Amnesia

AMNESIA. By day, it’s easy to dismiss this oversized whitewashed building on the side of the road as just another Ibicencan finca. By night, it’s plain to see why it’s retained the title of International Dance Music Awards Best Global Club for two consecutive years. This is not just another club - this is Amnesia.

Whether you’re in the guest list, VIP or regular ticket sales queue, the atmosphere is electric. With multi coloured lasers circling the sky above, Bat-signal style declaring the club open for business, all eyes and thoughts are on one thing - getting through the unassuming front doors. Then there’s only one decision left for you to make. Left or right?

To the left is the famed terrace - once open-air but now enclosed it still retains a greenhouse-esque feel thanks to huge palm trees, decorative bronze camel statues and a cavernous glass roof that allows warm natural light to stream in come sunrise. With bars scattered around the perimeter and a multi-layered dance floor complete with two enormous podiums in the centre - generally reserved for the professionals thank you very much - it's very much a meeting point for locals and workers, with plenty of nooks and crannies to lose yourself in. Musically, expect a house or experimental flavour, leaving the harder edged stuff to the main room.

The Terrace - Cream Opening 2008

To the right, this is surely the room that inspired the term super club. Think an industrial type warehouse space and add lasers, bodies, podiums, an upstairs VIP terrace, numerous bars, the famously sexy Amnesia dancers strutting their stuff on specially built platforms and an incredible sound system and you’ll start to get the picture. Legend has it Amnesia’s sound system was designed to emit waves of sound across the room and into every corner - when you first arrive and are hit with a great wall of sound, it’s easy to believe. With an elevated DJ booth that appears space ship-like thanks to a wall of flickering lights (err, amps and audio equipment apparently) behind it and enormous LED equaliser pulsating rhythms beneath it, getting carried away in the moment is guaranteed, whether it’s tech-god Sven Vath at the controls, trance maestro Armin Van Buuren or the legendary Sasha. The main room is where the big guns come out to play.

Sasha at Cream opening 2008

No visit to Amnesia is complete without at least one blast from the famous ice cannon. You know the feeling - you don’t want to drag yourself off the dance floor to chill out or move to find a spot beneath an air conditioning vent but if you could cool down by just a few degrees... WOOOOSH! Your wish is granted - a thunderous blast of dry ice comes cascading down from the cannons on the roof and the entire room goes from 30 degrees to zero in five seconds - impeccably timed with the music of course. A true rite of Amnesia passage - and if you’re crafty enough to position a first-timer beneath it unawares, their reaction is worth the entry price alone.

While Amnesia plays an important part in shaping the future of dance music, a nod to the past is also in order - without it, the Ibiza we know and love may not exist. In the 80s - most notably during the notorious 1988 summer of love - a DJ called Alfredo Fiorito manned the decks, providing a soundtrack that merged the old and the new, spawning a genre now lovingly referred to as Balearic beat and inspiring the young Oakenfold, Rampling and crew to return to the UK and spread the Ibiza love… An oft-told story, but a defining moment in Ibiza’s history.

The building itself has been standing since the end of the 18th century was sold to a wealthy free-loving widow in 1970, who threw open its doors as a meeting point for local artists, hippies and bands, hosting exhibitions, giant vegetarian cooking fests and plenty more. Soon after, it officially became a club. With the idea that it was a place where people could forget their day-to-day issues and dance the night away, the promoter came up with ‘The Workshop Of Forgetfulness’ as a name. Thankfully, he had an epiphany the following day, realised it was too much of a mouthful and thus Amnesia was born.

AMNESIA: THE FAST FACTS
Where is it? San Antonio Road, KM5, San Rafael, Ibiza, Spain
Hours? 12 til 6am
Cover charge? Between 30-80€
Are we there yet? Conveniently there’s a bus stop right outside, making public transport a breeze - queuing for the return trip at 6am can also be very entertaining. Drivers, our tip is to arrive early, as it doesn’t take long for the car park to fill up. Who wants to miss a minute anyway?
More info: www.amnesia.es

AMNESIA PARTY CALENDAR

SUNDAY: Juicy Ibiza

MONDAY: Cocoon

TUESDAY: Armada and Contact

WEDNESDAY: Made In Italy

THURSDAY: Cream

FRIDAY: Manumission

SATURDAY: People From Ibiza

Go to the official website for > AMNESIA