It’s Monday night in Ibiza, which means only one thing, Cocoon Heroes! Cocoon and Amnesia is a match made in techno heaven, the venue provides the perfect theatre in which Sven Vath and his merry band of electronic players perform weekly throughout the summer. Sven ay be one of the elder statesmen of the electronic scene but that is in number only, the talented German is still the life and soul of every party that he plays and when it comes to Ibiza he can party with the best of them. It’s no surprise that every Cocoon party hits capacity, often selling out before the day arrives, indeed, many clubbers around the world plan their Ibiza adventure around Cocoon and the now famous after party on the beach. Tonight’s adventure will be hosted by Sven himself, ably assisted by Ricardo Villalobos, Frank Lorber and Arpiar.
Having set up his own Cocoon club in Frankfurt, Sven Vath has an acute understanding of what it takes to deliver an amazing party, possibly the fact that he has partied as much as anyone on the planet! Sven is old school, he enjoys the luxury of taking the crown on the magical musical journey that is talked so much about but, in truth, very rarely occurs, when clubs only allow DJs a couple of hours each. With Cocoon, the bookings are done on a quality over quantity basis, allowing guests the freedom to fully express themselves. Tonight it’s the turn of fellow German Frank Lober to join Sven in the main room. From Frankfurt, he is well known to Sven and their collaboration in the main room promises to be an exciting one. On the Terrace, Ricardo Villalobos is joined by Arpiar, the exciting three piece made up of Radu Bogdan Cilinca, Radu Dumitru Bodiu and Raresh, who made a name for themselves previously in Ibiza at DC10.
Amnesia is packed, both the main room and the Terrace, making wandering between rooms virtually impossible, it’s another one of those, choose an area and stick to it nights. Drapes hang over the huge crowd and visuals are projected high above us, courtesy of Reach Visuals. The atmosphere is electric and this could be the most cosmopolitan crowd in Ibiza. Most of the clubs have a core demographic but for Cocoon, there is truly an international feel. Stunning dancers occupy the high ground and the huge lights wash over the crowd, bathing us in red and blue, creating a dramatic effect that is further enhanced by the thunderous smoke cannons. Sven Vath is in the both, hands in the air conducting the crowd and for those of you that have just arrived at the clubbing top table, that thing he had in his hands at more than one point throughout the night is vinyl.
Yes, the godfather is using vinyl to supplement the digital technology available to him, meaning he is dropping tracks that have never made it on to mp3 ensuring that most of his set will be unheard of by the majority of the crowd. It could be the most refreshing club experience we’ve had in recent times. Here is a crowd that has no idea what is being played but one that is reacting honestly to the emotion produced by the man behind the decks. The way it was always meant to be! Nowadays, with the Internet making everything so instantly accessible and music being shared like sexual diseases, top DJs find it hard to truly capture the imagination of the crowd as most of them will have downloaded most of their set at some point leading up to the party. With Sven, he is dropping never before heard nuggets on the unsuspecting Cocoon crowd and the reaction is pure.
While the rest of the world dreads the start of the week, Ibiza can’t wait for it to land. It’s when true clubbers go to work, lapping up the Cocoon Heroes and everything that they throw at them before heading to the beach for the mother of all after parties. Anyone that thinks for a minute that Ibiza has changed and it will never be as good as it used to be wants to check themselves into the Cocoon clinic and take a step back in time!
