The race to sign up Swedish House Mafia for Ibiza 2012, now looks set to be a straight match between Privilege and Ushuaia Beach Club, with the most likely outcome being, that the Swedes will play both venues. News that Privilege were in discussions with the Swedes to host their hit making production at the San Rafel venue, reached the Blog last week. Neither party would confirm or deny any news on the event when contacted by the Blog. Leaks from well informed sources not connected to either Privilege or Ushuaia, are saying that Swedish House Mafia are booked for Ibiza on June 18th, a date which would neatly coincide with the Opening Parties.
What is most significant about the June 18th date is that it is a Monday. The only club apart from Pacha that has an available Monday slot is the Playa Den Bossa daytime venue, Ushuaia. It is highly unlikely that Eden or Es Paridis would be a suitable venue for the SHM production, which requires certain logistics to be present. Ibiza Rocks would require a Damascus road experience before they would be in a position to sign SHM. Amnesia have just announced that Cocoon will be in residence for their Monday nights and if Space were involved, we would know by now, such is the effectiveness of their PR machine.
The key piece of information and the biggest clue to where SHM will play next year, lies not with SHM but with Dutch star, DJ Tiesto who is rumoured to be leaving Privilege for Pacha. If this rumour is true and most reports would suggest that it is, then Tiesto's Monday night slot at Privilege will become vacant for 2012. This leaves Privilege with a big problem, as Tiesto was the clubs flagship party. With SHM looking for a suitable venue in Ibiza and Privilege looking for a new flagship act to replace Tiesto, then it would make commercial logic for both to partner with each other.
An Artists Impression of SHM@Privilege 2012
In a recent interview with MTV, Steve Angello commented on Ibiza 2012 by saying that "Seventeen shows in Ibiza might be 17 shows around the world instead, which I would prefer now because — it's a big world.".mtv.com/news/articles. This is a significant pointer to the opinion that SHM will not hold a residency in Ibiza for 2012, opting instead for once off live shows. SHM already have an association with Ushuaia, having played there Ibiza 2011 and its outdoor location would tie in with similar World Tour outdoor locations. How often SHM will play at Ushuaia and how many of the trio will be present there, is another question. TheSHM/ Ushuaia parties in 2011 were not always attended by the full SHM line up.
Speculation should be ended in the next month or so, as Privilege is set to announce its summer schedules before the end of February. That press release will be eagerly anticipated as it will answer many questions as to the future of some big name acts. If Privilege wants to remain as one of the major players on the Ibiza Club Scene, then it is imperative that, either the name of SHM or Tiesto is on their ticket for 2012. It is this commercial necessity that would lead one to deduce, that Privilege, remains the hot favourite to host the SHM Opening party on Monday the 18th of June, 2012.
