DON’T PANIC, WAIT…WHAT? is the new Ibiza/UK queer kid off the block party !
If you haven’t been fortunate enough to let your wig down at a Wait What? party yet, for sure you will have come across their zesty, tongue in cheek posters designed by Ibizan designer @jjuanpedro. Wait What? is an exciting synth party that launched Easter Saturday, 20th April in 2019 at the iconic Sunrise Bar in Ibiza Town. Since then WW (for short) has established itself firmly on the Ibiza party calendar as one of the best queer party’s of choice for Ibiza locals and visiting tourists.
WW is the brainchild of DJ/Promoter/Singer-Songwriter Mikey Slade and Sunrise Bar owners Andreas Dreja Johansson & Peter Oscarsson with local talents Callum Wordsworth and Bekka Rawkins who work closely with Mikey on music and brand direction.
Ibiza and the synth music genre are old friends and their unique histories have run parallel with each other over the years. WAIT…WHAT ? was to be the first party in Ibiza to celebrate all things queer and synth, although the WW DJ ‘s do throw into the mix their own favourites from other music genres meaning this night, is a unique mixture of Synthpop, Synthwave, Retrowave, Dreamwave, Newwave, Chillwave, Outrun and good old 80’s synth, House Music, Hip Hop, Hi NRG, Italo Disco, Funk, Indie and rock.
It really is quite incredible what WW has achieved in such a short space of time but it seems that a lot of that success is due to the inclusive, polysexual and forward-thinking ethos of their party and also WW’s strong belief in harmonising seasoned DJ talent with the up and coming new breed of DJ’s, so it’s not unusual to see well known DJ’s such as Simone, Alex Hinohouse, S/A/M, Mr D’Arcy, Kid Flamingo, Mikey Slade, Bekka Rawkins, Knightriders, Jamie Porteous, and John Pleased Wimmin on the line-up, alongside the new breed of DJ’s Prince Jay Jay, Mistress Taylor, Dean, Lula, Charles Mooyaart, Gino and Jay Soleil.
Fostering talent also extends to their drag artists with Ibizan homegrown mother-hen ‘Le Petite’ ruling the roost alongside new drag faces following on from the Ru Paul’s Drag Race Show phenomenon, the crazy talents of Spank, Roach, Sally Savage, Vince Ugly, Macha, Miss Venus Wailer, Jack The Lad and WW Hostess Miss Rachael, entertaining you with sass, outrageous antics and near the knuckle performance art.
Most recently WW launched in Bristol which was a seamless marriage of two locations known for their creativity and diversity by storming in and taking over The Loco Klub WW style and by forming a great partnership with one of Bristol’s forward-thinking original Afro Caribbean bars, ‘The Star and Garter’ where WW had their fabulously messy New Years Day after-party.
So what’s in store for the future of Wait What? This summer there had been hopes of WW finding a home in one of the bigger club venues of Ibiza whilst also staying loyal at their first home Sunrise Bar to continue their Saturday as the pre-party until the COVID-19 pandemic hit the planet and stopped clubland in its tracks. But it didn’t stop the WW family, not on your nelly! They quickly embraced the medium of live-streaming and are now bringing the WW love to you through all the social media platforms including YouTube, Zoom, Mixcloud, Facebook and Twitch and have recently started hosting their own Wait What? Wadio Show every Thursday on Ibiza Lockdown Radio. WW continues to take on new talent such as DJ’s Nick Sutton persuaded to make a comeback and strengthening their already prominent female roster with Bristol DJ’s Till Wah, Discobobulator and Ngaio joining the WW family plus the amazing rising Bristol Drag King Star Manly Mannington! Amazingly they have even found time to launch Wait…What ? Recording Studio in Bristol and Wait…What ? Record Label with Ibiza sound engineer Ben Jones moving to Bristol to run the studio. Their current 2020 Summer Party live stream theme celebrates and honors, as well as raising awareness to, six activists fighting for six different causes. – it also gives their Wait Watchers (the tongue in cheek moniker of WW follower) the opportunity to donate money if they wish to.
Taking inspiration from vogue/ballroom culture the six party’s are titled
“THE HOUSE OF ——-“
27th June – Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Activist
18th July – Jaha Dukureh, Female Genital Mutilation
August 8th – Karlash Satyarthi, Child Labour Activist
August 29th – Laverne Cox, LGBTQ+ & Tans Rights
September 19th – Charlotte Rose, Sex Workers Rights Activist
October 10th – Angela Davis, Political Activist
In a week where Vogue magazine launched its current issue honouring activists its great to see a queer, polysexual party that truly wears its heart on its sleeve and is at the forefront of the educating and supporting activists from a wide range of causes and promoted in such an engaging and fun way with the coolest up and coming DJ’s and drag artists too boot !
