 party @ Amnesia. We were VIP's for this and the views from the VIP area on the level above each room were great. Saw Gareth Wyn, Annie Mac, Mylo, Steve Angello who we all throughly enjoyed but we also saw Paul Oakenfold who we didn't enjoy as much. Judging by some of the comments I have seen on here, it didn't sound too good at home either. A superb night although the drinks prices are hellish. To be fair though, it's the same in most Ibiza clubs.

Grabbed a few hours sleep on Sunday morning and headed to Space in the afternoon for a few hours. We were mainly in the sunset terrace where most of the crowd were in the afternoon and it was really good, especially the 'Ghostbusters' theme sampling track. What made it for us were the planes flying overhead on approach to landing. It really made it hit home to us that we were in the legendary Space.

We then headed back to San Antonio for some dinner and then headed along to Kasbah (Jules' restaurant) where we were due to meet Meck at 11pm. Meck was meant to be playing the funky room at Judgement Sundays but when I arrived at Kasbah, I called him to find out where he was and sadly, he had not managed to make it over to Ibiza due to the continuing problems at the airports in the UK. We then headed over to Kanya for a drink where we saw Jules and had a brief chat to him. He remembered us from his gig up here in Oban and asked if we got over to Ibiza OK. He then asked if we wanted on the guestlist for Judgement Sundays and although I was already on the list, Mark wasn't so he kindly put his name on. He then headed off to Bar M for his 2nd pre-party, what a gentleman!

Judgement Sundays obviously was the next port of call for us and we went to the balcony on the upper level in Eden so we could get a good view of the dancefloor and booth for the night. Big Al was playing some trance to warm up the constantly increasing crowd and although it was very good, the atmosphere totally lifted when Jules came on at 2am. He played another awesome set and was his usual energetic self. Eddie Halliwell followed after him at 3.30 and although I have heard him on the radio many times, this is only the second time I have seen him live and he was brilliant. There was some problems with the CDJ-1000s at the start of his set but once they were overcome, he was on top form.

Mark headed back to the hotel during Eddie's set but I decided to stay and once Eddie had finished, I headed through to the funky room to catch Jules' set in there. Yet another top set by Jules in a really intimate room which was very busy. He was accompanied by an electric guitarist which was surprisingly very good. He finished at around 7am and it was at this point I decided to head back to the hotel.

Monday afternoon was spent preparing for the recording of my radio show at the Cafe Mambo studio. The first hour was going to consist of myself and Mark playing tunes at Mambo during sunset and the second hour was Ferry's recorded set from Amnesia the previous Thursday. The recording went very well and it was a great experience in the Mambo studio recording as the sun went down. The view from the balcony was excellent and photos of the recording can be seen at http://www.stuart-fraser.co.uk/mambo.htm. The show can also be downloaded at http://www.stuart-fraser.co.uk/twwu180806.mp3.

Once we finished, we went over to Kasbah where I enjoyed a very good dinner of beer battered fish and chips. We then headed into the crazy West End for a few drinks at the Scottish bars 'Kilties' & 'The Highlander' which both had karaoke nights on.

Tuesday was spent purchasing some clothes and gifts and walking about San An. We then enjoyed our last Ibiza 2006 sunset at Cafe Del Mar and also an awesome fire exhibitionist who was performing. On our way to Kanya, there was a man with a huge snake round his neck. I have a huge fear of snakes and this was the first time I had been so close to a live one out in the open. Although i completely froze, at the same time it was quite cool to see and I wanted a photo. He then walked towards me and it was at this point, I thought f*** it, forget the photo and ran off in the direction of Kanya.

Armin's Armada night was on at Amnesia on Tuesday and the pre-party was on at Kanya. We enjoyed some dinner there to the sounds of Remy and a female DJ (didn't catch her name) who were playing some laidback trance which was very fitting for the occasion. Kanya is a really nice sunset bar and if you haven't been there before, I suggest you go if you get a chance. They also had an excellent resident DJ who I believe went by the name of Robin.

We then went back to the hotel around midnight as we were up early the next day for our flights back home. Whilst on the balcony, Mark decided to jump off the first floor roof into the pool bollock naked in full view of the bar poolside which was quite busy and they seemed to enjoy this rather random and very amusing moment.

Woke up at 7am on Wednesday morning unsure about the day ahead as we had to fly Ibiza-Stansted-Glasgow with Easyjet and we were not sure if Easyjet were still experiencing problems as a result of the terror alert. In the end, the flight only departed Ibiza an hour late and we actually arrived in Glasgow on schedule leaving plenty of time to get back to Oban in time to watch Andy Murray beat Federer

[KSheehan]

very lengthly report there Stu, enjoyed readin that!!sounds like u had an ACE time, the pics looks ace!! 8-)

[Max Kane]

Quality stuff mate, glad to hear you had a wicked time and a really good find getting those 2 seats for £35.

[Stuart F]

Yeah, sorry about the length folks. Couldn't stop writing once I got going

[bigsteve]

A superb report there mate 8-) Well done for getting there in the 1st place too - all the news reports were basically saying 'don't bother.' Sometimes not living near a London airport helps

You managed to pack quite a few nights in there too, and some freebies! Sounds like you had a wicked time and good effort at spotting yourself in that R1 photo

[Chrissie Brown]

Thanks for such a long interesting report. Fantastic

I would love to have been there as l have heard such good things about Ibiza this year from people who have already been out there.

Also a friend of mine was at Jules's R1 show and although he isn't that keen on the music Jules plays he said it was awesome as Jules did such a good job entertaining the crowd and the atmosphere was electric.

Listening on the radio l thought "Leaving London" was a bad choice for a sunset tune. However you said this sounded great and l have to agree that tunes do sound so different when you are actually there in the crowd listening to it. It was the same for me when l watched Jules do the R1 Show live from Fistral beach Newquay a week earlier on 5/8/06.

I also agree with you that Jules is a true gent as he went out of his way to make sure l had a wristband in order to get in to watch him do his R1 show.

I'm downloading your set from Mambos and look forward to listening to it sometime this week.

[Bjorn]

Wikked report stuart - i too enjoyed reading that - im the same - whenever i get typing i just can't stop!

Sounds like u met a few well known ppl out there, wish i could have been in Ibiza this summer - next year for sure!

[bigsteve]

easyjey suck mate, they cancelled my flight (b4 the recent caos) departing london, and returning to london too!   Anyone flying easyjet make sure u buy ur self extra protected flight insurance  (the one that cover u for whatever type of cancellation)

I've used Easyjet loads (Domestic & European) and have never had a problem. However, I have heard many tales of problems with them when flights are cancelled, but like with everything, you get what you pay for.

[lennox2s2s]

top report,