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Ibiza 2013: does the Pacha shakeup mark a change in the island’s era?
The big change in Pacha's 2013 lineup and a growing trend towards Las Vegas residencies has provoked questions over the future of Ibiza
A recent article from the New York Times has shone a light on the reasons behind Pacha’s sudden change of lineup for 2013. On their fortieth anniversary, the world famous superclub and brand has lost Tiesto, Pete Tong, Luciano and Eric Morillo as their headline acts, replacing them with more underground names such as Guy Gerber, John Digweed and Solomon. However the brand will still be able to rely on David Guetta to draw in big commercial success. Perhaps one of the most noticeable changes is that Flower Power, the hippy-themed night featuring founding Pacha member Piti Urgell will now be a weekly, rather than monthly, occurrence.
The change marks the Urgell brothers’ wish for a return to Pacha’s roots – the pair are said to have fired their previous programmer Mr Whittle, who pandered to the growing requests of “superstar” DJs such as Tiesto and Swedish House Mafia. With the sudden EDM shift the figures involved in the dance music industry are getting more and more ridiculous – last season, Pacha paid some of their biggest names in excess of 100,000 euros for a night: it is hardly surprising that the Urgells felt they needed a change of plan.
This hasn’t curbed these DJs’ fees at all though: instead they are moving to the states where there are always clubs willing to pay out and provide champagne for their acts. Tiesto is skipping Ibiza altogether this summer for the first time in ten years and instead will be taking on residencies at Hakkasan and Wet Republic, the latest Las Vegas based superclubs.
However, other Ibiza clubs don’t look as worried – Space, Amnesia and Privilege have all hung onto their regular residencies from legends Carl Cox, Armin Van Buuren and Paul Van Dyk. Despite this, the Pacha shake-up has many questioning the future of Ibiza – will the EDM movement eventually change the identity of the island?
Miriam Johnson @MiriamEJohnson
