For years he was one of three; now it’s three in one. Joan Gràcia (Barcelona, ??1957) is used to premieres; for years he lived them together with Carles Sans and Paco Mir with Tricicle, and today he is not long before the presentation in society of the new mess he has gotten himself into. On Thursday, Lío Mallorca opens its doors in a historic venue such as the legendary Tito’s disco in Palma and along the lines of the successful homonymous club that has been operating on the island of Ibiza for years.

Gràcia has been installed in Palma for a month for the preparation of the variety show Simply the best. “Yes, like Tina Turner’s song, but in this case to also emphasize that the different numbers that are represented are the best of the best in the history of Lío and some more, special, for this premiere”, he explains in Joan, about to open to the public the new premises of the Pacha Group. The old and peculiar building of the Tito’s nightclub, on the Passeig Marítim in Palma, is now, after a complete remodeling that has lasted more than a year, Lío Mallorca, an offer of variety show, restaurant, drinks and disco, in the image and likeness of the place in Ibiza.

But Joan Gràcia, before getting into the messes of the different Lío, also got into it, riding the Tricycle with his colleagues, friends and almost lovers, Carles Sans and Paco Mir. All three starred in the group’s farewell in December in a final performance at the Liceu. The three were just over 20 years old when they met in a theater workshop, they liked each other, they hit it off and, little by little, they won over the audience and the stage thanks to their mute language skills. In order for the trio to work, after several years of fruitful and successful union, Carles, Joan and Paco decided to give each other three months of vacation a year, which also coincided with the summer The last August they worked, they did 29 shows in 31 days representing Slastic, a marathon they never repeated. The separations during these months were, moreover, balmy: as in marriages, there is nothing like a good reunion after being missed.

Summer was sacred to Joan Gràcia and she was in the midst of her summer break thirteen years ago when Ricard Urgell, then owner of Pacha, consulted her about the launch of a new place with an offer never seen in Ibiza or nowhere else Gràcia went from friend and advisor to being responsible for the project as well as its subsequent launch and continues like this. Lío’s first artists were taken from Spamalot, the musical that Tricicle adapted from the Monty Python original, and little by little he has been forming successive companies with dancers, singers, contortionists and other specialists in varieties, who, first in Ibiza, later in Mykonos (Greece) and in London (United Kingdom) and from this Thursday in Mallorca, they are part of a two-hour show in which thirty numbers follow one another at a frantic pace, which are performed while the public tastes the dinner. Michelin-starred chef Andreu Genestra has been chosen for the new location in Palma, who has prepared a menu as deluxe as the show and the location. Everyone’s intention is for Palma to regain its shine and glamour; living the Lío experience is not cheap, but the waiting list to enjoy Lío in Ibiza shows that it does not disappoint. After the variety show and dinner, the venue transforms into a nightclub with the same or new audience.

Joan Gràcia seems to enjoy this new crowding with the appearance of a calm man and recognizes that in his life there have been no more messes than those of his job in Lío. He lived and closed the Tricycle stage without any bad luck and with the right level of fame to enjoy it; for 30 years, he has been happily married to Ana Fernández and boasts of his two daughters: Carlota (28), a jewelry and clothing designer with her firm MaisxFrida, and the youngest, Julieta (25), a model for surprise, whose cell phone keeps, along with designs of the eldest, the covers of the most important fashion magazines in which the girl appears. What more can you ask for.