10 years ago I was there for the first ever Ibiza Rocks. Back when it was the “Bastard son of Manumission” I missed the Babyshambles gig so was dead set on seeing The Libertines this time around. And boy, it was worth the wait.
Their support for the night was Slaves The two piece British punk band with lead singer Isaac Holman, shirtless and sweating and smashing the drum kit in front of him relentlessly as Laurie Vincent is ripping down on the strings of his guitar. The crowd is loving it with mini mosh pits breaking out in the crowd and making sure the crowd is ready and pumped. And things get more raucous and surreal when “Feed the Manta ray” is played and on come what can only be described as a man in a plastic bag, dressed as a pretend manta ray, jumping and crowd surfing. Utter madness and utterly brilliant. A wonderful performance by the boys which only gets us even more hyped for the headline act.
Almost staggering on, The Libertines throw cans of coke into the crowd and Pete (in his already ripped shirt) proceeds to launch himself into the crowd, as the first chords are struck, along with his guitar much to the delight of the awaiting fans. This is going to get messy!
As soon Pete manages to climb back out, Carl and the band continue on as if it’s all normal. Sharing a mic and driving into tracks like “What Katy Did”, “What Became Of The Likely Lads”, “Time For Heroes” and“Can’t Stand Me Now”.
Ticker tape flying everywhere, giant balloons filling the arena…surely it can’t get any more chaotic…but it can.
Soon enough microphone stands are being launched into the crowd, just missing the onlookers and when they meander off and start playing “Don’t look back in anger” you know there is no coming back from this. And when the encore finally happens the crowd rip another level of insanity when “Don’t Look Back Into The Sun” kicks in. Another microphone stand comes flying across and Pete jumps on the drum kit, throwing a guitar into the audience as Carl charges into a frenzy on his guitar for the last final notes.
This gig is one that will go down in Ibiza Rocks history. A fitting celebration for Ibiza Rocks 10th Birthday and here’s looking forward to the next 10!