All night long

I still really love music, I still really love nightclubs and I still really love dancing, but these days, halfway through my 11^th Ibiza summer, I have found I prefer to pick my parties wisely. After all, life has changed. I’m ten years older (and perhaps those former partying years have taken their toll!), quite possibly a little wiser, and I have many more responsibilities by day that just aren’t really easy to bumble through with no sleep or a raging hangover. Editor’s note: You may remember an earlier blog post where Miss W talked about pre-planning her party experiences and being clever enough to pre-organise a day off when she needs it. She also talks about spontaneity but we know she hasn’t been raving since. As things go, I haven’t been out all that much this summer (yet!) and today I had the pleasure of bumping into one of my favourite Frenchmen – let’s call him Mr G – ohhhh what the heck, let’s ditch the pseudonyms for once and actually drop a name where it’s deserved – Dan Ghenacia. So there I was, talking to Monsieur Ghenacia – one third of the Apollonia trio and king of the DC-10 terrace – and I was instantly inspired to book Friday off work, dust off my favourite party boots and drink plenty of matcha because he reminded me that tomorrow night is one of the most hotly anticipated parties of the summer (my words, not his – he’s far too humble). Apollonia taking over ‘The Club’ at Hï Ibiza, ALL NIGHT LONG.

All night long sets are a rarity for DJs these days, with promoters trying to jam-pack as many headliners in to a short clubbing session as they can in order to appeal to as many people as possible. But over the past few years, Apollonia have really made (an even bigger) name for themselves as all night long specialists, renowned for their back-to-back-to-back epic sets in places like the mighty Amnesia terrace for Music On (giving Mr Carola a run for his money), their own nights at DC-10 and the open-air stage of Ushuaia. Their ‘all night long’ sets are gaining quite a cult-like following here in Ibiza and this gig in particular sounds as if it is going to be the stuff legendary Ibiza parties (and FOMO) are made of. So jump on the Apollonia all night long bandwagon I shall tomorrow night. The thing is, it’s hard not to feel inspired to dance all night long when you hear one of the artists speaking so passionately about the experience. Mr G compared the gang’s extended set time to a hypnotic experience. “You can do a short set in a festival or a big club room and get straight to the point,” he said. “But this is another exercise entirely. I prefer it… it’s almost like going into a state of trance, when I don’t feel the time, I never look at my watch and when the night is over, I don’t have any feeling of wanting it to end. It’s only when the music is turned off that you start to get tired.” I mention the Apollonia penchant for ‘all day long’ after parties, following such sessions and Mr G gives a wry smile. “When the music comes back on, our energy comes back too. But we know our limits.”

It makes sense really, given there are three artists within the collective that they each need, or deserve, extra time on the decks. When I asked him how much preparation and discussion goes into planning such an extravanagza, Mr G surprised me with a resounding: “Zero.” Say what? “It just works between us,” he explains, and it’s true that he, Dyed Soundorom and Shonky are so close (musically and personally) they almost seem to have some type of telepathy buzzing between them. “The only thing we try to do is make sure it’s not the same as our last all night long set. We never get bored.” Dan says he is constantly inspired by his teammate’s musical choices, as they buzz and bounce off each other’s selections – sometimes as if their thoughts had been steaming in the same direction, other times a welcome surprise challenge to arise to. Boring is definitely one thing Apollonia could never be called. These three best friends are pretty much living the Ibiza dream: playing their favourite music as they hold court to thousands of people in Ibiza’s hottest new superclub (“We feel so honoured to do this party,” Dan humbly admits. “The club is amazing, full of technology.”) all night long. “We still get excited,” Dan tells me when I ask him about their obvious camaraderie. “And when we’re excited, the people see it and they get excited too.” Something special this way comes, my dear readers. If you’re here in Ibiza, I suggest you block Friday out of your calendar and come and join me on the dance floor at Hï Ibiza tomorrow night… All. Night. Long. Just remember to set your out of office before you leave, because when I asked Mr G about the possibility of an after party, he just winked and said I’d have to wait and see.