Review: Carl Cox went b2b with The Martinez Brothers at an open air in Ibiza and it was brilliant

There was more than a little confusion over what the first Game Over party of the summer actually symbolised, how to define it. Was it the Pure Carl Cox closing afterparty? Or was it the first of six rumoured Space In The Park dates to be held at Benimussa Park over the course of the summer? Nobody really knew. But to be fair, nobody really cared that much either. After all, when you have the opportunity to catch Carl Cox performing outdoors in Ibiza in the early evening sunshine, it doesn’t make a great deal of sense to ask why. Time is of the essence. Impromptu parties like this don’t happen too often. You just have to saddle up and burn to the venue as quickly as possible. Make your way inside and claim your spot on the dancefloor. Which is exactly what we did on the evening of July 19.

It’s 5:30pm and the sun is still super hot. We’re sweaty; we’re scorchio. Luckily the green hillsides above San Antonio that surround Benimussa Park (usually the home of Zoo Project) are covered with pine trees which offer cooling shade and a distinctive scent, almost like turpentine.

The entrance to the venue reminds us of a ‘70s amusement park (it's said to be a former zoo). Somewhere like Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire. The little ticket office, the turnstile brackets on the wall. Inside, the funfair theme continues unabated. Coin operated children’s rides, multiple drinks stalls vending mojitos and beers, a restaurant, the famous seal pit and all manner of winding pathways that lead us off to various outdoor spaces, each of which sports a different look. There are so many unusual things to look at, so many diverse areas to explore. More so than ever before, Benimussa Park totally works. The venue doesn’t look tired anymore. Compared to the glitz and chrome of modern Ibiza, it comes across as being quirky, vintage.

Turns out, this party was the first of Game Over's If You Know You Know open air parties and a warm-up for their Space In The Park parties later this summer at the very same venue. Here are 10 tracks that lead us through this very special session from Coxy and friends, as the King capped off two memorable nights at Privilege...

We head uphill to the Seal Pit. This is the area of the venue showcased in most of the Zoo Project press photos we get to see online, but it’s actually one of the smallest parts of the venue.

Influential Austrian DJ/producer Philipp Straub is dropping delicate tech melodies from the swimming pool booth, while a few hundred clubbers dance around on the steep amphitheatre steps that surround a small, curved dancefloor, saturated with sunshine.

“I went to Sweden to work on this track with Charlie,” Philipp explains after his set. “We worked with his analogue instruments and added some of his signature acid sounds which I tried to make a little more functional, a little bit more bass driven. Then when I was in Budapest I went into a studio there and played around with the drumming. I think it fits together really well. You get a really timeless, minimal groove with an uplifting melody.”

On the Main Stage, which is more or less in the centre of a venue, in the middle of a large terracotta courtyard, Kerri Chandler is dropping chugging house tunes to the delight of a truly international crowd.

Spanish girls with black hair, brown skin and winding floral tattoos dance alongside English lasses with blonde hair, tanned skin, dressed in clubbing beachwear and chunky heels. The mood is all very civilised beneath the camo netting. There’s no mad rush to the bars. No mad rush to the dancefloor. A few hungry heads are still eating in the restaurant. And everyone looks so fresh. The vibe here is more pre-party than afterparty.

“I’ve been to Benimussa Park before,” says Mags, 24, from Dublin. “It was about two years ago for a Zoo Project party. We only landed in this morning and thought this party would be a nice way to warm up for the rest of the holiday. I go where the best DJs are playing, which his why I’m here this evening. My sister has never been to Ibiza before. When she walked into the venue her eyes just lit up. It was nice to see!”

Joshua Greene and Jamie Mannion are performing in the Living Room. As the name suggests, it’s an intimate dancefloor fit for a maximum of 100 ravers. Everyone here seems to know each other. This is a bonafide meeting place for local ravers, island regulars and industry types letting their hair down. Musically, the BPMs are slower, the 4/4 tone more sub than stomp.

We’re full of mojitos now. Roaming the venue, we bump into Game Over boss Eóin Smyth on the edge of the Seal Pit and quickly hit him up for some exclusive information. “So,” Eóin begins, “Game Over is the production company behind the two Carl Cox events at Privilege. We also ran Carl Cox at Space Ibiza. We have six events at Benimussa Park this summer and this is the first. Three of those parties are going to called Space in the Park. The other two will be branded under the alias If You Know You Know. It’s all unannounced line-ups. When you arrive, you’ll know who is going to be playing. Space In The Park will have some announced line-ups, but most of the heavyweight acts will be a surprise.”

“For the Space in the Park events we’ll be recreating the different moods we all loved in Space,” Eóin continues. “The Main Stage here at Benimussa will be renamed the Discoteca. The Living Room will become the Premier Etage. The Seal Pit will become the Sunset Terrace, that kind of thing. We are trying to push the opening times to earlier in the day. When we held the Carl Cox party at Benimussa last year we started at noon, which created a real festival vibe. But there are obviously legislative limits in place that we have to comply with. But if we get the go-ahead, the plan is to open a little earlier than the 5pm start time today.”

Joshua Greene and Jamie Mannion are performing in the Living Room. As the name suggests, it’s an intimate dancefloor fit for a maximum of 100 ravers. Everyone here seems to know each other. This is a bona-fide meeting place for local ravers, island regulars and industry types letting their hair down. Musically, the BPMs are slower, the 4/4 tone more sub than stomp.

Then, at 9:30pm, The Martinez Brothers take over the Main Stage. They quickly build a romping deep, techy groove. Then Carl Cox appears for a little back-to-back action. The BPMs increase, the sound verges on techno, before the three headliners take their foot off the metal and revert to showcasing the funkier side of tech-house.

So there you have it, the first Game Over gig of 2017 was fun, friendly and totally unpretentious. Musically, the party built exactly as it should and the sonic journey was maintained no matter what stage you happened to pass through. As for Benimussa Park, it really is Ibiza's answer to a small festival venue. No wonder so many of the island's top promoters are trying to figure out how to make it work.