German DJ Loco Dice.

One of the most exciting rumours doing the rounds in Ibiza at present, is the one that suggests Loco Dice will head up a brand new min tech party at the club for 2015. Having cut his teeth at Sven Vath’s legendary Cocoon party at Amnesia in 1999, Loco Dice, has built a loyal fan-base on the island and the German DJ would be well regarded in Ibiza. He surprised many last year by doing just one Ibiza gig, a birthday appearance at Space in August. In 2013 he debuted the Used and Abused party at Ushuaia, which on paper looked exciting but in reality did not work out as the daylight EDM themed venue, did not fit his dark style of music. Dice is now back and if the rumours are true, he will be making a bold statement at Amnesia, putting it up to both his old mentor Vath and the clubs current star player, Marco Carola. While a few good judges have questioned the reasons why Amnesia would run with a third Techno party at the club, it would be a shrewd move by the San Rafel venue, which is now the island’s premier club musically.

Healthy competition inspires a strong work ethic and all three DJ’s will be watching over each others shoulders to see where the other one is. It will raise the bar at Amnesia and remind Sven and Marco not to rest on their laurels. The min tech scene in Ibiza remains strong and its the only alternative to the growing EDM wave championed by Ushuaia and now Pacha, who seem unclear about their future music direction these days. Solomun provides them with much of its street cred to counteract the showboating from Aoki and Guetta and whispers that Pacha are now looking at Maceo Plex as a new signing will surely raise the ante to Amnesia. The rumour that Loco Dice is to take over the Wednesday night slot in association with Hyte seems to be gaining traction and if well founded it may herald the end of the gay La Troya party as it could not exist alongside a min tech event. It would be similar to mixing Jagermeister with milk.

The future for La Troya in Ibiza is uncertain and with no La Troya on Wednesdays, the island could miss out on the talents of Paris Hilton in August which has attracted lots of publicity for the club. The other gay friendly party at Amnesia, Matinee on Saturday nights, could be a new home for Paris and her stylish entourage, but not much sleep will be lost if she decides that Saturday night work does not fit in with her busy social calender. With the future of Privilege under a cloud as its owners Jose Maria Etxanitz and the Matutes family decide who’s boss, Amnesia looks set to dominate the clubbing landscape on the island for the foreseeable future. They have invested heavily in the min tech sound which is tried and tested on the island since the early days of Cocoon. Ibiza will have to start experimenting with new sounds and provide young DJ’s with an opportunity to breakthrough. It needs to get back to its house and freestyle roots and diversity in music styles. Let’s hope 2015 will create an environment for those special Balearic moments to exist.