According to this mornings Diario de Ibiza and Ultima Hora - The Kooks and Kasabian will play at Ibiza Rocks on the 15th July and 5th August respectively
There’s a few things we’d like to blog about at the moment but we’re having to contain ourselves - so we thought we’d remind people about the main website which we’re very proud of… and there’s more to come…
We thought it was about the right time to show how far the site has developed using the google maps api and to show the various sections, options and features you can view throughout the site. The website runs off of one google map of the island with all the "information" coming from a database and displayed depending on which section you "click" on without having to constantly open separate "pages".
We’ve now got a little ace up our …. sleeve… but thats to come…
Use the navigation menu on the left for each section, relevant information appears underneath the map
You can now choose the new "Terrain" option
The menu above the map gives you numourous options to zoom in or out, to search the database or change the style of the map to normal, satellite, hyrid or the new terrain option. You can also show or hide the side bar which lists the markers on the map
The towns all have their own markers showing banks, phone boxes, etc and other local features . Clicking on a marker or its entry in the right hand side bar shows relevant information under the map
You can see exactly how the different municiplaties on the island are organised
Want to see exactly where organic shops and farms are and their descriptions?
For example, you can see an overview of where the libraries are on the island,
Or you can zoom in, change the map style and see exactly on a street map where your chosen library, shop, bank, or marker is
We have markers, photos & descriptions for all the beaches
Clicking on an image brings up a larger image overlayed on the page so you dont have to have popup windows or go to another page
We have an ever expanding photo and video gallery
Of course we also have a nightlife section, as well as activities, living, travel, art & culture, history, about ibiza etc
You can also book hotels and see exactly where they are
Want to take the coastline ferries and know when and how much ?
As this is a joint webste with Ibiza NOW magazine you can subscribe online for your own copy, delivered to your door
We are adding the front cover and contents pages for each months magazine as well as the monthly diary, classifieds ads. Articles from the magazine are added all the time - creating a vast archive.
This evening we went into Ibiza Town to check out some live music at the new BLU, which used to be The Blue Rose - a "slightly" different place now…. Funcale were playing - it was good…
All change at the Blue Rose in Figueretas this winter. Completely refurbished, the poles have vanished from the stage to be replaced by musical equipment and a PA and lighting system fit to stage live bands; which is what they’re now doing every Friday night.
In similar fashion the audience of suited and sweaty elderly businessmen, with bulging wallets and things, have been replaced by a young Spanish audience enjoying the musical offerings of local bands playing indie rock music.
Blu is busy – it’s standing room only.
It’s not as if the venue hasn’t had its ups and downs. It held the first ‘sala de fiestas’ music license in Ibiza town – pre-dating even Pacha!
This license enables them to entertain with live music until 4 in the morning, so that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Tonight was the first of their regular Friday night sequence featuring local Ibicenco bands. Alternate Monday nights are ‘Cocoon’ nights featuring the renowned Cocoon DJs. Saturday nights are slated to feature the new Balearic sound epitomised by the likes of Jonathan Ulysses of Space and Andy Wilson of Sonica radio.
Following in the footsteps of the great Alfredo, some twenty years on you might say…
This new venue means business and looks set to potentially become an Ibiza town version of Santa Eulalia’s Guarana. Good luck to Sid Shanti and Marcus, the partners promoting these events. Another option for these winter evenings won’t go amiss.
Ibiza in winter is where everybody gets to meet up and spend a good few months with friends when all the distractions of the summer are out of the way. Realistically we dont know many people who prefer the summer to the winter… Tonight the Lost Mountain Orchestra and Miko played down at Guarana. Guarana is the north’s godsend to those nights when you want to go out but don’t want to traipse across the other side of the island - and all this on a sunday night.
As ever, click on any of the images for the larger versions…
Santa Eulalia Beach this sunday afternoon
Lost Mountain Orchestras 2nd Birthday at Guarana’s tonight
We hadn’t been to the Las Dalias Hippy Market on Saturdays for ages - (probably something to do with football…), but since there was an early game and the rain had stopped we thought we outght to.
Unlike the Hippy Market in Es cana on Wednesdays - this doesn’t bring the entire area to standstill. Its far less “touristy” and we love sitting outside at the bar and just watching the world go buy. Afterwards we caught up with a cuple of friends at the San Carlos main meeting point (Anita’s Bar) and then later went to the main square in Santa Eulalia for some live music. An impressive Drummming and Flamenco display finished off with some really good “rock music”.
