Mediterranean madness: Wild times on the MDRNTY Cruise's maiden voyage
24 hour music and unlimited free drinks, what's the worst that could happen?
However, it was the outdoor pool stage that was arguably the best place to experience the music. Here, Sonja Moonear delivered some of the best moments of the weekend. Kicking off at 11am, her intricate and commanding set was exactly what the start of the day needed, for both dancers who were fresh into the day and revellers who hadn't slept from the night before. A pitched-up 'Voodoo Ray' by A Guy Called Gerald was the perfect soundtrack for a dance in the sun before Sven Väth made his way onto the top deck for his second set of the weekend.
The night before, Papa played a peak-time set at the Ametista stage that was rammed to the rafters for an all-night Cocoon takeover and although his body language to start with was more subdued than we're used to, he got into his trademark, electric groove eventually. So it was disappointing the next day that Sven's outdoor set had a lot of similar tracks to the one the night before. As such a big draw on the line-up, a lot people will have seen him play twice and felt a little underwhelmed that his sets were so similar. Dana Ruh's performance earlier at the label showcase was the real highlight, with sublime mixing and slamming house and techno, weaved together on vinyl decks with precision.
The FUSE showcase the following day outside was one of the festival's highlights, with 12 hours of the finest bumping grooves and tech-house bangers. The full crew was in force and stand-out sets came from Enzo Siragusa and Archie Hamilton, but the whole crew brought the UK sound to the Mediterranean with class and fervour.
Evening sessions on the boat were a little messier, not only because of the unlimited free bar, but because the stage allocations and programming felt muddled. As mentioned earlier, Sven played in the smaller capacity venue, while less-established albeit impressive acts like Alci, Nima Gorji and Fabe took the reigns in the main room (the latter putting in one of the sets of the trip). This was the case across the five days. Jamie Jones, Ben Klock and Dixon all played at the Ametista and the immediate grandiose of the occasion was lost.