The Revolution Continues with Carl Cox: Space, Ibiza

There was no way of forgetting whose birthday it was at Space on Tuesday.

CARL Cox’s name flashed across a giant plasma screen in assorted languages and fonts. His initials hung in multitudes from a ceiling of disco balls and balloons in Chanel-esque ‘CC’ logos with wings, denoting the divine deity he has become. And rightly so; this is his ninth consecutive year at Space and his weekly party, The Revolution Continues, is already acclaimed for its audacious, radical line-ups with spectacular sound and visuals to boot.

Following the success of the Join Our Revolution night he debuted in 2009, this subsequent insurgence sees CC and his camp campaigning for musical liberty, diverging from the traditional Ibiza bash and taking a stance against all they feel is wrong with the music scene.

This particular shindig – a combined birthday effort with fellow insurgent Monika Kruse (who celebrated next door on the terrace) – was undoubtedly one of the highlights of his 12-week reign and was made all the more world-shattering by the presence of DJ duo Layo & Bushwacka!, aka: Layo Paskin and Matthew Benjamin.

At 1am there was bountiful space to groove in the main room, but within half an hour the place was more congested than an Ibiza Town car park.

Layo & Bushwacka! destroyed the crowd with their metallic snaps, crackles and pops (I’ll avoid the cereal killer comment), while dancers – in what can only be described as ‘military/air hostess swimsuits’ – pounded either sides of the stage as trapeze artists and performers in Bo Peep-inspired costumes paraded on stilts and refreshed the crowd with their misty shower wands. L & B’s Matthew (sporting a headband by the end of the set) bounced about the stage, clearly excited by the massive audience response, snapping photos of his pals and crew, until the big man himself entered the room, and the whole dynamic changed.

Carl Cox knows bouncing, fat beats like no other, and he ripped into a pounding set, only pausing for a moment of reflection when the crowd sang ‘Happy Birthday’, after which balloons and sparklers were freed, then with the heady whiff of fireworks in the air and a beaming smile the birthday boy struck again with long suspenseful build ups followed by doses of booming bass, dancing and grinning like the cat that got the cream. Oh yes, Carl Cox and his revolutionaries most certainly won the battle and, if tonight is anything to go by; he’ll most definitely win the war.

First published on I Voice, Ibiza, July 2010.
© Abbey Stirling