Judge Jules In The Dock for Playing Drum & Bass at Ibiza Trance Party.
Written by Dan Kirwan
On September 27, the second instalment of the Kevin and Perry Go Large At Amnesia series reportedly went all Pete Tong for iconic Ibiza DJ Judge Jules. The party celebrates the cult Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke Movie Kevin and Perry Go Large, which was shot on the island in 1999, an era when trance music reigned in Ibiza. Several clubbers who attended the event took to social media to complain about Jules’s set “it was one of the worst sets I’ve ever heard in 30 years of clubbing; you cleared the room”. Another commented, “It was awful his set could not have been any further away from what everybody wanted to hear”. After dropping “a weird edit of The Beatles Let It Be out of key”, one clubber said, “I lasted 10 minutes after that. I couldn’t take it anymore. Just because you can mix edit tracks doesn’t mean you should” Jules Balearic styled track selection was echoed by others “When he dropped BombFunk MC it sent me under.”
The event organised by Ex-Cream promoter Nick Fergeson was a stripped-down version of the first party in June, which featured a having it large lineup. The Judge reportedly mixed David Guetta with drum and base during his headlining 3-hour set, and EDM featured for the closing 30 minutes. One furious punter venting their anger on Facebook wrote. “People have spent an absolute fortune expecting a trance night as advertised. You ripped people off plain and simple”. Others disagreed, commenting, “Judge Jules was great, but I felt he was playing non-Kevin and Perry era music, and hence the mood dropped,” Another wrote “, Jules was good; he just played a party set”
However, negativity was in the minority as the night was a resounding success with a large crowd present, all fulsome in their praise of the classic trance sets played by Lange and Seb Fontaine. Many had flown in from the UK for the night; ” It was great to see a crowd full on energy bouncing to trance music at Amnesia again”, wrote one clubber who was returning to the island after an 18-year break. “Langes set after Judge Jules was amazing; he took the roof right off”, and “Seb Fontaine was incredible…absolute mint DJ never disappoints” were just some of the comments that reflected the emotional and seasoned trance family present.
Dance you Balearic Bastards
Julius O Riordan, aka Judge Jules, a nickname coined after he qualified as a lawyer, is considered an iconic name in Ibiza. His Judgement Sunday party was legendary and ran for nearly two decades in San Antonio, setting the trends for others to follow. In 1996 he was voted Best DJ in The World by DJ Mag and is regarded by many as a good guy. He wrote the movie’s theme track Big Girl and selected the soundtrack that accompanied it, one of the best dance music soundtracks ever recorded, in my opinion. I feel Jules can be forgiven for an “off night”; however, as Robbie Williams found out after an awkward gig at island venue 528, Ibiza can be a cruel and unforgiving mistress when she wants to be.
Out of respect, I would hasten to question the tune selection of a DJ with Jules pedigree, he could have been playing around with the tunes to build up the closing acts, but maybe next year, his set should be advertised as Balearic, not trance.
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