- The final weeks of the Ibiza season are littered with closing parties of all types, durations and sizes, but there's no doubting the main three: Amnesia, Space and DC-10. The first of these typically runs from midnight on Saturday through to the early hours of Sunday evening, thanks to a one-off license granted by the council especially for the occasion. This year, though, Amnesia were denied permission. The week before the club overran its 6 AM licence three times, staying open as late as midday for the closings of Music On, Cocoon and HYTE. In retaliation, the council ordered that the closing party finish no later than 6 AM.
News of this didn't reach the public until after the event (articles were published in Diario De Ibiza and El Mundo). Instead, a message circulated on Saturday detailing a 1 PM finish, earlier than usual but still seven hours later than the actual closing time. All the sets were cut from two or three hours down to one-and-a-half, which just about left time for all 17 acts to flex their muscles.
This year's lineup pulled together a clutch of techno and house heavyweights in the Terrace, while the Main Room catered to fans of more chart-friendly fare, with MK, Gorgon City and Popof the headliners. Marc Kinchen, who is currently one of Ibiza's most popular DJs, was playing when I arrived, working his way through edits of R&B classics and this summer's house bangers. Over in the Terrace, Tale Of Us were just hitting the decks, playing the club for the first time. Their set plodded along drearily and was largely disappointing, though their new collaboration with Mind Against, "Astral," went down a storm.
Of all the main Ibiza clubs, Amnesia is the most intense. When it's packed, as the closing always is, it can be uncomfortable, and there's little respite from the crush. The situation isn't helped by the club's artistic director and resident DJ, Mar-T, who every year slots himself between two world-class acts. This year he played after Tale Of Us and before The Martinez Brothers, and his set dragged for the full 90 minutes. The New York siblings fared better, giving the atmosphere a much-needed shot in the arm with their style of groovy, no-nonsense house.
Maceo Plex and Joseph Capriati closed out proceedings. Both have made Amnesia their homes in recent years—Plex has played every closing since 2013 and was a main resident at HYTE, while Capriati has nurtured a strong following off the back of Music On. Plex went first, dishing out epic, trance-tinged tech house that culminated in Four Tet's remix of Eric Prydz's "Opus." Bar the obligatory sit-down and the odd over-egged, orchestral breakdown, his set had the right amount of energy and character for that time of the morning. I barely stuck around for Capriati—a dodgy remix of Wildchild's "Renegade Master" had me heading for the door within the first half-an-hour. In the end, I was pretty thankful to be out of there by midday.