The Pacha pre-season parties are in full swing and with lineups worthy of the cherry seal of approval. The second weekend of May was no exception with Dixon and Jimi Jules all night long on the Saturday and an extended set by Adriatique on the Sunday.
Saturday was divided into three acts with Jimi Jules opening the night in his characteristically groovy style, leading the crowd down a melodic path that slowly but surely became darker and with a higher bpm count. Dixon was up next and, as tends to happen with him, his set was expectedly unexpected.
The Innervisions boss, with the raw and experimental Transmoderna, going b2b with Trikk in New York still fresh on everyone’s mind, taking the dancers on a completely different journey full of unreleased music, very often flirting with afro sounds which are always well-received on the island. Yet he skillfully managed to never stumble across the line and over to the commercial side of afro house, it was rather subtle influences woven into his own, darker electronic sound keeping it fresh and exciting.
When the time arrived for the main dish of the night, the awaited back-to-back, Dixon took things down a notch, allowing Jimi Jules to settle in behind the decks before they both went full steam ahead. From there it was an intricate and playful journey of ups and downs accompanied by endless tequila shots, jokes, and big smiles all around while tracks like the Adam Port’s remix of Cubicolor’s ‘No Dancers’ set the crowd on fire. The last half hours consisted of many unreleased tracks with a very clear Jules stamp on them, likely from his soon-to-be-released album, before Dixon ended the night with the latest hit by Trikk, the mighty ‘Rigor’.
The afro house influences were very much present on Sunday as well when Adriatique started their extended set after Pacha resident Angel Linde’s warmup. The Swiss duo started in a somewhat relaxed manner mixing their own melodic sound with a Keinemusik-esque undertone but went darker quickly.
Mita Gami’s edit of Moby’s ‘In This World’ had the whole club digging their heads to the powerful bassline and by the time they dropped their own hypnotic remix of ‘On My Knees’ by Rüfüs Du Sol, they had the entire club eating out of the palm of their hands.
While disco and funky house are expected to make a strong comeback this year, it’s also clear to see that the afro frenzy that has exploded on the island over the past few years thanks to artists like Black Coffee, Keinemusik, Pablo Fierro, and many others isn’t planning on going anywhere just yet.
The saga of Pacha Ibiza continues so stay updated on its calendar for more musical adventures.
