- Underworld at Cocoon, Ushuaïa, Playa d’en Bossa
By Claire B
Cocoon Ibiza celebrates its 20th season this year and Sven Väth’s legendary night is bringing a number of special events and guests to the island as part of the celebration. The first Cocoon20 event included a live performance from Underworld at Ushuaïa on Saturday May 25, along with DJ sets from Dana Ruh B2B with André Galluzzi, Matthias Tanzmann, Ilario Alicante and Sven Väth himself.
Rain Threatened Play
In uncharacteristic Ibizan weather for May, the day began with rain and threatened to dampen everyone’s spirits, despite Underworld’s assurances on Instagram that the show would go on. Fortunately, as the afternoon progressed, the rain stopped and the sun came out to shine on the ever-growing crowd in the venue and opening DJs. Sven Väth came onstage and took control of his turntables at 19.15, playing one of his trademark vinyl-only techno sets for 2 hours. He clearly enjoyed himself and so did the sea of people in front of him.
Underworld Arrives
For many people, including me, the highlight was going to be seeing Underworld play live. They came onstage at 21.30 as it was starting to get dark, and as they launched into Cowgirl/Rez, it was obvious that we were going to experience something special. Those memorable notes rang out from the speakers and large white letters spelled out the name of the song on the LED screen behind them. Large video screens at the side of the stage gave us close ups of Karl as he danced around the stage and of Rick as he worked his magic from behind his bank of equipment. There may have been only two of them on that stage but the energy that emanated from the music combined with Karl’s constant rave dancing, the visuals and light show made for a magical experience. The lighting picked up pace as the show went on, and there were soon lasers shooting across the venue and stars bursting from the top of the stage, every song having a unique visual production to accompany it.
Born Slippy
Playing a range of songs from their 40-year back catalogue they performed for one and a half hours, ending with Born Slippy, their biggest hit. Sven joined them onstage, Karl asked if we wanted to dance with them and on cue the crowd went crazy, and so did Sven who remained with them on the stage throughout. The ticker tape was launched and descended like snow onto the crowd and the show ended with the three of them taking bows on the stage, revelling in the appreciation from the pumped up crowd. There was no encore, but we were very happy with what we’d had. It was a magical one and a half hours that flew by but left you feeling ecstatic and pleased that you had been able to experience it.
“Drift” Series
Underworld are currently half-way through their “Drift” series, a year-long project that sees the band release new work (music and film) on consecutive Thursdays. They’re also about to embark on a series of live shows at Sydney Opera House and European festivals, before playing a handful of arena dates later in the year. They are clearly creatively on fire at the moment, and to be able to see them in the comparatively small space of Ushuaïa with an excellent production and performance was something special.
Kraftwerk
Another special Cocoon20 event will be held at Ushuaïa on September 13, when Sven Väth will be bringing German electro pioneers Kraftwerk and their 3D multimedia performance for their first ever visit to Ibiza. Sven Väth will be doing a full DJ set and other acts will be confirmed nearer the time.
These special events at Ushuaïa are in addition to Cocoon’s regular Monday nights at Amnesia in Ibiza, which runs for 10 Mondays from May 27.
