Pete Tong Parties With Deadmau5 in New York -- Road Report

Posted on Nov 8th 2010 6:30PM by Pete Tong
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Rukes

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 final 'Road Report' entry, Tong hits New York City for a Halloween DJ gig, gets swept up in Deadmau5 mania, and happily proclaims a "new golden era for electronic and dance music in North America."

Rukes

The final date of my trip was to play alongside Deadmau5, Kaskade and Calvin Harris at the legendary Roseland Ballroom in New York City's Theatre District. The former ice skating rink has hosted everything from a Hilary Clinton birthday party to Nirvana, the Ramones, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the White Stripes, to name a few! It's also behind the Ed Sullivan Theatre, the home of 'Late Show with David Letterman,' and is seen on TV virtually every time David does any on-the-street antics.

This was the third night for Deadmau5 at the venue, and if you needed any further proof of how the former Canadian computer programmer has etched himself into America's consciousness, check the number of Deadmau5 Halloween heads on display at Sunday's Halloween Parade on 6th Avenue the next day.

Halloween is probably my favourite time to play in the USA -- outside [of] the Winter Music conference -- as the atmosphere and excitement on the streets of a city like New York is quite unbelievable... How it got this big, I'm not so sure? 'Feverish' is the best way of putting it, and everyone dresses up, and the fancy dress stores are on another level -- this is serious business.

I went onstage at around 10:30PM, and the capacity-crowd was ready for a very big night; the energy was insane. Calvin Harris and Kaskade followed and kept the madness going until Deadmau5 arrived on stage at 3:15AM to wrap things up. I have to say, everyone got their money's worth -- a seven-hour roller coaster ride in Uptown NYC.

We are in a new golden era for dance and electronic music in the North America, and it's going to be very interesting to see quite where this story goes next! Watch this space...

Back to London now to complete a remix on N.E.R.D's new single 'Hypnotize You,' produced by Daft Punk. I'm touring the UK for November. I'll also have new EP with Paul Rogers out on Toolroom Records soon.

You can check out my weekly radio shows: 'Pete Tong Friday Night' and 'The Essential Mix' here.