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 AMNESIA Ibiza/San Antonio, KM5
2004 dates: 19 June to 18 September
In the 1980s, Amnesia was the birthplace of what was eventually dubbed the Balearic Beat. Despite some lean years during the 1990s, Amnesia is now the most consistently successful of all the clubs in Ibiza, and also home to the island's best gay party, La Troya Asesina.
Midway between Ibiza Town and San Antonio, and a mere hop, skip and jump away from its main rival, Privilege, despite it's appearance Amnesia never started life as a garden centre (yes, it does look like a B&Q from the outside) before turning superclub... The club has, however, progressed a long way from it's domestic roots, evolving every year, with 2001 marking the debut of the extensions to capacity in the terrace, and 2002 finally seeing the final closure of the roof on the terrace. 2002 also saw the debut of the stereo super sound system as installed by Angel Morales (let me check that one, I'm writing this off the top of my head, and it's a long time since the opening party last year), which possibly gives Amnesia the best sound system on the island (though I have heard good things about the system at Eden, I just haven't been yet).
I've so had to rewrite this whole section, which had been an unashamed homily to my favourite dancer in 2001, Carlos from Madrid, who taught me a very important lesson about myself... That I'm seriously turned on by dancers! He also made me learn Spanish, so I could tell him just that, but I never had the bottle to actually do so. Enough of him, more on the venue which saw more of me in 2001 than most of the staff, and by 2002 they probably thought I did work for them, as I was promoting the place so much!
Amnesia lost the plot by alienating clubgoers with increasingly hardcore music during the early 90s, but when Cream were looking for a venue for their Ibiza debut, Amnesia provided the perfect location. Along with Manumission at Privilege, these two clubs set a trend for a dominance for UK superclubs throughout the 1990s, but with the arrival of DJ Oliver at the end of that decade, Spanish dance music (American house with Spanish attitude) found a space to express itself in Amnesia. Brasilio de Oliveira's La Troya Asesina proved that Spanish clubs (and gay clubs for that matter) could be just as successful as the foreign brands that were resident in every venue on the island. Though still home to many visitors, La Troya stands head and shoulders above its companions and has successfully crossed over from undergound to mainstream. In 2002, Cream was still Amnesia's biggest attraction, but with Zenith, Cocoon Club and Renaissance (previously at Privilege and before then Pacha) also on the bill, Amnesia had one of its most successful years to date, even when tourism was generally down. The saddest thing to happen to Amnesia in 2002 was the loss of Kinky Trade, a hugely popular collaboration between gay London clubs Trade and Salvation, and Amsterdam's Cockring... It will be interesting to see what, if any, repercussions are felt by this failure. The secret to Amnesia's continuous attraction for me is no secret, however! It's a DJ, and his name is Oliver.
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(+34) 971 198 041
