Last night Gorgon City delivered their first of many shows across Ibiza this season at the Ibiza Rocks W.A.R! opening party and it's safe to say they were beyond impressive.
We arrived in San Antonio's Ibiza Rocks Hotel just in time for sunset and then, having queued up for our drink tokens and then for our drinks, were greeted by the start of Doorly's set at around 9pm. Doorly played a pretty strong show, delivering a combination of new releases and a standout remix of Steve “Silk” Hurley's 1986 track Jack Your Body. Early into his hour long set, Doorly premiered Piano Weapon, his catchy collaboration with Shadow Child that's due to be released soon. The quality of his track selection was confirmed when I looked back and the crowd behind me had doubled in size and people were starting to get animated. Doorly then put on a flamboyant display of perfect loops and scratching on the decks, at one point even using his nose to scratch (which was pretty funny to look at). On the whole, Doorly's show was a pretty good way to kick off the night.
By the time Gorgon City stepped up to the decks at around 10pm the crowd had swelled considerably in anticipation of the first in a long line of Gorgon City Ibiza shows throughout the summer. They changed up the pace of the event by starting with some pretty up-tempo, jackin' house that seriously got the crowd moving. I particularly enjoyed that they devoted a part of their set to a darker sound that has become synonymous with their solo projects as Foamo and RacknRuin, making for a captivating digression away from their more vocal tracks as a duo. That being said, Ready for Your Love, their most recent and most successful release so far was a personal highlight of the set for me and, I'm sure most will agree, the night overall. From that point in a virtually flawless set, Gorgon City got a reaction from the dancefloor that was unmatched by other artists that featured. They ended on their new single featuring Laura Welsh entitled Here for You which is released next week and might even be more of a success than its predecessor. Gorgon City are seriously proving that they are ‘ones to watch' this season on the white isle.
Zane Lowe then appeared as headliner in one of only two announced shows on the island this season. Opening with a bassy and modern remix of Rhythim is Rhythim – Strings of Life, arguably one of the most influential house tracks ever produced. Lowe then radically switched up the mood of the party by transitioning to a more ‘in-your-face' electro sound. Those who were unaware of typical Zane Lowe shows may be forgiven for wondering why the vibe instantly changed, yet Lowe is not the type of DJ who sticks to the same genre for too long. As a BBC Radio 1 DJ, he is used to having to please lovers of all music genres and paying an eclectic set, and he did just that last night. After playing electro house for around half of his set, Lowe then delved into other genres including rap and hip-hop. When the entire crowd jumped together to House of Pain – Jump Around, the booze that was flying all over the arena was a testament to the fun that the audience were having.
W.A.R!'s season got off to a flying start last night and with such a good line-up of DJs until mid September, it's a party that is 100% worth checking out.
WORDS | Janson Goldberg PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
