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Music Miss W

The Ibiza clubbing time machine – Pikes Presents at 528 Ibiza

The Ibiza clubbing time machine – Pikes Presents at 528 Ibiza

Words Miss W

Photos Elliot Young & Hattie Scanlan

High in the hills of Benimussa is a secret gem of an open-air party destination that’s unlikely to stay secret for long!

No matter how many years you’ve been in Ibiza, whether you were born and lived your entire life on the island, you’ve spent decades here, you return season after season or even if you’re in the throes of your very first summer, one thing is for sure. Things change. The Ibiza clubbing landscape rarely stays the same, whether a year is punctuated with lots of little tide-affecting ripples or it goes through a seriously seismic shift. There’s no question this is a year of major change on the island, so perhaps the question is – what does that change mean for you? Will you embrace it? Will you run from it, kicking and screaming in protest (“It was better in the old days!”)? Will you fight against it? Or will it inspire you to be the kind of change you wanted to see in the first place?
 
For Andy McKay – CEO and founder of IRG (the group behind Ibiza Rocks, Pikes Ibiza and 528 Ibiza), and the man known (on a Monday) as Andy Manumission – change has always served as a catalyst for new ideas and 2025 is no different. While lasers, fireworks and pyrotechnics are pouring out of the venue where he first made a name for himself in Ibiza, McKay has been subtly steering his own ship in a different direction – one where the values and vibes alike align with the Ibiza of old but aren’t stuck in the past. If dancing to a euphoric soundtrack in the open air, surrounded by smiling, happy people of all ages and backgrounds sounds like the change you’ve been dreaming of (with very affordable ticket and drink prices to boot), then block out Tuesday nights in your diary, set your compass (ok then, your GPS) to west and head to Pikes Presents at 528 Ibiza.

A quick recap for anyone who isn’t familiar with the Pikes Presents party concept. The event was born back in 2018 and originally held as a series of one-off nights hosted in Freddies at Pikes Ibiza – the legendary little party space within the boutique hotel in the San Antonio hills – where the world’s very best DJs and artists were invited to spin a one-off, up-close-and-personal set for those lucky enough to be in attendance. We’re talking festival headliners in a tiny room (Jamie XX, The Blessed Madonna and Kylie Minogue, Sven Väth, Goldie and so many more) until the early hours. After seven years of successful Pikes Presents events in Freddies, the time had finally come for the little-party-that-could to finally fly the coop. Not too far mind you – just a hop, skip and a strut across to 528 Ibiza. And for anyone who doesn’t know 528 Ibiza (yet), it’s one of the island’s longest-running outdoor clubbing spaces, high in the hills of Benimussa (those with a long-ish memory might recall it was called Zoo Project for a while there – though it was never a zoo!).
 
There endeth the history lesson.

White Ibiza Journal: Pikes Presents 528 Ibiza
White Ibiza Journal: Pikes Presents 528 Ibiza

The first time I stepped through the doors at 528 Ibiza on Tuesday afternoon this summer, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I’d seen the official photos from previous weeks doing the rounds on social media and watched the videos on Instagram. I’d heard the whispers around the island that Pikes Presents at 528 Ibiza was going to be THE party of 2025. And I was definitely excited to see the mighty Groove Armada in the sunshine, not inside a nightclub! We’d had a wild, unexpected summer storm just that morning and as the temperature started creeping up into the 30s again in the afternoon, it felt like the air was crackling with anticipation and excitement. There was an anything-could-happen feeling in the air and as I walked through the gates, I did feel a bit like I’d shimmied through some kind of time machine.

Everywhere I looked. I saw people I knew, harking back to all my Ibiza eras over the past (eek) two decades (and yet somehow, mysteriously, none of us look a day older!). There were people I knew from my earliest Ibiza summers spent handing out flyers on the beaches to promote clubs. Friends I’d made on all different dancefloors all over the island, many of whom I don’t see as often as I would like to these days. Co-workers from White Ibiza (hi gang!), clients who work in many of the venues we write about (it’s so nice to meet in person when we’re all ‘OOO’) and characters you just know from… you know, around, Ibiza style. Now, while I don’t want to be THAT person who dwells on the past, I must say the vibe at 528 Ibiza reminded me a little of the Space Terrace, where you could walk into any party alone and be surrounded by friends (old and new) within minutes. It’s a nice feeling, knowing that no matter where you turn, there’s always someone to talk, dance or drink with!

Speaking of dancing, it struck me as impressive that the circular Garden Stage dancefloor at 528 Ibiza was garnering some serious foot traffic from the get-go, as Ben Westbeech did the honours of warming up for Groove Armada, who were due to hit the decks at 9pm. For island residents who (for whatever reason: work, family, school run, gym, health, lifestyle, anything at all!) don’t always have the luxury of staying up until 5am to see a headline act in a club, it’s a welcome change to be able to arrive at a party while the sun’s still shining, dance your heart out to the main act and then be tucked up home in bed before the clock strikes midnight. Although at 528 Ibiza, there’s still plenty of opportunity to stay out late and see where the night takes you, but more on that later.

