Scuttling up to the front door of Ushuaïa, I could see that as usual they had put that bit of extra effort in straight from the off. On the big screens, animated ants carried Polaroids of Deetron, Andrea Oliva, Uner, Los Suruba and the rest of the line-up. A black passageway loomed before me, inviting me to the coolest cult on the island- the United ANTS Colony.
After tunnelling my way through I saw the layout was very different from what we normally see at this venue. The DJ booth had been shifted to the back and the whole main stage and pool were neglected. This created an intimate after party vibe where the new booth was, and took away some of the show of this normally lavish venue, now seeming like a true pool party.
One of the highlights was Radio Slave. He played a mix of unknowns, also dropping in stompers like I Got the Power and lots of groove-filled vocal-heavy numbers. He provided the perfect transition to Deetron's set, speeding up the pace and getting heavier but staying soulful as his set came to an end. Soil-shaking bass echoed across the smaller pool, and shook the decking as the crowd-- quirkily categorised as ‘workers' and ‘soldiers'- marched to the beat.
Deetron was next. Mixing vinyl, he rarely looked up from the decks, constantly focussed. He set the pace and indeed the bar for his set opening with Leon Vynehall's Brother. He played his own tracks Can I Love You More and Call Out Your Name and also played a huge tribute to soulful piano house, with uplifting tracks like NY Finest Do You Feel Me. The rubber ant legs that hung from black drapes above us trembled and the crowd whooped and clapped as Deetron closed with the huge favourite Starblazer.
Suddenly the main stage was lit up by pyrotechnics. The screen was emblazoned with the words ‘Andrea Oliva', causing everyone to scatter excitedly to the main stage. The huge swarm of people running together created a hive mentality which is what this party is all about- united in a genuine love and enjoyment for the artists, with enough performance to show effort and enthusiasm, but not so much that the most important thing- the music- loses significance. After playing a wicked tech-y set (reminiscent of Loco Dice) with lots of drops and deviating bass lines, Oliva played his remix of Luciano's Rise of Angel before slipping into Inner City's Good Life. He moved seamlessly between feel-good soul sounds and tech-house and had the crowd gaining momentum all the way through to midnight.
This workers party has definitely become a recognised event in its own right. I saw one of the best crowds and had one of the best nights of the summer so far. If ANTS is going to be like this every Saturday, I'll be soldiering on to Ushuaïa each week to be part of this colony. You can buy your tickets for ANTS and to stay at Ushuaïa Hotel on Spotlight.
To book
Book the Ushuaia Hotel online throught Spotlight
