Highlights From Day 3 At Ibiza's Iconic IMS

Highlights From Day 3 At Ibiza’s Iconic IMS

Words: Matt Mode

June 1, 2018

Day three of the International Music Summit started with a DJ Skills Masterclass by Andrea Oliva, who taught himself to DJ at the age of 16 and has now became an inevitable part of Ibiza clubbing scene. In the workshop Andrea shared top tips on DJing and performing to a live crowd to an audience of aspiring DJs. “I like it to be chaotic. Chaos causes creativity”.

One of the interesting parts of the conference was the BLACK ROCK CITY X IBIZA: CULTURAL OPPOSITES OR KINDRED SPIRITS? discussion with Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley (Burning Man Project, Communications Manager, USA) and Seth Troxler (Artist, USA). The panel discussed how freedom, self-expression and inspiration come together with nature, art and music to create the Burning Man Project for hippies and jet-setters. Dominique confessed that participation in the Burning Man is such a profound experience that completely changes one’s attitude to life and their way of thinking. Ed Karney, manager of Seth Troxler, discussed how the festival concept is some way similar to Ibiza experience and expressed an important point on the threat of the commercialisation of the white island and asking to shift away the focus of VIP culture back to electronic music lovers.

A key part of the day (and not night!) was definitely the Annual Ibiza Debate where the panel revealed the latest gossips about the 2018 season. Jessica Capaz (Pacha Group, Artistic Director, Spain) spoke about the recent Pacha refurbishment as the 50 year old club has recently changed the owner and returned with a new look. Paco Osuna talked on his experience of playing at MusicOn and revealed what venues and parties he will be a part of this season. The panel also discussed the ideas on making the island more sustainable whilst keeping the focus the music experience.

Later in the afternoon the IMS hosted an interactive debate on the future of the electronic music, inviting the audience to vote through their smartphones. The questions were related to the issues discussed during the three days of the summit, and the votes have been anonymous. Some 90% of the participants agreed on their answers, apart from one question: ‘Should on site drug testing be available at the festivals?’, where over 20% voted ‘No’. Food for thought.

On Friday evening, the IMS moved to Dalt Vila located in Ibiza Old Town, the most scenic spot on the island for the under-the-stars electronic music event, considered by many as the beginning of the summer season on the island. A series of back-to-back sets by world-class DJs combined with this unique open-air venue created one of the most high-energy weekends of the year. The event kicked off at 6pm with a set of Andrea Oliva, ANTS resident and Paco Osuna, a regular at MusicOn.

Despite the early hour, the venue was filling up as the globally acclaimed DJ were setting the mood of the party. Next behind the decks were Jackmaster, usually DJing in DC10, with the emerging Korean DJ Peggy Gou. The duo brought up the energy of the party to the next level. The IMS Co-Founder Pete Tong was next going b2b with Bedouin, a melodic duo, to create something one-of-a-kind. A Ukrainian DJ Nastia, who will be playing this summer at RESISTANCE, Cocoon and Black Coffee, turned up next going b2b with the Dubfire, performing at DC10, Solomun+1, Labirynth and RUMORS, giving the audience a proper techno set.

The mood of the party changed noticeably when the legendary Danny Tenaglia, a New York DJ, came on b2b with an underground techno star Guy Gerber, starting with a sample of ‘I Wanna Give You Devotion’. The top-notch techno performance combined with the trippy visual effects against the dark sky enhanced the party atmosphere even more.

The only solo set that night was performed by Sven Vath, a vinyl-only DJ known for his Cocoon residency, to deliver an energised set of hard techno and trance making an IMS final something truly unforgettable. What a night!