White Ibiza Journal: Pikes Presents 528 Ibiza

For now, the sun was still high in the sky, its rays edging further westward and leaving the grounds of 528 Ibiza bathed in a beautiful golden glow. The beats coming from the stage were enticing more and more partygoers in by the minute and another thing that struck me was that there was no one-size-fits-all approach to the crowd here. This inclusivity was yet another element that felt like old school Ibiza – all ages, all backgrounds and so many different fashion styles it made people watching a pure joy as opposed to the clone-like spectacle designed for photo-ops that you see in other clubs these days. And speaking of social media – it was also amazing to see the majority of people at the party keeping their phones in their pockets for the occasion, which makes dancing like no one’s watchi tng so much easier (and fun!).
 
Meanwhile, there were plenty of Pikes familiar faces buzzing around the venue – everyone’s favourite night manager Nick Sheehy running things (as he always does!) alongside his regular Pikes cohort Ebony, chef Tim Payne was bouncing around the dancefloor (happy to have escaped the hot kitchen for a night), Guy Williams, Lucy Fizz and the Flash crew bringing their boundless energy, plus artists like Bushwacka!, Smokin’ Jo, Todd Terry and BLONDEWEARINGBLACK all showing their support. The Pikes familiarity didn’t just stop with the crew – one quick twirl around the dancefloor and it was clear to see that the Pikes production team had been hard at work recreating the famous Freddies vibe to fit the new location. From the secret bookshelf doors and the iconic discoball to a perfect replica of the DJ booth, circus-themed signs, iconic photos in frames, the spinning wheel, the obligatory Freddie Mercury portrait and the odd rubber duckie… it was all there at 528 Ibiza.

It was like the Freddies we know and love, only bigger and outdoors, which was definitely a bonus for Groove Armada’s Andy Cato when he stepped out onto the stage – it was probably the first time in his extensive Pikes career that he hasn’t needed to duck his head while DJing! It’s rare to see Andy and Tom Findlay in such an intimate environment these days, with their tour schedule seeing them all over the world’s best festival line-ups and headlining big club rooms and from the second the very first spine-tingling, tease of a vocal drop: ‘Well it’s a Groove Armada thing’ dropped, every single person on that dancefloor knew they were in for something special. And if you didn’t break out in goosebumps at that moment, well… are you even human?

The next two hours felt like a rollercoaster ride that fused an Ibiza time machine with a modern, stripped-back approach to clubbing, with an emotive soundtrack that spanned decades and oscillated between classic house, disco, trip-hop, some big room beats, and even the odd moment of pop. I’m not going to lie – when they started playing Superstylin’ (for real, not just teasing), and then mixed it with Bicep’s Glue, I got a little misty eyed. (OK. I cried. And isn’t that what SHOULD happen at a rave?) Sometimes, when I closed my eyes, it felt like I was transported back to a particular New Year’s Eve in Bondi Pavillion in the early 2000s. Another time, I was whizzed back to the very first Sunday night I ever spent in Ibiza at Space. And then, I was at Manumission. And for a minute there, it felt like I was in Freddies at Pikes. Except I wasn’t. I was at 528 Ibiza, it was 2025, and it was truly one of the best parties I’ve been to in years.

Everywhere I looked, people were happy. People were dancing, hugging, holding hands, waving them in the air, singing (all together now: ‘Peace in the valley’, ‘One More Time’ and ‘Pump Up The Jam’ among so many others), smiling. You know what they weren’t doing? They weren’t taking photos (for the most part), they weren’t filming videos or streaming live or taking selfies or even texting! The lack of phones in the air was both retro and refreshing – all the focus was on the people, the music, the artists and the GOOD TIMES! In this year of change, I think this could be my favourite element of them all. And, like an Ibiza Cinderella who had a meeting booked in for 10am the next morning, I also liked the fact that the headliners were over by 11pm so I could leave before the clock struck 12. Although…

White Ibiza Journal: Pikes Presents 528 Ibiza

Tucked away through a subtle little entrance marked ‘DISCO’ at the rear of 528 Ibiza is a teeny (and very tempting) bunker-style club space, where friends of the Pikes Presents family congregate after the Garden Stage has closed for an after party that continues well into the early hours. This is old school clubbing at its finest – a pitch black space, incredible sound and amazing air conditioning (trust me, after hours of dancing in the peak summer heat, you’re going to love the respite), and more festival-esque line-ups (hello PBR Streetgang!) to keep you on your toes until you get that all-too-familiar feeling that you might to need call in sick the next day. No judgement – isn’t that what Ibiza has always been all about?

Did this Ibiza Cinderella cancel her Wednesday morning meeting? No. Of course not. Because, just like in the old days, I can still dance until late and show up and do my job well the next day. For me, that kind of balance is also what Ibiza’s always been all about – although I must admit, I do like knowing there’s an option to duck out before midnight if I want it… which is what I did the following week, when wild horses couldn’t have kept me away from the Garden Stage at 528 Ibiza, when Pikes Presents joined forces with Back To Mine and all my teenage prog-house dreams came true again as Sasha & Digweed reunited beneath the sails. Cue more singing (‘I FEEL LOVE!’), more smiling, more holding hands and more hugging – it might only be mid-July, but I feel quite confident in saying that the ‘party of the summer’ crown is going to be hoisted onto the metaphorical head of Pikes Presents at 528 Ibiza.
 
See you front and centre at 528 Ibiza next week. And the week after. And the week after that. And all the weeks that follow. And DEFINITELY on September 09 when Layo & Bushwacka step up to the plate, and again on September 16 when Basement Jaxx are in the house for the Closing Party. OK, fangirl over and out. All this partying and talk of partying, I’m definitely going to need a siesta today!