Claptone’s The Masquerade Brings Classic House Goodness To Pacha

When one of the electronic music industry’s most mysterious characters invites you to his ball, you graciously accept, put on your finest dancing shoes and hit the floor. This summer, masked master mixer Claptone is introducing his enticingly titled The Masquerade to Pacha Ibiza and its international clientele of music lovers – and we were there for the opening!

Bringing with him an array of illustrious peers, for the season opener andhim, Armand Van Helden and, of course, Claptone himself were all set to take to the booth. Taking on the Monday night slot in Pacha’s weekly summer roster, it was clear from the second we passed underneath the larger than life imitation of his iconic mask that there is no such things as Monday Blues on the menu as we were greeted by the fierce beats of Sneaker Pimps’ Spin Spin Sugar.

For VIP table reservations or further information contact jessica@essentialibiza.com.

Armand Van Helden had the whole dance floor bouncing, with clubbers both young and young at heart letting loose to his expertly manipulated house beats. His set was a full-on, feel-good extravaganza of house music anthems that had the main room going wild. Dropping some of his own tracks old and new, like the unforgettable My My My and the melodic Wings, as well as forever floorfillas such as Mousse T’s Horny, he also showed fellow Frenchies including Daft Punk and Mojo a lot of love.

With the room bathed in a neon haze and futuristic beauties in robot costumes showing off their moves, the scene was set perfectly for those who had come to party. And party, they did! Wherever we went, from the centre of the dancefloor to the bars up on the gallery, revellers were euphorically jumping around in every available spot! Van Helden eventually got us, too, when he dropped his utterly infectious remix of Uffie’s SUV.

As more and more mysterious characters began to roam the crowd, including dancers in cobra costumes, a beauty in an intricately embellished white lace bodysuit that Lady Gaga would be proud and a cloaked lady wearing a long-nosed mask not dissimilar to ‘the one’, we knew Claptone’s arrival was imminent. There was a rush to the front when the masked maestro finally appeared in the booth, ceremoniously putting on his white gloves and hugging Van Helden goodbye.

With the explosion of gold glitter, his set was underway and Claptone started the night with exotic sitar notes laid over a laid-back, funky beat, before launching into Purple Disco Machine’s Body Funk. Two aerialists appeared on either side of the booth, suspended from the ceiling in hoops from which they showed off their incredible acrobatics. Serving up a modern take on a vintage house sound, Claptone was in his element, enthusiastically firing on the sea of faces in front of him while dropping banger after banger, like the sax-laden Soul Sacrificy by Dombresky and a sizzling remix of Laidback Luke’s Oh Yes (Rocking With The Best). Our dancing feet eventually ran out of steam, but if you love fantastical, uplifting Ibiza nights filled with tune after tune after tune, then The Masquerade is 100% for you!

Further Information & Reservations
e: jessica@essentialibiza.com
w: www.pacha.com