Top raver, booth infiltrator and our very own AM to PM girl, Lissy Lübeck is back for summer 2023, sharing her thoughts, experiences and inner musings from Ibiza's clubland. A year older, but a year wiser? Probably not.
If you heard it from anybody else, you'd dismiss it as hyperbole, but Lissy Lü's real life is like that.
Partying as a profession is a hard life... but somebody's got to do it!
Friday 28 July
Happy Radio 1 weekend! Out the villa and up to Benimussa Hills we go for the start of main event. We planned a nice early arrival for 16:00 to really soak up the most of the day at 528 Ibiza.
Banded up with access to all areas, we headed straight to the green room to lap up the drinks from the complimentary bar. Looking a little bit like the elrow warehouse in there, the room was kitted out with four-foot-tall inflatable palm trees, adding to the pizazz for the special event.
Luckily, we had access to the VIP toilets which were like being in a 5* hotel, which was much appreciated. There's something about portaloos in 40-degree heat that isn't too appealing…
With two of my favourite DJs on the line-up, we headed down to the main stage where FISHER and The Bros laid down the law.
Sarah Story warmed the stage up, before MK, Jamie Jones, Becky Hill and more took their turn. With only 45-minute slots each, it was interesting to see how they decided what tunes to play, also taking into consideration everything was streamed live on Radio 1.
A highlight for me was MK opening with My Head Is A Jungle. It really threw me back to my good old teen days which ignited my love for House music.
Due to the heat, throughout the afternoon we sought respite in the studio in between bouncing between stages. Equally as cool in the sun and in the moonlight, 528 was really the perfect location for the one-day event. It offered something different to the standard super-club experience and was almost like being at a festival back home.
Let's hope they come back next year! Word on the street is that a return is on the cards and the plans are even bigger than this year.
We ended the evening with a back-to-back set between Arielle Free and Sonny Fodera, then heading back into San An to Eden for Defected, rescuing a few stranded bods on the way.
We got to Eden in time to catch the end of Rio's opening set
After thinking I'd lost my phone in the transfer, I found it in my dress upon arrival at Eden. A massive relief, I could head into the club and really enjoy my night.
A few more drinks, loads of laughs and dancing later, we hit the hay around 03:00, but before ordering a regretful kebab from next door.
Saturday 29 July
Predictably, I woke up a little hungover. Why do I do it to myself, Lissy?
I had a studio day booked in at OpenLab to get some practice in before my debut set at Space Eat & Dance on Monday. A little hesitant to go at first, but I'm really glad I was talked into going as it definitely helped me feel more confident as I mixed with two different set-ups.
It turns out CDJs are a lot different to my little pioneer controller at home, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly.
Next door to OpenLab was actually a new discovery for me, and what a discovery it was. Not that I can afford any of it, but it's literally my dream: right next to the studios, The Attico has a warehouse FULL of garms I could only dream of wearing on a day-to-day basis.
The best part about this was seeing Black Coffee walk out with ten bags filled with what I know would've been incredible clothing. I spoke to the salesman in the shop (who was dressed impeccably), who said that black coffee is a regular at the store on a Saturday before his big nights at Hï Ibiza, and he frequently drops €10K on clothes most weekends. Casual.
We headed back to the villa for a super quick freshen-up before heading back to Playa d'en Bossa for ANTS x Radio 1.
Unfortunately, we missed our beloved friends the Dunmore Brothers, however, Pete Tong was in full swing before handing over the decks to Solardo. A track you wouldn't ever expect Mr coy Pete Tong to play? A remix of Central Cee's eight-week chart topper Sprinter.
This one got G bussin' them moves.
Highlight of the day was LF System inviting wheelchair user and DJ super-fan Jake Price to mix a record live on stage with them. A tear-jerking moment to say the least, Jake's dad Barrie looked on in a proud parent moment. It was very special.
After a few hours of mingling and dancing, we headed back to home territory for some much-needed grub at Es Gerret. I love it here. I tossed up for half an hour about whether to get the beef loin or mussels. I chose mussels and I have no regrets. Why are they so goooood?
Sunday 30 July
I'm not sure if you could call this Sunday a day of relaxation but it was well-received either way. We'd had a boat day planned with the Radio 1 crew for over a month or so, so it was nice for the day to finally arrive.
Owned by Peach Prestige and setting off from Santa Eulalia, two gorgeous boats were waiting at the port for us. There were 21 of us in total which meant 12 on the first and 9 on our boat. Ours was definitely the most chilled out of the two, with the other full of heavyweights.
