After a winter slumber, Ibiza's super-clubs have woken up and are raring to go. There's no dancing just yet, but we're in the thick of announcement season. Partying is not far away. In the meantime, the island's global influence continues elsewhere in the world.
During the low season, we bring you club reviews from Ibiza favourites at other party destinations from around the world as we build hype towards summer.
This is the road to Ibiza 2026.
Next up, we chalk off a first, as the one-and-only Solomun makes an impactful return to London for his biggest weekend in the city yet.
Solomun | Alexandra Palace
Saturday 7 February
This summer marks ten years since I started reporting on festivals and club nights. I must have covered hundreds over that period. Sometimes it's a challenge to find a new angle. Though the passion has never wavered, maybe that's because I'm still managing to chalk off firsts?
Unbelievably, I'd never been to Alexandra Palace before, but I had the opportunity to fix that sacrilege as Solomun came to town for back-to-back sell-out nights across 6 and 7 February. Ever the trendsetter, it would appear Solomun had set up some firsts of his own.
The weekend's pair of shows has been promoted alongside Labyrinth Events, the same team behind Solomun's spellbinding takeover of the Old Royal Navy College in Greenwich last summer.
We last saw Solomun in the capital at last year's Old Royal Navy College On The Thames series
In the last few weeks, the outfit has announced a tranche of parties throughout the year.
Amongst them are returns to Bedfordshire stately home Tofte Manor and a second On The Thames summer series at the Old Royal Navy College, in addition to confirming new Ally Pally shows, including eagerly anticipated dates with Chris Stussy and Boris Brejcha.
Even before the Ibiza season starts, there are diary entries with Laurent Garnier at FOLD, Ben Klock at The Roundhouse and Black Coffee at the O2 Arena, amongst many others. It feels like London might have found a new custodian.
Tonight, though, me and my esteemed rave companion have tunnel-vision for Solomun and no one else.
Arriving at a new venue for the first time always heightens those pre-rave nerves, even for a forty-year-old veteran. It's the sense of the unknown - stepping into unchartered territory. In the case of Alexandra Palace, we are bowled over by the view of the city in the middle distance, lit up in an alluring glow. Even before we get through the doors, this feels like a positive omen.
You might think that finding a handful of friends in a crowd 10,000 strong is like locating the proverbial needle in a haystack. But, as I say, we're professionals who have been doing this a long time now, and we hone in on our brethren like homing pigeons. Light work.
With a spot secured in the middle of the mixer and Solomun already conducting from the front, there's little else left but to take it all in.
A provocatively-clad Inéz appears on stage to perform live vocals of a clubbier-version of her Solomun collab as part of ÄTNA, Tuk Tuk. The song never really struck much of a chord with me when it was released, but even this cynic has to confess, it is pretty cool in the moment.
The next guest act is German Hip-Hop group K.I.Z, for whom Solomun has just remixed their track Samstag ist Krieg. It wasn't so long ago that the idea of a musician entertaining 10,000 people in the UK capital in German would have been considered unlikely.
Maybe industrial rockers Rammstein achieved similar numbers at their height of power, but it still feels like a watershed moment.
There's still time for our showman host to bring the roof down once more, this time with Public Domain's rave classic Operation Blade. "BASS IN THE PLACE LONDON".
For somebody so mild-mannered and reserved privately, Solomun has the aura of an artist flexing his chops creatively and determined to cash in bragging rights publicly.
With custom lighting rigs moving overhead and drones whizzing past, capturing the footage, Alexandra Palace becomes one giant sentient organism, moving as one.
Transcending the expectation of a DJ set alone, the whole show comes across more like a highly-produced concert. This gives some indication of which direction Solomun could take his Pacha residency, if he's so inclined.
We have had the intent of a "+1" being a singer, instead of a DJ, before. Rósín Murphy was scheduled as his guest at the 2013 closing party before illness curtailed her appearance. But why couldn't it work? Food for thought, as the concept closes in on its twelfth season.
The party is over; the night young, but there's still time to chalk off another first: the decision to call it a night and head homeward, instead of chasing our high into the darkness. The ending was perfect as it was. No potential scenario that lies in wait could top this.
Ten years in, yes, but still yet to master the art of knowing when to call it quits. Perhaps this could be a turning point? A sign of growth.
Before we start to make our journey home, we have time to take stock of the night with one last look at the shining lights of London from our hilltop vantage point. They flicker and beckon us. The city is ours.
But with 20,000 attendees, across two nights at one venue, the city belongs to only one person this weekend: Solomun.
Once Solomun was revealed to be heading up part one of Pacha's Grand Opening Party, it was merely a formality that he'd be back hosting Sunday nights at Ibiza's original super-club, too.
Last week, we finally got the confirmation we'd been waiting for.
Solomun +1 returns to the cherries for a 19-week run from 31 May to 4 October.
Tickets for all dates are on sale now and available to buy below.
PHOTOGRAPHY | by Ross Davidson
