This time last week we were preparing ourselves for the mother of all lineups at Amnesia Ibiza. Every Monday throughout the season Sven Vath hosts his Cocoon parties with substantial and stellar lineups. Last week however, week 12, it was something special. It was the invitation extended to Richie Hawtin who joins Papa Sven on that infamous terrace once a year. As if that wasn’t enough, the main room was to be manned by Drumcode chief Adam Beyer and the masterful Mathias Kaden. So yes, a very big lineup indeed!

We arrived around 3am, relatively late considering Papa Sven was opening, but that being said there was still a good 6 hours of life left in the party (and what a party it was). Although we’re big fans of the Kaden back catalog who loved his 2014 Fin release on Watergate, and had heard great things about his early season appearances at Cocoon, we made a bold call and sacrificed catching his last hour for the sake of Sven (We’ve since heard Mathias went for it big time!).

We stood bang center on top of the terrace’s first podium, prime position to watch Sven boss that terrace like a duck takes to water. Effortlessly in control. In his element. With that system punching loud and crisp as ever, the tunes were only delightful. Not too hard, not too soft and plenty of melodies. Exactly what the doctor ordered. It was about 4am when Sven took things up a notch as he waved a record in the air and gave the Dj Koze remix of Moderat’s ‘Bad Kingdom’ a spin. To say it was well received would be an understatement! Sven had his arms outstretched and was joining the throngs of people in dance. What ensued was about 30 mins of the highest aural pleasure before he wound it down for Mr. Hawtin do his thing.

At this stage the terrace was packed to the rafters, the atmosphere electric and after a delayed changeover the anticipation was rife. Hawtin got his techy touch rolling and having started out noticeable harder than Sven had finished, he gradually progressed further, layering more tracks into the set up and adding those drum patterns he loves to build and tease us with. He had the place bouncing and there was definitely a sense of unity among the crowd, the element often missing in so many clubs, not Amnesia.

After an hour or so of Hawtin the time had come to check out the savage swede Adam Beyer. The Drumcode boss had been on our hit list for sometime so there is literally no better place to have crossed him off than the main room in Amnesia, the loudest room on earth! Setting up camp at the the back of the room we heard the distinct sound of Jel Ford’s ‘Grand Union’ being mixed in. No better track to get a man (or woman!) in the mood for techno. The track opens Drumcode’s ‘A Sides Vol II Part 2’ compilation and it’s a groovy techno beast. If you can’t dance to it, there’s no other way of putting it than there’s actually something wrong with you! Notch after notch Beyer went and he was destroying that main room bit by bit with the sultry sound of Drumcode.

We couldn’t leave without another trip out to the terrace. With the dancers taking to their podiums every half hour and the production in full flow, it really was a sight to behold. The Co2 blasts were welcomed by all as the foot stomping took it’s toll. But then every so often an absolute monster of a tune would add even more energy into the crowd.  None more aptly chosen by Hawtin than Recondite’s ‘Fiery’. A track of mammoth proportions which to no surprise, sent the crowd into euphoria. Epic scenes. As the light filtered through the skylights, it was our queue to head for the hills (soft, we know!). But there was a lot of life left in that party, a lot. Even time for Superman to make an appearance!

And hey, maybe Richie threw a CDJ into the crowd again this year when he eventually wrapped things up at 9.30..

We say, roll on next year’s instalment with Richie and long live Cocoon!