German Grammy award-winning nu-disco phenomenon, Purple Disco Machine, has been revolutionising Ibiza club etiquette throughout 2026, with his sparkling residency at the island’s iconic Pacha. Rosie Riot discovers why Pure Pacha and PDM is a match made in dopamine dancefloor heaven.
It’s 1am and I’m traversing a gauntlet of revellers one balmy September evening, on the outskirts of Ibiza Old Town. My destination is the legendary nightclub Pacha.
Once inside at the ‘VIP garden’ entrance, the usual iconic cherry branding of the club has a purple saturation applied, with italic logos for ‘Purple Disco Machine’ illuminating the faces of well-presented clubbers.
For Purple Disco Machine — the German DJ and producer otherwise known as Tino Piontek — this Pacha residency feels less like a conventional superstar booking, and more like a natural homecoming. With Pacha being the island’s oldest nightclub, its 1973 Ibiza conception helped herald disco’s entry into the island’s musical fabric, bridging the gap between multi-genre eclecticism and evolving electronica. So Purple Disco Machine’s ‘Pure Pacha’ summer stint has felt like a perfect fit.
But before I spectated PDM’s splendour inside, I was thrilled to see the artist support act for the night: 2 Many DJs (aka Soulwax). The Belgian duo and pioneers of modern mashup played their signature blend of electronica and pop, seamlessly traversing the steely hooks of Outlander’s Vamp with their remix of Marie Davidson’s Work It. This was interspersed with Britpop anthems like Blur’s Girls and Boys, and the euphoria of 80s Dead or Alive megahit You Spin Me Round. Their set was a xennial masterclass of cross-genre and gender pollination.
With the crowd well and truly warmed up, it was time for Purple Disco Machine to arrive. Moustached and ready, with mirrored cherries rotating above, Tino kicked things off with Disco Cherry, a chugging stormer of a track directly inspired by, and honouring, Pacha. Sampling 80s Italo-disco classic Walkman from Kasso, the track was the perfect feel-good entrée to his set.
Suddenly, some dancers in Adidas tracksuits swung into view on one of the stages in Saturday Night Fever style unison. The performers transpired to be from Bob’s Dance Shop, a dance group rooted in 70s disco and flashmob excitement. But with a covered-up look, B-boy styling, and the finest retro hairstyles in the building, the dancers were a refreshing change from Ibiza’s normal scantily clad and glittered ensembles.
Basslines, funk guitars, Italo influences and shimmering synths are given the weight and punch of contemporary house music with Purple Disco Machine. The sheer breadth of his original repertoire, and the number of remixes he has produced, is impressive, not to mention his Grammy for his remix of Lizzo’s About Damn Time.
With massive club hits like WEISS’s Feel My Needs receiving his remix wizardry, and dropping original tracks like In the Dark, as well as tracks from 2024’s Paradise album, you realise that he is up there with one of the giants of contemporary disco-house producers — a true ‘DJ’s DJ’.
With the addition of disco-pop anthems like Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, and Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean triggering Bob’s Dance Shop into moonwalk magic, his Pacha show was one of the most entertaining I have attended on the island in recent months. The combination of disco elegance, club legacy, and a residency that offers a refreshing change from other more tech-house-led hyper-club options, the night comes highly recommended.
You can still catch Purple Disco Machine at Pacha every Thursday up until and including Thursday October 1st, when he performs a closing set with support from Gerd Janson, and a B2B from Busy P and Breakbot. Buy your tickets here.
Disco Cherry is out now on all listening platforms. Words by Rosie Riot.
About Post Author
