Ibiza Legends: Ibiza Rocks
06/08/2017
Words: Polly
Photos: Ibiza Rocks
“More live music and more variety is a good thing, the big complaint I had with Ibiza in years past, fairly openly, was that everybody was doing the same thing and stuck in a time warp and we were facing the problem of an ageing island”. Andy McKay (Ibiza Rocks) speaking with Jonty Skrufff in 2010 (jontyskrufff.com).
Ibiza Rocks
The concept of Ibiza Rocks was a simple one, to bring live music to Ibiza. Bored with the increasing commercialism surrounding the dance scene, Andy Mckay (of Manumission fame) believed a change was necessary to a waning dance scene and that contrast would only help rather than hurt it. Ibiza Rocks set out to try something new. But in 2005 getting licences for host venues was less simple and Ibiza Rocks for a while was a brand on the run, plus there was the question of how the highly established Ibiza dance culture would receive live rock bands?
Baby Shambles (Pete Doherty) were booked for their first gig. Complete with rock star antics that included Pete smashing up an on loan £20k guitar – now a treasured trophy that adorns the walls of the Ibiza Rocks Bar – it’s safe to say it worked. However, prior to finding a permanent home at the 1000 bed Ibiza Rocks Hotel in 2008 including a central courtyard that now plays host to live gigs, Andy and his team had to be very creative with their venues. Their drive to put on a show and can do attitude meant that gigs were arranged in the unlikeliest venues; the dolphin pool at the old zoo (Dirty Pretty Things, The Fratellis) the island’s abandoned racetrack (The Zutons, Pendulum, The Enemy) and the tennis courts at Pikes Hotel (We Are Scientists).
They have since hosted the Radio 1 Weekend in 2009, Florence & the Machine and The Prodigy in 2010, Biffy Clyro in 2011, Ed Sheeran in 2012, Bastille and Nas in 2013, Boy Better Know in 2015 and LCD Soundsystem in 2016, and are currently hosting Cuckooland, Elrow and Craig David’s TS2 Pool Parties. (See the full line up here).
Firmly established as an authentic brand that now includes four hotels; Ibiza Rocks Hotel, Ibiza Rocks Apartments, Sol Ibiza and Sol Mallorca, plus a shop. Rock your summer here.
