How did non-"techno head" Dan Gines & Welsh rappers Goldie Lookin' Chain survive the most banging night on the island?
Meganite is the name, techno is the game - and Privilege was the place for this roving reporter on Wednesday August 30, as I made my way to see ‘Mauro Picotto presents Meganite’.
Now in its third year at Privilege, Meganite has earned an excellent reputation by holding some of the best techno and twisted minimal nights on the island. Each Wednesday, dedicated fans have witnessed one of the strongest techno line-ups of this season, with DJ sets from Misstress Barbara, Marco Bailey, Phil Kieran and of course, good old Mauro Picotto himself.
Meganite @ Privilege - Wednesday August 30 (Photo:Dan Gines)
However, not particularly being much of a techno fan, I was unsure about how the evening would pan out for me. During what has been a relatively quiet week here in Ibiza, Privilege (a 10,000 capacity super-club situated midway between San Antonio and Ibiza Town) was in danger of only looking half full. So for the first time this season, for Meganite that is, only half of the club was made open.
Even so it took a while for things to start moving, with the main room dance floor looking rather barren when I arrived shortly after 3am. Now, admittedly not being much of a techno fan, it didn’t look like a great start to what could be a long evening. Surely the only thing I had to look forward to was popping some Nurofen when I got home?
Possibly hearing my cries of self-pity, beautiful dancers appeared on various podiums, entertainers dropped athletically down from the ceiling and the crowd took to the dance floor. All of a sudden there was a real rush of energy inside the club that picked me up, spun me around and threw me back down to the ground.
I began to think that maybe I could even enjoy a banging techno night, so I made my way to the dance floor and joined in with some moves. Hardly handbag-waving stuff (not that I have a handbag to wave of course) but still better than standing at the edge of the dance floor, watching everyone else enjoy themselves.
Tonight, supporting the Italian tech-master Mauro behind the decks, were Marco Carola, Misstress Barbara and Phil Kieran. During my time on the dance floor, Marco Carola proceeded to play out some monster tunes and I desperately tried to pretend to know what I was doing, slightly worried that my two-step was out of time.
However now in a packed main room everyone was too involved in the music to care about my lack of rhythm.
I invited a very excitable and rather sweaty David (left) to give his opinion on the proceedings.
"Man," he said. "This place is just awesome. I love the club, the people and the music. Misstress Barbara is super hot, I love her! Mauro rocks! I love it here man."
Inside the ever-popular Coco Loco room, Filthy Gorgeous were mixing filthy beats to a demanding yet loyal crowd. Watching from the sides, it was good to see a crowd of fun-loving partygoers. I even saw a few familiar faces who convinced me once again to join the dancing masses.
Jamie Gittens, who runs FG alongside Scott Martin, was very happy with his lot.
"This summer has been amazing, better than we could have hoped for! We’ve been able to experiment a bit more this year and play what we want all night - dirty house, electro and breaks. There’s been a great mixture of workers and tourists who’ve been getting down to the filthy beats each week and they all look like they’re having the time of their lives!”
Inside the Coco Loco room, a lone dancer caught my attention. I asked Karen (right) how her night was going.
"It’s really good in here," she said. "I come to Meganite most weeks as there isn’t really another night like it in Ibiza. I love my techno but it’s also good to have something dirtier to dance to when I feel the need."
Even Goldie Lookin' Chain, fresh from their mind-blowing set at Ibiza Rocks earlier that evening, were in amongst the action as they arrived near the end to party on. Not a sight I would have imagined, having earlier seen them perform an amazing set at Bar M!
So what did I learn from tonight’s escapades then?
Well, first that you don’t have to be a techno-head to enjoy a techno night. Secondly, I should take some dancing lessons.
