Last night saw Rinse FM taking over the infamous Ibiza Rocks Hotel for the second We Are Rockstars! of the season, the first of a hat trick of Rinse specials we can expect to witness. This event saw Doorly, Jacques Greene and TNGHT hitting the decks hard and blasting out some great tunes. Ibiza Rocks are the only people to bag TNGHT on the island and their originality and forward thinking with regards to bookings is one of the things that makes each Ibiza Rocks venture so successful. This British duo is known for its knack of blending garage, drum and bass and hip hop. Name a festival and these boys have probably played it and with events such as Coachella and Sonar under their belt they're definitely a pair to keep up with.
First act of the night was Doorly, who played a strong set of mainly house and electro, with nods to garage and drum and bass, hinting at what the crowd could expect later on in the night, mixing lesser known tracks with tunes of the moment such as Breach's ‘Let's Jack', and getting everyone's blood flowing and feet stomping. For a refreshingly breezy Balearic evening, the sound quality was fantastic, meaning these great DJs efforts weren't lost into the night.
Jacques Greene was on next and his energy had a fantastic reaction on the crowd who were singing along to his obscure use of vocals over a drum and bass track, and his take on the hit ‘Follow the Step'. From start to finish, Greene was body-popping, singing along and his hands never left the decks, an enthusiasm reminiscent of a young Wiley. His set quickly migrated from house into garage then R & B, before ending with a curve ball and one of my personal favourites, Crystal Waters' ‘Gypsy Woman'.
The final act, TNGHT (Hudson Mohawke and Lunice) had built a huge amount of suspense with rumbling bass before dropping one massive tune after another to an awestruck and applauding crowd. The funky blue and red graphics that had served as a backdrop for the rest of the night were gone and these two DJs let the music do the talking as they played from behind a lit up DJ booth, one of them occasionally venturing out to dance and rap along with their audience, which created a great sense of intimacy. The set was full of raw individual sounds, and it seemed that to TNGHT, any sound was potentially music, as their drum and bass-heavy set included sounds of screeching brakes, reversed feedback and African chanting.
The line ups continue to impress for the rest of the W.A.R! season and with the event starting at 7pm and the official after party being at Es Paradis, you can really make an evening of it. In addition to W.A.R! and Ibiza Rocks party tickets, why not book a room in the Ibiza Rocks Hotel for a few nights before and after the event too? You can do that here.