We swam, we drank, we ate and we laughed. A LOT. I’m not sure where the day went but before we knew it we were in Formentera and Chez Gerdi.
Lots of sangria was ordered and it turns out those masseurs who come around the tables at restaurants are actually really good. We all ended up getting one and she sorted my neck out. "Do you have pain here at the moment? It's very tense." This exact spot has been causing me issues for weeks now.
Today was the day that my sister Kristy and brother-in-law Rich landed on the island. Here for only three days, they booked this trip to come and support me when I play at Space, which is very thoughtful of them.
We managed to get a table at Café Mambo for six of us for some post-sunset drinks. Ten strawb daiquiris later and a rather hefty cuenta, we decided against hitting Glitterbox since we had been at the pre-party anyway. Instead, off to Franky Wah presents SHÈN Ibiza.
The street magician entertaining us at Café Mambo
With my sister and Rich's best interests at heart, I believed that this is where they would've had the better time. And that they did!
I've never seen Club Chinois so busy. The queues were winding down the road, full of people eager to catch the back-to-back between Franky and Hot Since 82. Kalismã warmed up the stage and she was great. Note to self: find her Instagram and her Soundcloud profile - she absolutely nailed it!
The b2b timings worked in our favour as my sister managed to catch a glimpse of it before we had to put her and Richard in a taxi.
Rich has a tendency to get a little overly excited on the first night of his holiday and this definitely rang true last night. "Can I get on the podium?" He asked the security guard as the professional dancers ended their routine. I had to explain to him that these kinds of comments will not be taken lightly (haha). It was funny though!
The tunes were incredible and quite frankly, I didn't want to leave. However, we all knew we had to be up and raring to go for yet another day busy day in Clubland tomorrow.
Monday 31 July
Today started off with a morning of what I like to call "ladmin" (AKA life-admin). This entailed prepping playlists for my set, catching up on creating social content and sending off invoices. All from the comfort of my lovely bed.
Tonight was the night the Ibiza Spotlight team took to Space Eat & Dance on the Sunset Strip for a pre-party like no other.
Arriving at 19:00 during peak golden hour, the whole team, their partners and family members arrived at the venue's terrace for some cocktails, chin-wags and introductions. The team mean so much to me and Ibiza is now such a big part of my life. I was really excited for my best friend, sister and brother-in-law to finally meet everyone, who are also like family.
I didn't quite realise how many of us there would be, but there was an amazing turnout. It was so good to see everyone. The starters were flowing to each table in abundance: prawn tempura, croquettes, patatas bravas, burrata salad, pulpo and more, I couldn't stop myself!
This was all enjoyed whilst the sounds of Balearic Beat Pete's sundowner floated over us, before big boss Timo jumped on and picked up the tempo, which was good for me as I wanted to bring in some classic House bangers, alongside some more underground sounds.
I wasn't feeling too nervous, but the mixer provided in the original Space Premier Etage booth looked like it was from the 1990s. I quickly got the hang of it and managed to ease myself in nicely. I had a few people coming up to me asking for track IDs and I received some lovely comments from people passing by - it was almost like they knew it was my first set.
It did mean that I missed my main course of chicken and rice, so it's a good thing that I ate my body weight in starters.
With sound limiters in place at most venues across the island, at 23:00 the volume had to be curbed significantly, which is always a bit of a bummer. Nevertheless, I still had a great time in the mix - and I think the others did too.
My best friend G was all packed and ready to head to the airport for her flight, but we managed to convince her to miss yet another flight home to stay out for another two nights. Peer-pressured to the max. She folded too easily. She deffo wanted to stay.
At midnight, Steve, Sasha, Sam, Danny, Kristy, Rich and I were collected and whizzed round to Amnesia before D's set. Tired, but still riding a high from my own set, I was buzzing to go, as I wanted to show Kristy and Rich my favourite club on the island. In his absolute element, Rich didn't stop smiling. I don't think he's ever seen a club on that scale before.
Rich was as pleased as punch
What a crazy few days. No rest for the wicked though. Next stop: Mallorca. Vamos!
Next time, Lissy and the rest of the clubbing team take a trip! Find out what went down in Magaluf in the next entry in the dancefloor diary.
Read previous weeks' capers here:
Peak season burnout
My BFF arrives
An enforced detour back home
Rubbing shoulders with A-listers
For daily insights, you can keep up to date with the life and times of Lissy Lü by following our TikTok channel here.