Sitting at the garden bar at the Hippy Market, Las Dalias on Saturdays - watching the world go by
Live music, druming & Flamneco outside the Town Hall on Saturday night
So we’re back at the ‘Gala Nights’ venue and the zoo is full, but once again it’s full of pretty little rock chicks rather than caged animals. Maybe they should take a look at this option all over the world where caged animals are ogled by hordes of curious humans. Rock stars definitely look happier with the attention than a cage full of monkeys…
The support band, ‘The More Assured’, put on a spirited display courtesy of the FREEDM organization, then everyone went walkabout around the grounds of the zoo garden trying to work out which of the many scattered bars might offer the swiftest service. In the centre of the complex the smell of hundreds of bangers and burgers attracted large numbers to form a polite queue at a bar beneath a huge plane tree, while they patiently prayed that the sole chef on the plancha would hurry up, so they got fed before the band came on stage.
At ten the band were announced as Andy McKay explained that the gig was sold out and implored people to explore the vagaries of this relatively new venue by moving from the distant hillside down into the pit in front of the stage. With that the band hit the stage, the lighting engineer exhibited his impressive wares and the audience went ballistic.
Throughout the set we were treated to choruses of the singalong section of ‘Chelsea Dagger’ by the expectant audience. This is the anthem that has been picked up and adopted by such diverse players as ‘Safeway’, for an advertising campaign and Celtic, Chelsea and Ipswich Town football clubs whenever they’re lucky enough to score a goal. In fact the list goes on to encompass Rugby matches in Wales and the Ice Hockey League, without paying due respect to the UK’s binge drinkers who all now know it off by heart and can prove it. It only ever reached No. 5 in the UK charts, but that could be an indictment of the latter?
The band made the audience wait, leaving that final treat till the second encore, but in the meantime exhibited the real repertoire that saw them proclaimed ‘the best new band in Britain’ a year ago by the NME and the ‘Best British Breakthrough Act’ at the 2007 BRIT Awards on Valentine’s Day this year.
They were excellent and held the audience captivated throughout as shades of many influences, from Dylan to the psychedelic guitars of Floyd, shone through the powerful indie guitar sound - not forgetting the impressive brass section on a couple of choice tracks which added to their sound.
Ibiza Rocks deserves a medal for cramming so much into what turns out to be less than a three hour experience - that you’ll probably remember for the rest of your life…
Click on the images as usual for larger versions….
September 1st was the big one… the most eagerly awaited gig on Ibiza for 19 years, according to Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe.
That last occasion (we worked it out) must have been when Freddy Mercury and Monserrat Caballe unveiled the theme song for the Barcelona Olympics at Ku in 1987. Sadly Freddy died before the Olympics in 1992 so the song was never performed live at the opening ceremony. It still makes it a big gig though.
Despite the history, times and tastes change, so we’ve heard dissension from ardent fans of Faithless who paid that same accolade to the last MTV extravaganza on the island at the same venue, although by then known as Privilege.
Nonetheless tonight’s was a big gig – as at Kasabian there were several hundred people outside the venue either prepared to make do with the sound and no sight of their heroes, or to pay for one of the tickets, which were allegedly changing hands for 2.500€.
The support band, Reverend and The Makers, certainly got the audience going, at least imploring them to love each other and be nice.
Zane Lowe then stepped up to deal with the set changeover and roused the crowd still further while the security held up signs informing us all that ‘Anyone caught throwing their drink in the air would be escorted from the premises’. Meanwhile we were advised that no photographs of the band were to be taken, because the Arctics like to personally control all pictorial evidence of their antics…
This might have worked twenty years ago, before the invention of camera phones, but became farcical as they descended the stairs to the stage in a blaze of flashes from the accumulated paying punters. There followed a succession of their greatest hits, but no banter with the audience. No empathy, just lots of hit songs for the audience to sing along to.
It may just be that the Arctics are too big nowadays to enjoy performing at an intimate gig designed for bonding with their audience, like Ibiza Rocks… You can maybe see though how perfoming to 50,000 people 2 nights running might make you forget what you used to do….
Technically, the sound was really good, the world and his wife turned up, but sorry - we like bands with a bit more passion…
It’s a real shame because *every* ibiza rocks gig so far has been fun and full of feeling - tonight that was lost
So roll on the fratellis - shame that it seems that one of the dates was cancelled
Mike (Manumission) & Lenny last night
On a plus side we ran into Lenny twice in a week - if you dont know Lenny but like pure original Ibiza chill out - then you wont go far wrong with his music. He also co-founded the DJ Awards and we are hoping that Ibiza Rocks gets recognised in the 10th anniversary DJ awards at Pacha at the end of the month.
This might have worked twenty years ago, before the invention of camera phones, but became farcical as they descended the stairs to the stage in a blaze of flashes from the accumulated paying punters. There followed a succession of their greatest hits, but no banter with the audience. No empathy, just lots of hit songs for the audience to sing along to.
