Carl Cox: “If you wanted to have sex in the middle of the club, you could”
The King of Ibiza has hit out against the changing face of the island in the midst of his final Space season
Carl Cox’s Space Ibiza residency will go down in history as one of the White Isle’s greatest ever parties. The 15th and final Music Is The Revolution kicked off this month, and it’s got King Coxy in a reflective mood.
In an interview with The Guardian, he’s opened up about the club’s past, when table-service VIP culture was unheard of and Balaeric nightspots resembled debauched corners of Berghain.
"Back in the 1990s, if you had a camera, you had to leave it in the cloakroom. So if you wanted to have sex in the middle of the club, you could. No one would care,” he said. “These were the ideals of the place: be flamboyant, be as free as you want. The Manumission night in the 1990s, which had a live sex show on stage, used to get 10,000 people every week."
Adding to his comments on the changing nature of Ibiza, Coxy pulled no punches, saying: "Ibiza has become more conservative now. At DC-10 people used to dress up as aeroplanes or as Catwoman, for no reason. Elrow is bringing that back, but it’s forced and staged. And at Richie Hawtin’s recent nights, everyone dressed in black – like, who died?
“We grew up in the summer of love, where it was all about colour and having a smile on your face. I want to walk away from it all now and just remember that we’ve had some of the best nights of our lives in this club."
It’s not the first time Coxy has criticised the increasing commercialisation of Ibiza. He made similar comments last summer, saying "Ibiza is spoilt now.”
You’ve got until September 20 to catch Carl Cox at Space, check out the line-up details here.
Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter