My first ever trip to Ibiza this September - Back To Raving at 50 coming for Trance week!
- Jun 26
- 8 min read
If you're meeting me for the first time through this blog, then hello, I'm Lance, a 50-something day raver, and I thank you for reading. 2026 will be the year that I tick a massive box on my bucket list, to dance in the legendary clubs in Ibiza. After the most traumatic 18 months of my life, I came back to the dancefloor on New Year's Eve of 2022. My autobiography 'Back To Raving at 50' was launched in September of 2025 where I rightly concluded dancing was the best medicine, if not to cure, to cope with my Extreme PTSD. Now, I have considerably fewer nightmares than I had three years ago, and although I still have quick, sharp flashbacks daily, they don't carry the potency of terror they once held for me. Worst-case scenario, I'd recover from them quickly and carry on about my day.
Becoming a dedicated Day Raver in the London dance/EDM scene has also given me the gift of many friendships; several of these friends have attended events and festivals overseas including Croatia, Holland, Thailand and beyond. One legendary destination with an almost mythical status on the UK club scene is the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. I will finally travel there for Trance week in September, and my sequel raving book, Raving Abroad at 50 (ish) will include a detailed account of this trip. Visiting Ibiza is considered a rite of passage for lovers of dance, House & Trance music, and it's a trip I've put off for many years. It wasn't that I didn't want to go before, but until my return to the dance floor, I thought at 50, I was frankly past it and would be the oldest person there. Now, of course, I know many Ibiza veterans who are several years my senior, and at the end of September, I will be in good company. (Literally, as DJ Wizkid is going with me)
The legendary Amnesia was the first club to open in Ibiza, originally located in an 18th-century country house (finca). It organically grew over the years into the superclub it is today. It's one of a handful of clubs I will be attending in September, and the one which I am most looking forward to dancing at. We're going there twice - First to the Kevin & Perry event on the 23rd & secondly to God's Kitchen on the 26th. One of my primary goals for the trip is to dance on the podium with my lightwhips at Amnesia (looking at how packed the club becomes, this would appear to be the best and safest place to do this) - so I am planning on writing the club ahead of time to see if this will be possible. I'm also hoping to informally interview on our Podcast as many of the key movers and shakers on the Ibiza music scene as possible, so Raving Abroad at 50(ish) will have other voices in the pages of the narrative, rather than just my own. Then there is the legendary Pikes hotel, which, at the very least, I hope to have lunch at during my visit. (My friend, the talented and rapidly rising DJ Saya has promised to take me there!)
With this trip looming just a few months away, and myself and DJ Wizkid (Terry Fisher) doing our weekly Monday night podcast about our visit, my fears and expectations of this debut trip to the legendary island began to weigh on me a little. So writing this felt like a good way to voice those fears and also introduce myself to those of you I've yet to meet. In the interim, our Ibiza podcast will discuss our hopes for the trip, where and what we plan to visit, but also discuss the island's history, its clubs, the people, the beauty spots and the best places to eat and drink. I would also love to get some Ibiza locals on the podcast, because I'd like to explore the challenges of living on an island where the costs have skyrocketed and what our presence means to you all. Another reservation about Ibiza is the perception of it being the playground for the rich, with its VIP tables, super clubs with super prices of twenty-five euros per cocktail and eighteen euros for a water. These are certainly concerns that are not mine alone, and I am just a visitor. I often wonder what it must be like for someone who lives & works there all year round? If you would like to come on the Ibiza Podcast and discuss any aspect of the Ibiza lifestyle, please email me at lancenielsenfilmmaker@gmail.com
To understand the challenges that I faced returning to dancing (and indeed travelling anywhere), you would need to read the first of the last four blogs before this one (or grab a copy of my first book - Back To Raving at 50 from Amazon)
In short, this will only be the second time I've travelled abroad since the events of 2022, and my one previous excursion was not without its difficulties. In May of 2025, I pushed through all my fears and attended Unity in the Sun Corfu, a package clubbing event, (my first), scheduled just before the main season, run by Sonja & Billy Bunter. I was so relieved that I had even managed to make it onto the plane in the first place that when it landed in Corfu I immediately broke into tears. Unity was extremely well run and initially great fun, but during the trip, I was the target of some deliberate bullying that triggered my PTSD. Thereafter, I was waking up screaming every morning, and by the end of the third night, I essentially withdrew from people, never really getting my groove back and just wanted to go home. The individual responsible for all this subsequently apologised to me on the last day of the trip as we waited for our bus to the airport. Even though this would have been more helpful if it had come much earlier, I accepted their sincerity, put it down to experience and moved on.
With that trip behind me, I was straight into production on the short film All In Good Time and focused on finishing my aforementioned rave book, which is essentially an autobiographical account of my returning to dancin again at 50 after a hiatus of some thirty years. It covers all the events and venues I attended between 2023 and May of 2025, ending with me dancing on stage for Raindance at Heaven (and I am currently co-writing the book, The Road to Raindance, for Richard, the man behind the success of that legendary brand) Writing Back to Raving at 50 was a cathartic experience, and since it was published last year, I've had readers/clubbers reach out to me from all over the world, citing one experience or another which relates to them personally, and thanking me for writing it. I never expected the book to resonate with quite so many people, nor have such a personal impact, but it has. DJ Lisa Pin-Up perhaps summed it up best: 'I love your book exactly because it is so personal, that's why people get it...'
With Ibiza, one of my main concerns is just how crowded and tight the dance spaces might be. I always dance with something in my hands because it makes me feel safe. It's either my glowsticks, laser gloves, or when on stage or the podium, I'm with 2 lightwhips or one of my other dance toys. They've become synonymous with me, and to be honest, it's a massive part of my comfort zone. I'm worried that there might not even be enough room to dance with my glowsticks when we go to the Kevin & Perry party, let alone with light whips. I'm also concerned about being refused entry on the door, because I have them on me and won't be part of the promotional dance team (fair enough). If that happens, then I am basically not coming in, and that's that. I'd sit on the beach until Terry comes out again which is not an ideal scenario. In London, the UK, it's different. Everyone on the Day Rave knows me over here. I already dance for Peach & Raindance and have been booked to dance for Trance Central in November. Here, I know all the promoters, and if I am not dancing for them officially, they still love me doing my thing and normally set me up somewhere. There's a certain safety in that. I'm much less likely to have a panic attack and slip into fight or flight mode. In Ibiza, although I will know a few others attending, I will have no such safety net. I also don't want Terry to feel he has to look after me; especially as it's because of him that I'm able to go in the first place, as we are sharing accommodation, which has made the whole trip more practical for me. These fears earlier stopped me from booking the trip, and then something unexpected happened. Someone decided it would be a good idea to go to war with Iran.
Before then, I kept dithering about whether and when to go to Ibiza. But as soon as the 2026 war with Iran broke out, I knew the prices of flights would skyrocket, so I hit the 'fuck it' button and opted for September, booking a flight and worrying about where I would stay until later. For me, when to visit Ibiza was always between Trance week and the May event Slip Back in Time, run by DJ Slipmatt, who's a friend and one of my favourite House music DJ.s. I'm one of those unique people who like both Trance and House music in equal measure, as Unity had predominantly been a House music event, this time I wanted to opt for Trance and to be honest, I also wanted more time to mentally prepare for the trip.
My nine-day trip in Ibiza is certainly going to be a busy one because there's a ton to pack in, not just the clubbing, but visiting the Old Town, the beaches, and so much more plus Terry and I are also working on producing a track for the trip, hence the name of the podcast - The Track to Ibiza. So despite the fears expressed here, Back 2 Raving at 50 & Raving Abroad at 50(ish) is coming to Ibiza in September! We hope to see you there!
Lance Steen Anthony Nielsen is an award-winning writer/director/actor/playwright & novelist, whom also likes to dance - his latest book, the biographical Back to Raving at 50, is available on Amazon & has had 5-star reviews.
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