Celebrating 24 years of events in Ibiza, BBC Radio 1 returned to the home of the pool party for the first of many exciting events across the weekend.
Ibiza Rocks Hotel stood as the Mecca for all dance music aficionados on Friday having host a jam-packed roster of huge names spinning tunes from day until night.
Yesterday, I had that sweet Friday feeling as I finished work early and made my way to San Antonio’s sun-soaked venue. With so many celebrities and clubbers flogging through the Ibiza airport arrivals, it was time to get the show on the road and Ibiza Rocks Hotel was brimming with enthusiastic ravers nice and early.
The new design aesthetics have been a great benefit to the party as the glistening pool was filled with people. This year, the pool is now shallow and will only go as deep as the top of your thighs. Ladies, that means you do not have to worry so much about getting your hair wet as you can boogie in the refreshing pool or chill on an inflatable unicorn in the Balearic heat with a fantastic view of the stage.
And that’s exactly what we did as BBC Radio 1 resident DJ Arielle Free got the party started with tunes like “My Feeling“ by Junior Jack.
Halfway through her set, Meduza took to the decks for a live performance of one of the most popular chart-smashing tracks of the summer “Piece Of Your Heart”. Confetti explosions and fireworks sent the crowd wild on the drop.
At 19:00, the king of Friday’s at Ibiza Rocks, Sonny Fodera, retained his usual spot and played a bouncy set with tunes from his new album ‘Rise’ along with catchy vocal-house tracks like “Always Gonna Be” ft. Alex Mills.
The excitement continued to build as BBC Radio 1 Queen Annie Mac took to the stage to introduce the next big name and kick start the LIVE broadcast on BBC Radio 1 with her charming charisma and encouragement to raise the volume louder. The energy only continued to rocket as formidable house duo CamelPhat began their set with their progressive house anthem ‘Constellations’; a tune we haven’t heard in a while but grateful to be reminded of it’s glory.
For this event, the lineup was stretched and the set times shrunk to half-an-hour slots. The consistent duo didn't waste a minute of tune time and kept a steady rotation of anticipating techno. These men can do no wrong as every tune left us wanting more. Their set ended on their latest chart-hit 'Be Someone' with a live performance from vocalist Jake Bugg.
The batton then passed to the one and only Monsieur Guetta for an exclusive back to back with his techno alter-ego Jack Back. It wouldn't be a party without the rumbling bassline of Fisher's 'I'm Losing It'. It's not very often the global EDM superstar takes a trip to this side of the island and we lapped up the novelty as the sun started to set.
Up next, Solardo. Ibiza Rocks Hotel was now probably the most energetic place on the island. Take a look at their pulse-raising set below.
Squeezing as many huge names in the celebrations as possible, it was now time for the first of three intriguing back-to-backs. Idris Elba, the man many had been waiting to see, stepped behind the decks and with that came an outrageous cheer; "Idris, Idris, Idris f***ing Elba!". BBC Radio 1 DJ and Ibiza regular Danny Howard joined Elba for one of my favourite sets of the night. Old and new dance anthems had everyone making waves in the pool.
We were lucky enough to witness Monki b2b Rebuke and Krystal Klear b2b Paul Woolford with a fantastic balcony view. Watching the madness unfold from above just put into perspective how epic this pool-party had become. As we approach the final stages of the party, clubbers showed no signs of slowing down.
Closing the proceedings, Annie Mac and euphoric tastemaker Kölsch made for an unlikely but genius pairing. Seeing the night off with a bang, the final set consisted of ultimate feel-good jams. Time flies when you're having fun and you could see nobody wanted this night to end.
On first look at the abrupt set times, I was slightly apprehensive on how such a variety of artists would merge sounds together. In conclusion, the fast change over and keen selection of tracks made for an evening of non-stop moving and fresh flavour; everyone was kept on their toes throughout and of course, the roster of DJ's are all at the top of their game.
Setting the bar extremely high, we can't wait to see what the remainder of the weekend entails.
Click here for more info on BBC Radio 1 weekend on Ibiza this 2019.
