Afterlife has earned its reputation as one of the island’s most followed party brands with hundreds of thousands of devotees from all across the world, each seeking that distinct Tale Of Us techno sound that has created many Ibiza clubbing memories. For 2019, it’s back at Hï Ibiza for another highly-anticipated season on the White Isle, where the Italian techno pairing have invited some of the biggest talents from the genre. Here’s what happened when Essential Ibiza made the journey to Afterlife for its season opener.

We made it through the crowds and in just as Stephan Bodzin was putting the cherry on what must have been a masterclass of a live set, as always. As energetic as ever behind his trusty Moog synthesiser, Bodzin was delivering sounds that had me wishing he was on longer than the one-hour he was billed as. This was the perfect taster for what was to come. Afterlife, as always, was living up to its reputation. We were only half-an-hour into this journey.

It was time for Maceo Plex in the Theatre, a place where he’s only played once before. After experiencing a Maceo masterclass in the Club room at last summer’s opening, I was more than ready to see what he had to bring to Hï Ibiza’s main club offering. Bringing the tempo down slightly, the Cuban-American selector was preparing for one-and-a-half hours of techno bliss, where he encompassed all his aliases and all his best sounds – and you know exactly how it went when he dropped his own When The Lights Go Out. Magical.

With some time left until Tale Of Us entered the Theatre, we hot-footed it over to see which direction Berghain’s own Marcel Dettmann was taking the Club room in. True to his Berlin residency roots, Dettmann was unbendingly brilliant. It was the heaviest of heavy and Hï Ibiza’s alternative dancefloor space was soaking it all up. It was hard to tear ourselves away, but it was time to head back to the Theatre and witness Tale Of Us’ first Afterlife expedition of the season.

Tale Of Us gave us a taste of what to expect when they headlined Hï Ibiza’s huge 24-hour Odyssey opening. If that was anything to go by, then we were in for hours of Afterlife pleasure, served-up by the pair who started it all. It was a dramatic start, as expected, with the Theatre offering the perfect canvas for the Italian duo to paint that stunning picture we’ve all been waiting for, with that Afterlife brush that’s taken over techno events all across the world. Label productions such as Colyn’s Amor and an unreleased Fidele’s anthem kept a distinct and recognised mood – and when Maceo Plex joined them on the decks, the place was thrown into an other life: the Afterlife.

Further Information & Tickets Below

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