For those who are unaware, rock and other genres aside from electronic dance music have had a presence on Ibiza for many years. Of course in recent years that has largely been down to events like Ibiza Rocks, more briefly I Want My MTV and Privilege Live and a group of one-off live shows at other events. Now, however, Pino Sagliocco (Live Nation Chairman, Spain), Pete Tong (DJ, radio host and co-founder of the International Music Summit) as well as Danny Whittle, Ben Turner and Mark Netto (IMS founders and partners) and Simeon Friend (The Shop Ibiza) have all come together and decided to reinforce that notion that the island can have both a hugely varied musical offering and be successful. The idea they came up with was 'Ibiza 123 Rocktronic Festival' - a 3 day event from 1st - 3rd July designed to promote electronic and rock music, old and new, as a collaboration.
There's no doubting this is a hugely unique festival experience, the location alone is at one of the most loved areas for those who have been to or know of Ibiza - looking out towards the amazing sunsets by Café Mambo and Café del Mar - and then the music. Well, it's a pretty unique lineup, and pretty special too - it's difficult to choose between the Elton John vs Pnau or Luciano vs Lenny Kravitz collaboration in terms of that. We've heard the Elton John collaboration and that sounds great, but Luciano with Lenny - I guess you'll just have to come to the festival and find out...
There are, of course, a whole host of other amazing artists performing at the festival, and loads more to do while you're there. The lineup ensures many of the island main players are represented with David Guetta of F**k Me I'm Famous fame, Steve Angello, Pacha's new Monday night - Tiesto, and of course Pete Tong all playing. Whilst throwing in some more quality acts such as Azari & III (also playing IMS Closing Fiesta), Fatboy Slim, M83, TEED, and Radio 1's resident hippy Rob Da Bank, to name but a few. An interesting addition to the lineup is the Heritage Project, with Alfredo & Jaime Fiorito. Alfredo became famous for his Amnesia sets back in the 80s (checkout his Podcast on Spotlight) and Jaime is his son! This is guaranteed to bring a wave of nostalgia over the crowd... Add on to that and you have what will undoubtedly be one of the performances of festival - Sting! A truely astounding booking for an island that has been used to artists of more recent times. For those attending this years IMS we've all been treated to a great section of keynote speakers, one of which is Nile Rogers, of Chic fame. The 'Le Freak' artist and his band are all set for their live performance on the same day as Elton John.
Whether it's the markets, the funfair, the VIP bars, the sunsets, the people or the music that attracts you to this festival, you should buy a ticket now. It's been more or less 25 years since the first Ibiza festival (Ibiza 92) which was held at Privilege (then known as Ku), so the time is right to start the next chapter in the history of the Ibizian music scene. This really isn't an event to miss out on, and why not say you were at the very first one!?
Preview: Ibiza 123 Rocktronic Festival
