Scenery in Malta’s magical neighbour
“ON Gozo, everywhere is 15 minutes,” my driver Josef laughed when I asked how far it was to the festival.
At barely 29 square miles and with a population of just 30,000, Malta’s little brother is definitely one of the more unusual candidates for “the new Ibiza”.
It is home to some of the oldest freestanding buildings in the world and over the centuries – and indeed millennia – Gozo has been occupied by Phoenicians, Romans, Moors, the Knights of St John and Napoleon. This summer it hosted a new wave of settlers – British ravers.
Fast-rising London party brand, ABODE, invited their sizeable British following to explore the island over a long weekend in early June for the inaugural ABODE On The Rock festival.
In just four years, ABODE has risen to become one of the most successful domestic brands. Regularly selling out massive venues such as London’s Tobacco Dock or Studio 338 without so much as a line-up announcement, they have cultivated one of the most dedicated followings in dance music.
And when Josef ’s car slowed on a steep street with a snaking queue of unmistakably British ravers outside the festival’s main venue The Valley, it seemed their gamble had paid off.
Friday’s Welcome Party at The Valley was a family affair with each of ABODE’s many residents playing an hour-long set. Taking place in Gozo’s La Grotta nightclub, a stonefloored venue flanked with Roman pillars and open to the night sky on two sides, the scene was indeed like the old photos of Amnesia and Pacha, the super clubs of Ibiza eulogised by dewy-eyed first-generation ravers.
While the venue may have an air of nostalgia, the music was about as on-point as it gets in 2018.
Tech house dominated proceedings, but call-backs to classic house, techno and especially UK garage were woven into the madness. The opening night resident-only LAS VEGAS: BULGARIA: programming was a masterclass of DJs in tune with their crowd.
ABODE’s team of residents – Ellie Cocks, GW Harrison, Will Taylor, Jimmy Switch, Jack Swift and Devstar – proved to be the main event, and while the festival hosted headliners on Saturday and Sunday, Friday seemed to get the biggest crowd reaction.
Saturday kicked off with a “Bloody Mary” boat party around the spectacular coastline with Taylor and Harrison whipping the crowd into a real frenzy.
That night in La Grotta, Secondcity, the tech house star with a UK No.1 single under his belt, put in a blistering headline set with support from Pax, Mark Jenkins and Artikal.
Sunday started early doors with a villa party up in the hills. The small pool was heaving while the dancefloor was full by 4pm. Sets came from AVOTRE boss Santé and South Shields’ own Richy Ahmed.
Returning to La Grotta that night for one final push and the biggest guns were brought out to see the crowd across the finish line.
Sidney Charles and Steve Lawler played the headline slots, while residents Ellie Cocks and Jimmy Switch went B2B to close for the final time. As the ornate club slowly emptied, no doubt countless after-parties sprang up at AirBnBs across the island as the revellers squeezed the last hours of fun out of what was an unforgettable first rave on the rock.
Is it the next Ibiza? With youth-focused brands such as ABODE and Annie Mac Presents exposing a new audience to the island’s great weather, cheap accommodation and low food and drink prices, Gozo and Malta could be the strongest contenders yet.