Rather than staging this ‘secret gig’ on the famous Balearic island in one of its enormous, world renowned superclubs, a small clearing in a forest hidden in the foothills of Ibiza provides an almost too perfect venue for an outdoor party with a real difference. This could be somebody’s very large back garden (well, a stinking rich somebody) complete with blazing sunshine. Live performances are rarely presented in such an idyllic, mood-enhancing setting.

Hugh Scully, formerly of the Kitchen’s mid-week deep house night Blue and HAM at PoD, soundtracks a glorious evening with a selection of sun-drenched, mid-tempo tunes. Despite having to adjust the volume of the set to allow the media and ‘talent’ to chatter away backstage for future broadcast, Scully sets a perfect tone – part blissed out, part raring to party.

As if to make amends for their seven-plus years in the wilderness, the Stereo MCs possess the air of an outfit more charged and up for it than ever before, exhibiting a determined work ethic by jetting in to make this engagement from a show in Macedonia via a connection at Heathrow. Few can sweat it with as much raw unbridled energy as the MCs. Rob Birch is a dab hand at exhorting a crowd to get up off their arses, his funky stick insect frame prowling the stage and demanding our attention.

The smash hits ‘Deep Down and Dirty’ and ‘Connected’ instantaneously connect with the crowd. The MCs’ threesome of stunning backing singers remarkably combine note-perfect vocals with swish energetic dancing. The sound is great, resonating through the night without the usual muddy restrictions imposed by the walls of an indoor venue, or indeed the awful wish-washy, windswept vagueness of far too many monster outdoor shows.

David Holmes doesn’t do house or techno or the latest speed-garage-pop-dance anthem anymore. Instead, he sticks to the blend of rare groove, soul and freestyle that helped him climb the OST ladder to become Hollywood’s soundtrack curator du jour. Hence, Public Enemy, Primal Scream, Marlena Shaw and Ella Fitzgerald all boom their slinky way out of the speakers.

To these ears, it’s a very solid if generally uninspiring set, but Holmer’s blatant disregard for any form of 4/4 backbone tests the patience of an expectant crowd eager to have the pace quickened after the Stereo MCs rather than slackened. While Holmes is renowned for a laissez faire attitude to his increasingly rare DJ sets, this is not really the time or the place for a musical education lesson. Especially just before we’re being bussed off to Eden in San Antonio for some awful chart dance from Dave Pearce. We’re here to party, not to take notes for our record shopping list.

Maybe if Holmer had approached tonight as he played his inaugural Creamfields Ireland set, where vintage Detroit and Chicago gems collided with the likes of The Rare Earth’s ‘Get Ready’, this mightn’t have gone so far astray. But of course, no DJ takes kindly to being dictated to.
As a location and event with a capital E to bookend the summer, it really doesn’t get any better than this. Lynx Extended Play ‘02 proved that if you’re going to throw an extra special party, an imagination and a sense of adventure must be the key ingredients. With the days of the superclub looking numbered, this sort of mega garden bash could just be the kind of thrilling ticket out of safe and predictable clubland we all need.