A whirlwind of unadulterated feel good house and disco beats, fierce dancers, powerful live performances and, of course, heaps of sparkle, Glitterbox has established itself as one of the White Isle’s most popular cult parties. Naturally, we were dying to see how the fabulous concept would go off in its new home, state-of-the art super club Hï Ibiza in Playa d’en Bossa. Boasting a killer line-up that included Simon Dunmore, David Morales, Dimitri From Paris, Armand Van Helden, Todd Terry and iconic house music diva Barbara Tucker, Glitterbox’s inaugural night of the 2017 season was always bound to be a belter.

It seems we weren’t the only ones excited to celebrate the return of the fun concept, as house music lovers from all over the island arrived dressed in their finest glitter garments – there were a lot of sequins – and danced up the stairs of the venue, greeted by the irresistible vocals and melody of Pete Heller classic Big Love (I’ve Been Saving My Loving). In the Theatre (Room 1), Glitterbox founder Simon Dunmore – can we ever thank him enough? – opened the night, dropping one feel good anthem after the next and luring clubbers straight to the spacious dance floor.

The huge party space looked jaw-dropping, adorned with what must be at least 50 sparkling disco balls that reflected Hï Ibiza’s colour laser beams across the room. Glitterbox’s famously fierce dancers were out in force, rocking some seriously sexy and cool costumes while throwing their shapes. It was obvious that they were enjoying the music as much as the crowd was as they strutted their stuff around the DJ booth. Next up was the legendary David Morales, who drove the energy ever higher with his upbeat set of carefully selected tunes.

Over in the more intimate Club (Room 2), island legend DJ Pippi was keeping the energy sky high with iconic tracks such as the ever-popular Pasilda by Afro Medusa. The infectious sound was enhanced even further by a live percussion set from Shovell, who fired off his energetic drum beats free-styling to Pippi’s selection of tune. With a sound system so powerful it could make you feel dizzy, not letting loose to the music was not an option. He was followed by suave music selector Dimitri From Paris, who kept the atmosphere sizzling until the small hours.

As the night continued, arguably house music’s most iconic female vocalist, Barbara Tucker, took the stage in the Theatre, looking utterly fabulous and flamboyant with her flaming red hair and matching corsage dress. Belting out some of her biggest hits, including Deep Inside and Precious Love, she gave the room collective goose bumps thanks to her powerful vocals and charisma. Preaching the Glitterbox gospel of love and unity, a message we all need to embrace in these challenging times, our hearts felt warm and fuzzy.

The disco diva was followed by world famous house hero Armand Van Helden, who exploded into the club with a driving basslines and artfully shredded sound elements before unleashing the classic Push The Feeling On onto the room, supported by powerful and refreshing burst from the ice cannon. Classic tunes such as Mousse T hit Horny had the whole room signing along, and he kept the dance floor full and the room busting moves until the early hours, before handing over the decks to closing artist Todd Terry, who, by all means, had no intention of letting anyone slink off early and kept the pace firmly UP. With the Glitterbox opening setting the bar very high indeed, and a line-up that boasts the likes of Roger Sanchez, Kenny Dope, Horse Meat Disco, Joey Negro, Aeroplane, Masters At Work, Basement Jaxx (DJ Set), The Shapeshifters and many, many more, it’s going to be a long hot summer for the fun and fabulous party at Hï Ibiza.