My night started with three observations of differing kinds. First - baffled bats being confused by the boom boom. Two - tight speedos on drunk guys splashing around in the pool. Three - cowbells are awesome. Every record should have them in by law. Nice one for the cowbells Oliva and Squillace. You're the best.
That was just in the first few minutes, but I always take a walk around Ushuaïa when I get there to absorb its offerings. Before you even start with the music your senses are blasted with an assortment of lasers, LEDs, fireworks, flame throwers, strobes, CO2 cannons and dancers in futuristic thongs; It's awesome. Occasionally, my mind would wander as I played an imaginary game of Space Invaders/Asteroids with the lasers shooting off, blasting the Easyjet and Ryanair planes out of the sky as they came to land over the stage.
Admittedly, the club isn't for everyone. If you're the type who dresses in grayscale and likes to party in the dark, then cool, there's clubs for that. But, sometimes, the complete experience requires all of the above and there's isn't a club on the island which offers the lot on such a level.
This was a party based around the theme of 'double trouble' - loads of back-to-back sessions all day long. It's a theme we've seen grow in popularity a few seasons ago, and we're seeing much of the same this year. It's not the only party to offer the enticement of B2B2B sets, bot none on the level of this. Presumably the promoter had sent round a mass email to every DJ he knew to see if they fancied a party with a mate, with most of them saying yes. The result? Probably the biggest line-up of talent of the opening season.
"...BAFFLED BATS BEING CONFUSED BY THE BOOM BOOM..."
Claude VonStroke and Miss Kitten were coming to the end of their reign on the stage, dropping predictably big bass booty shaking bombs left right and centre, with the latter sprinkling a little live vocal magic at the right moments. I'm a sucker for anything live, and cats, so that was cool. It was at this point I managed to find myself a surprising bit of space on the dance floor in front of the stage and spent the rest of my time basking in the glory of a front row seat to the show.
The double trouble continued with sets from Andrea Oliva + Davide Squillace, knocking out classics such as James Holden's remix of The Sky Was Pink (Nathan Fake), elements of Hawtin's Plastic Man and more cow bells. The tempo steadily building with The Martinez Brothers laying down their signature moves and style, honed over years of being the ideal back-to-backers - brothers.
It was left to Nic Fanciulli and Agoria to close out the show, going on until around 2am and being the main beneficiary's to Ushuaïa's most impressive addition to their production repertoire. Large boxes had been set up either side of the DJ booth on stage and from powerful projectors at the back of the venue we were treated to some pretty impressive projection mapping. Boxes moving, boxes within boxes, magical things flying around said boxes, and much much more.
As I said, Ushuaïa is an experience. It'll likely be the venue you come away from your holiday with most photos of, and likely the one you will most rave about, such is the difference to most clubs back home. Imaginary games of Space Invaders aside, attention to detail is paramount here. I just think if they could balance out the seasons programme with one more non-EDM party alongside Ants (opening this Saturday) then a wider spectrum of dance music fans could enjoy it more often, myself included.
WORDS + PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
