Pete Tong Finds Dance 'Fever' in NYC and Miami -- Road Report

Posted on Nov 5th 2010 9:30AM 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 Sessions.' The DJ/producer has headlined just about every major party and festival going, and is blogging his latest American tour for Spinner.

In his second 'Road Report' entry, Tong applauds American clubs for tapping into Ibiza-style, and confirms that "100 percent authentic" dance music is alive and well in Miami -- no thanks to the Black Eyed Peas.

My second show on Tuesday (Oct. 26) was a low-key but glamorous affair at one of NYC's hottest VIP clubs, Provocateur, at the base of the Gainsvoort Hotel in the trendy Meatpacking District on the lower west side. Another phenomenon of the current boom in dance and electronic music is that the 'table' clubs have finally gotten over their love affair with hip-hop and mash-up, and are now becoming big buyers of all things electronic.

Since opening earlier in the year, Provocateur has hosted Deadmau5, Sasha, Steve Lawler, Kaskade, and myself, to name a few. This can largely be explained by the fact that more and more of the 'jet set' crowd are enjoying Ibiza and South America -- where they get to experience the very best -- and want that reflected in the clubs they frequent at home. Vegas is undergoing the same thing; its a fascinating development. Halloween weekend ... the three hottest VIP spots in Manhattan all feature dance acts: Provocateur (Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5), the brand new Lavo (Eric Morillo) and 1OAK (Behrouz).

Wednesday (Oct. 27): Miami, and further evidence of how things are changing for the better in America...

Miami has always been a safe haven for dance music ever since the days of disco; when the rest of the country was burning their 12" singles, this city was still partying hard. I played at another traditional VIP spot mid-week called Mokai on South Beach. What I didn't expect was the sheer hunger and enthusiasm for 100 percent authentic underground house and techno.

Such is the huge (and commendable) success of David Guetta and his collaborations with the Black Eyed Peas that you can be forgiven for thinking that the USA's love for dance music is very shallow and one dimensional. But this intense show in Miami proves to me that the fever is breaking out on the extreme left and right of this story (excuse the political pun!).

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