Steve Lawler's successful Ibiza venture returns for a second summer season at the ever-evolving Sankeys Ibiza for another fifteen dates of high octane house and techno.
Tipped as one of the biggest underground success stories of last year, after gaining a strong foothold amongst stiff competition from the likes Cocoon, Circoloco and Marco Carola's Music:On - VIVa promises more of the same but with a twist, as Steve Lawler takes his only absence from this years calendar, bringing in two additions to the lineup in the form or Rekids boss Radio Slave, and Visionquest mainstay, Lee Curtiss to liven up the proceedings.
Straying away from the more straight-laced balaeric tech house sounds that had become synonymous with the label in the past to a much stronger house influence in recent months, seems to have paved the way for a much broader and more accessible music policy this season. Championed by their resident tastemaker, Darius Syrossian, who's skippy percussion and full frontal baselines really picked up the pace from very early on in the main room, using tons of his own tracks and remixes as well as the newest release on VIVa 'ViTo, Zohki & Roozlee - Champ' to really kick things up a gear - even after a rather formulaic opening from Philip Bader.
One thing that cannot be denied about Darius Syrossian is that his sound is incredibly distinctive, with chunky and bass heavy rythyms, that can often be spotted from quite a distance even to the untrained ear. As much as it was lapped up by his strong UK following present in the venue, whether or not that is always a positive trait can be a point of contention, as his ninety minutes did seem to drag at points this evening, especially during the repeat of his 'Pachanga Boys' sit down attempt which had occurred in exactly the same fashion at the Opening Party just the week before.
Moving into the second room, Departure have expanded from their popular workers parties last year and are now hosting the Spektrum every Sunday with an array of underground artists. Tonight played host to up and coming American duo (and Departure regulars) Randall M and Chad Andrew for an extended back-to-back set. Both known for their affiliation with the brilliant tINI and the Gang crew, they provided a solid display of stripped back, bottom heavy techno.
Whatever the main room may have been lacking in musical cohesiveness was certainly no issue in the Spektrum, as they effortlessly linked together slabs of savvy 'Deep Tech' with the Void soundsystem sounding incredible as ever. Even with the limited bodies on the dance floor at times, they had no trouble in keeping a solid core of dancers moving all night long, with Chad Andrew's recent edit of the Trentmöller classic 'Moan' getting a particularly positive reaction.
Back in the main room, it was the turn of Radio Slave to take control of the Sankeys basement, opening his set with a selection of dark brooding techno tracks, quickly moving into some of the harder Berlin style sounds in an attempt to maintain the energy as the clock hit 4am and crowd begin to peak.
Whether or not this proved too much for many of younger faces that made up the crowd is up for debate, but the night definitely began to simmer down from this point onwards, as much as I found myself enjoying the more educated choice of records from the Rekids head honcho.
Returning to the Spektrum for the final stretch, we left the club at 6.30am with Randall M still laying down the good stuff in the second room. Hierbas and smiles all round in the DJ booth, as both artists entered into a game of 'top that' - building upon stronger and stronger tracks without burning out the dance floor in the slightest. And as the night drew to a close and sun began to rise outside the double doors, it was impressive stuff indeed.
Ethan McNamara
