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What started as a Proms concert in the Albert Hall, to mark 20 years of Pete Tong at Radio 1, has now evolved into the DJ’s iconic Ibiza Classics show – which returns to Cardiff Castle this month. Amy Ford spoke to Pete about his shows over the past decade and what’s to come for the dance scene.
In the 11 years since veteran DJ and dance music tastemaker Pete Tong launched his Ibiza Classics concept, with the Heritage Orchestra joined onstage by a carousel of guest vocalists as Tong manned the decks, the canon of Ibiza classics have evolved – meaning a whole new era of club bangers have been added to the setlist.
“The show does feature contemporary classics as well as classic classics,” Pete tells me, in the course of reflecting on summers spent DJing in Ibiza when the island’s rave-magnet status was relatively new. That, and myriad other factors, has ensured the house scene has become more mainstream – often of a piece with pop culture.
“The biggest change from when I started is it’s not a secret anymore. It definitely felt underground – you kind of had to be in the know.”
The popularity of club music goes hand-in-hand with sheer musical overpopulation – and, in a mostly financially straitened industry, the harsh realities behind aiming for success music in an environment where “instead of 100 tracks a week, you’ve got a billion tracks a week. But if you can just navigate your way through all the averageness, there are gems there.”
Pete has high hopes for the future of DJing and club culture: success will continue to find DJs who generate fans, get those fans to stick with them, create great parties and, as he puts it, “move the culture in a meaningful way.” It’s the likes of Max and Luke Dean, Josh Baker, Pawsa and Michael Bibi who are paving the way for the future of DJing, he thinks. “There are a lot of DJs that are here today, gone tomorrow. They’re the real deal.”
After decades of playing out, on multiple continents, Pete has perfected his post-show ritual. Back in the day, this might have included afterparties until the early hours of the morning; nowadays he has a different way of winding down. “Usually, it involves getting on my bike and riding. I’m also really into meditation – I’ve been doing that for over 10 years. Silence is good!” he smiles, only half-serious you’d imagine.
Regarding his aural diet, Pete has been broadening his musical horizons: “Neo-classical, new jazz and film soundtracks. Max Richter’s Hamnet score is amazing.” Electronic music remains very important too, of course, and in high rotation – central as it is to the average Pete Tong working day.
Ibiza Classics is touring the UK again this summer, heading to Cardiff this month. Pete’s got fond memories of his last performance at Cardiff Castle, in 2018: local boy Geraint Thomas had just won the Tour de France, and the crowd reacted with delight when his image popped up on the big screens. “It’s definitely one of my favourite places to play.”
The Ibiza Classics format was a gamble when it debuted – the pop music/orchestral crossover gambit has mushroomed since – and its evolution makes it all the more special for Pete. “I didn’t think we were going to be doing it 10 years later. The core audience now is maybe a little bit different to what it was then.” Whatever may have changed, though, Pete Tong Ibiza Classics is still a vibrant celebration of dance music’s history – and having it back in one of the big man’s favourite venues is a bonus.
Pete Tong Ibiza Classics, Cardiff Castle, Thurs 11 June.
Tickets: £55. Info: here
words AMY FORD
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ICEAGE
For Love Of Grace & The Hereafter (Mexican Summer)
Early on, Iceage were a shock to the system: nihilistic teenage hardcore punks who cloaked themselves in a frisson of dangerousness through selling branded knives at their merch desk and – whether knowingly or not – flirting with fascist aesthetics. But then came a questionable reinvention as sophisticates and the grander Tindersticks pretensions of 2014’s Plowing Into The Field Of Love and its two successors, which saw the Danes metaphorically squeezed into ill-fitting suits as though for a court appearance.
Anyone hoping that a reunion with Nis Bysted, co-producer of Iceage’s first two albums, might signal a return to their thrillingly feral intensity is destined to be largely disappointed. For Love Of Grace & The Hereafter undoubtedly has its moments – not least the Idlewild-melodic Tender Blades, the taut-and-spiky-as-barbed-wire Holy Water, and rock‘n’roll ripper The Weak, complete with atonal recorder solo. But they still sound somewhat defanged and declawed; originally out on their own, Iceage are now part of the postpunk pack.
words BEN WOOLHEAD