IBIZA VIRGIN
a study of the island and its clubbing culture

IBIZA VIRGIN covers the phenomenon known as Ibiza: the party central, where people from all over the world come together to party through the hours when ‘normal’ people sleep, work, and go about their daily routine.
In Ibiza, people do not let daylight rip them apart or shatter the dream world they have created: nothing ruins their nightlife personas. The parties continue well into the afternoon, or around the clock if you wish.

Comparisons to Las Vegas are frequent and it is easy to understand why: the concept of a small island providing endless entertainment outlets is just about as outrageous as building an adult Disneyland in the midst of the Nevada desert.

Fulfilling peoples’ fantasies is what Ibiza’s nightlife is all about.
Everything sets the stage to attain something not possible or hard to come by in daily life.
Hence the spectacles, the lavish surroundings, and the music: shows and dancers, the most amazing sound and DJs, magic VIP areas raised high above the masses, looking out over the sea of people packing the dance floor (which might be filled with foam or water) full to the brim.
Such hedonism, decadence and debauchery; it is not easy to top the atmosphere in the clubs, the giant masses of people and heart pounding music from mega speakers and sound systems.
Costumes, clothing choices, appearances, and personalities are altered to cope with the island: people act out and dress up the way they have always wished they could; fantasies come alive.
It is, to say the least, magic! Ibiza is pure magic! There is nothing, no place like it.

Although the summer inhabitants might be separated by demographics, such as age and income level, they are all young at heart, dying for a bit of true fun, heart-pumping beats mixed by great DJs, mythic fantasy settings, extravagance and debauchery; an environment free from the pressures of ‘normal’ life, free from routine and the sometimes mundane reality of things.

Why people go clubbing, consumer behavior, situations that can occur within the layers of people who staff such establishments and other issues are touched upon.
This book, written by Jennifer Eric, was originally presented as her Master’s thesis, and is a good inside account of nightlife as a pure service industry, from the perspective of an employee within the epicenter of the party-scene.
The author has over 10 years of nightlife experience; her career started when friends and owners of a gallery/art space for mostly graffiti art, in the Venice Beach area (California), called to ask if she could fill in for their bartender who had just gotten arrested 2 hours before one of their openings.
Shortly after, she was taken under the wings of Mark Benecke, the notorious former doorman (and “most hated man in New York”) of Studio 54 in its heyday.
After a few years working as a party-PR in Paris, she embarked on her Ibiza adventure.
When it comes to clubbing she’s just about done it all from hostessing, bartending, and serving tables to managing clubs and event promotions. For her study, to understand all ins & outs of the magic of the night, she was looking for the Mecca of nightlife, wanting to study the extremes from the inside.
Of course she found, Ibiza; capital of hedonism with a worldwide reputation of ‘anything goes’.