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Cream - Ibiza: Reviewed
Reported by Adam Symbiosis
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Submitted 09-07-08 20:58
Cream at Amnesia is one of those big name clubs that, like We Love Sundays at Space and Manumission at Privilege, on your trips out to Ibiza you need to visit, if only once in your lifetime. From my own experience of three trips to the club, the music can be a bit hit and miss and photography is a big no-no in the eyes of the club with even phone cameras occasionally falling foul of the bouncers, but armed with an invite from Cream UK and a press pass we packed the big camera and set off for only the second party of the 2008 season.
Getting into the club we found Ian Betts rocking the growing crowd in the cavernous main room. We’d already missed Nick Sentience who had warmed up earlier, which was a shame as I thought his set at the Heat Zoo party earlier on in the week had been one of the best of the day. Playing a blend of progressive, uplifting trance people were having it straight away on the dance floor below him.
For those who haven’t been before, Amnesia is a massive club, happy to fit a few thousand people within its walls and across two floors. You’ll find the main room vaguely square in shape with a lowered dance floor directly under the DJ booth to the rear of the room. Above walkways for dancers, VIPs and photographers surround the room along with the infamous super-size graphic equaliser. Bars are set up around the room but a few ledges here and there are the only real concession to sitting, a serious flaw of the club in my opinion.
In the second room, longer and thinner than the main room and significantly brighter, browner and maybe even a bit more salubrious, Tristan Ingram was getting the people going with some chunky house. Dolled up girls danced on podiums here and there as suited and booted guys looked on eagerly, preparing to make their moves. Up above windows in the ceiling prepared to show us the sun.
It was mentioned to me that Ibiza has to make a years worth of money in four months and nowhere is that more apparent and painful than in the clubs. We’d already seen €5 for a balloon of nitrous oxide, the Spanish obviously unhindered by our laws regulating the distribution and supply of laughing gas (I’m sure you can guess who was laughing last). But it’s the eye watering cost of drinks that gets the uninitiated – this year €12 for a small bottle of water and €20+ for a vodka redbull! Go with deep pockets and remember to stay away from the tap water – ask for ice at the bar if you really have no money left!
We went to have a look from the vantage point of the upstairs balcony and hit a snag - a low battery on my camera and the fact that men are admitted wearing trousers only – so we were forced to make a quick trip back to San An. Refreshed, redressed and ready for more we made our way through the second room to the sounds of the Ibiza remix for this year - The Man With The Red Face by Funkagenda and Mark Knight – and up the stairs to the balcony area. From our vantage point we could see out across the main arena and over the sea of bodies now in front of us going crazy to Ferry Corsten. His set ranged from tough and driving to out there and fluffy and was much, much better than last time I heard him here two years ago.
Following an interesting debate with Amnesia and then Cream staff on the use of my camera inside the club, I got back inside to catch the end of Ferry’s set. Not surprisingly he was still doing the business. At three AM he dropped an amazing remix of Out Of The Blue which made my night and, by the looks of it, the night for a couple of thousand other people too!
Upstairs I caught up with Sander van Doorn just before his set and as always he was his usual easy-going self. Watch out for an interview ahead of his star turn in the HarderFaster arena at this year’s SouthWestFour. His set back on the Cream decks started off with some rather cool and groovy tech trance. Shouts of pleasure rose up towards the booth and the massive Cream logo hanging in the middle of the room along with plenty of hands and as the set progressed I was left impressed; always staying on the right side of hard but uplifting, Sander kept things bumping along nicely. Even as the set toughened up, much as soon as he’s dropped Riff, it still kept a bass heavy driving funk sound.
One feature of the club that people rave about has to be the ice cannon. At irregular intervals if you are in the middle of the dance floor you’ll find yourself preparing for an amazing cooling blast or face full of freezing fog (depending on your viewpoint). This year seemed slightly different and I thought long and hard between taking photos and quaffing my next drink about what had been changed until I realised. There was less fog. Someone then pointed out to me there was now a cannon in the second room, did they move one cannon from one room to the other? It certainly looked like it, though I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions on that.
Still that didn’t stop the party for the people down below, well not for the ravers left as the dance floor slowly began to clear out as people headed out for the disco bus and the sanctuary of their hotel or the pulse of a crack-on. People lucky, or switched on enough to still be in the club at half four (or more than likely just too trashed to leave) were treated to something special, an amazing set by Giuseppe Ottaviani! I’d like to tell you what tracks he played but I was far, far to busy dancing to write anything down about an impressive penultimate set that was let down by Adam Sheridan’s closing. Reverting to tech and prog trance and knocking down the BPM’s, the attention and direction was lost and so were more of the crowd. Leaving it way to late to save the set and change styles, it was a blunted end to a great night.
So what’s my overall opinion? A lot of people say that Amnesia is one of the best clubs in the world, I wouldn’t particularly agree with them but with great sets from Ferry Corsten, Giuseppe Ottaviani and Sander van Doorn and even though the cost as always was shocking to say the least, the music more than made up for it this time!
Adam Symbiosis 
Photos courtesy of the HarderFaster archive. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Other Features By Adam Symbiosis:
Godskitchen Xmas Party: Reviewed
The Big Chill: Reviewed
Tiësto at Victoria Park: Reviewed
Lilly Allen: Reviewed
Digital Society May 2009: Reviewed
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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