Pete Tong Comes to America -- Road Report

Posted on Nov 2nd 2010 4:30PM by Pete Tong
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Pete Tong

On his recent 'Pete Tong USA 2010' tour, the DJ famous enough to have become part of Cockney rhyming slang ("it's all gone Pete Tong") proved why he remains one of the UK's hottest dance music exports.

At age 50, Tong is a legend behind the decks and the ultimate source on cutting-edge electronic dance music -- as evidenced by his gigs hosting BBC Radio 1's 'Essential Mix' and 'Essential Selection.' The DJ/producer has headlined just about every major party and festival going, and is blogging his latest American tour for Spinner.

In his first 'Road Report' entry, Tong offers a glimpse into DJ downtime and weighs in on the 2010 edition of LA's Monster Massive rave, which, according to the cheeky Brit, was the 'dog's bollocks.'

Pete Tong

There is an old saying about waiting for a bus: 'You wait an age, and then three come along at once.' The current dance and electronica boom in the US is a bit like that this fall; all the major markets are spoiled for choice, such is the deluge of talent vying for the perfect gig this Halloween season.

My latest US visit started with a well-earned break after the rigours of the long Ibiza season. I decided to take the family to Las Vegas and do the things a DJ never gets to do in Vegas -- to be a tourist! We did it all: the Grand Canyon, Casinos, Cirque du Soleil and David Copperfield. Unfortunately, the latter couldn't fix my Blackjack losing streak (strange, after getting rid of 13 members of the audience, I thought it would have been a breeze for the master of the dark arts).

My first show [was] at the vast LA Sports Arena plot, the home to [the] Monster Massive party for the past 13 years. Los Angeles, and California at large, has become the home of the 'Super Size Me' raves in recent times.

Unfortunately, this year's Electric Daisy Carnival attracted both 150,000 partygoers and a very negative mainstream press following a tragic loss of life in the aftermath. Fortunately, the LA authorities decided to ensure a much more 'controlled' environment for future events rather than closure. Which, despite a huge police presence, explained a much more relaxed atmosphere in and around the arena than in previous years: you could move freely, you got some personal space as opposed to somebody's armpit, and you could buy a drink and drink it before it got knocked out your hand!

The downside for the performers was that the 38,000 people (approx.) was about 10,000 short of that required to ensure all stages and arenas [were] sufficiently packed at all times... but, hey, that just meant you had to play at the top of your game to hold your crowd -- everyone wins in the end!

DJs on show included Carl Cox, Steve Lawler, John Digweed and Judge Jules. I played on the open-air House of Horrors stage with my former FFRR artists Felix Da Housecat and Armand Van Helden...and with a couple of huge flamethrowers that shot streaks of fire about 100 feet into the night sky and managed to warm up the entire audience in two seconds flat. It was the 'dog's bollocks,' as we say in the 'It's All Gone Pete Tong' dictionary!

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