Years ago I finally came to terms with that fact that I am officially the worst tourist. With an attention span equivalent to an ant, museums don't really do it for me. Scenic photos outside of the bar usually consist of the hot waiter at lunch or the wifi password at a cafe. The 24 hour clock requires math, therefore I've yet to learn it. And at times I still struggle with my left from right, making me very directionally challenged. Yesterday, I surprised myself (my parents as well) and decided to spend the afternoon at the zoo, for Channel Zoo opening party at Benimussa Park.
Writing these reviews I found that I spend a significant amount of time talking about the fluffy stuff - atmosphere, celeb sightings and maybe like some random thought I had - making a trip to the zoo a glorious reporting event for me. Arriving at half past eight, my most pressing question of the day (to paint or not to paint) was immediately answered as the gates were lined with shirtless tourists painted in a variety of patterns. Expecting these animals to be the most zoo like thing I would actually be seeing, I was surprised to how identical the venue is compared to an actual zoo. The concrete jungle was filled with everything you would imagine in a zoo made only for adults... I'll let your imagination run wild with that one.
Feeling like I was on a field trip at summer camp, the amount of activity options was overwhelming. Dancing (the obvious first choice) had me headed for the seal pit where I was greeted by dancers in elephant masks doing the electric slide. Headliner Federico Grazzini was spinning and managed to do the impossible - give these animals a sense of direction. Heavy notes of percussion dominated his tribal house sound, making it feel like I was standing inside of a drum circle. His funky sound was amplified by bongos making it easy to march along to and break out a few of my tyrannosaurus rex arm movements. Taking a breather from the sweaty dance floor, I found this time to be the perfect opportunity to make a few friends or even a new love interest - I mean, what says long term potential more than a grown man smoking hookah in a penguin suit? Nothing.
Lost in mindless conversation, I didn't notice Jean Cedric taking over the decks until I heard his beautiful remix of Claude Debussy's Clair De Lune seeping out of the seal pit. The classical piano served as a build up for drops filled with hi hats and snare went smoothly with the instrumental theme of the night. Including more vocals in his set, one of my favourite tracks and (yet apparently un-shazzamable) features a women singing, ‘The dj played the night went on. I lost my friends, I lost my phone. We missed our flights and carried on.' This line really spoke to me seeing as all of these things have happened to me in Ibiza… multiple times.
WORDS | Sara McNutt PHOTOGRAPHY | Channel Zoo
