You know you’re in for a big night when you arrive at Amnesia to find the queue stretching further than anything you’ve seen across five summers on the island. It carried a feeling reminiscent of one one of the club's Closing Parties.
Instead, it was the final night of Joseph Capriati presents Metamorfosi. I mean, it's just as significant in a lot of ways.
This alone says a lot about what Metamorfosi has accomplished this summer...
Nothing left to prove: Joseph Capriati completes season
After a summer away from the club, bringing Metamorfosi back to Amnesia was always going to be a big deal. Reuniting these two institutions felt like finding a missing piece of the jigsaw - a homecoming that Capriati's fans had been calling out for.
Reflecting on the summer just gone, the reunion has gone even better than expected.
Capriati has spent the season bringing an absolutely ridiculous collection of DJs into the booth, from bona fide heavyweights like Richie Hawtin, Seth Troxler and Damian Lazarus to the new wave of legends in the making: Josh Baker, Max Dean, Mau P and Cloonee.
It’s been the perfect blend of House and Techno across both rooms, with some fairly outrageous back-to-backs thrown in for good measure.
Scandalously, until the closing, I hadn't actually made it to Metamorfosi all summer. Don't judge me. In my defence, if you're only going to make one Metamorfosi, you may as well pick the one where Joseph Capriati is going b2b2b with Jamie Jones and Chris Stassy!
The whole 14-week residency had been building towards this final night. There was a feeling that people knew they was something special brewing.
I've seen many b2bs over the years. Plenty of them looked like amazing combinations on paper, but didn't quite live up to the hype in reality. So how did our threeway fare?
Capriati, JJ and Stassy seemed entirely at ease bouncing off each other. There was no obvious battle to vie for being the centre of attention; no feeling of three separate entities awkwardly stitched together. It had flow. It felt natural. Unforced.
There was a constant sense that nobody could guess which direction the next track would take things. At times, this included even the DJs themselves.
Luckily, we had access to a table overlooking the balcony, where there was plenty of room to groove and an unobstructed view of the mobbed dancefloor beneath us.
A highlight was when I heard one of my favourite tracks of all time coming into the mix. A tune I didn’t ever think Stass would have in his locker - maybe that’s naive of me? Donny’s Groove by Mella Dee sounded as good as it did back when it was released in 2018.
The feel-good House anthem has punchy drums and a mental vocal. It was the perfect time to drop a track of that magnitude. Brownie points for Stassy.
All three men were clearly enjoying the set, each candidly eyeing up what the other was bringing in. That enthusiasm spread like wildfire from the front of them room all the way to back.
Metamorfosi doesn't explicitly have a no phone policy party, yet still people were living in the moment. Scarcely any phones were visible. Sometimes a crowd needs to be led.
Amnesia was where the concept began. Bringing it home during the club’s fiftieth anniversary year made it even more significant. History was made. Thankfully, I was there to bear witness.
Rarely are things guaranteed when it comes to Ibiza. But Metamorfosi being back at Amnesia in 2027? That's a foregone conclusion. You'll just have to follow us over the cooler months to find exactly when dates, line-ups and tickets drop for next summer.
Joseph Capriati plays not once, but twice, at Amnesia Closing Festival on 10 and 11 October - sunset (solo) and sunrise (back-to-back with Josh Baker).
Only tickets to the outdoor car park area (17:00 to 23:00) remain available in pre-sale. Grab yours by clicking here.
A limited number of tickets to the indoor nighttime leg will be available to buy on the door, first-come, first-served. See you on the dancefloor.
PHOTOGRAPHY | by Edoardo Montanari, Luca Balle and Ana Cristina
