Snapped: Sankeys opening

May the 1st is traditionally the holiday reserved for BBQ’d and sunburnt Brits to check their phone, swear loudly and start panic buying flights to opening parties in a few weeks time.

This year though, Sankeys is already open for business. “To start a movement, somebody needs to step up. So, it was us,” says owner David Vincent as we weave through an already packed Sankeys terrace. It’s 11pm. Groups of enterprising Brits with conspiratorial grins encircle round-filled tables. There’s a sensation that we’ve all snuck into a banging house party. There’s also Americans, Russians, local workers, a 19-40 range with a good ratio. And that’s just outside.

“There’s a lot more out there now, Ibiza has to compete with other locations.” We move to Sankey’s second room. The venue has come out swinging. Lee Walker lays down a no-frills sequence of bassy chops. Red lights and white strobes punctuate a smoke filled room already packed, hazy with pre-season heat, pre-season people and pre-season excitement.

“Summer is f*cking awesome. And now, Summer starts now!” A fist bumping man yells in our ear as we squeeze from the second room upstairs and onto the balcony. Bursts of light illuminate another packed dancefloor, bodies surging between Sankey’s now iconic hazard-taped pillars, bit by bit crushing toward the front as KiNK prepares a slick drop - throwing in more random samples than a fashion sale via his hybrid set up. He’s joined by Miguel Campbell and there’s a round of hugs and poses for crowd iphones: it’s the first party of the summer but it already feels comfortably like business is usual.

We slide back into the main room to catch Steve Lawler and Kolsch’s changeover. The tempo dips, the chords move toward melodic as the enormous Dane takes on a dancefloor which refuses to drop in capacity at 6 am. Mixmag are done. We get talking to an Ibiza first timer over a cigarette back on the terrace. “But it’s packed! So, wait, this May 1st thing doesn’t happen every year then?” It does now, apparently.