Pete Tong tour diary: Houston

Houston, TX, Friday, 20th March

First time gig in Houston for the Mau5 and me so we are both virgins! I never managed to fit the largest city in Texas into my touring before, whilst Joel had a show cancelled due to a hurricane last year. We were planning our own atmospheric disturbance this evening.

On the way to the gig we stopped by at a fund raising event arranged by The Endeavour For Hope Foundation. The charity raises money to promote, support and provide access to basic education in rural sub-saharan Africa. The foundation is run by a group of old ravers for want of a better description!  A passionate team of electronic music fans who use the opportunity of a big show in town to raise awareness and money for the charity. They asked if we would do a meet and greet to help the cause and we were very happy to oblige.

Bar Rio is a grand venue with a balcony on three sides and a big stage. Around 1000 people gathered including a Mau5 fan with his own yellow head. On closer inspection we were all impressed by the engineering. Joel is planning to unleash a new head at Ultra if it’s ready in time.

I was first on and just a few words on the mic got the party started right. My tech set up has changed since the fall ‘08 tour and now is based around Native Instruments Traktor Pro, Faderfox midi controllers and a few more toys. I’m very impressed with Pro, it sounds incredible and has a DJ feel when mixing that I think is superior to Ableton. Don’t get me wrong— Ableton is a wonderful program for live performance and in the studio but I think for DJing, Traktor has the edge.

Deadmau5 followed after his customary two minutes silence and worked up his own indoor hurricane. Standout tunes included his new update of Morgan Page’s ‘The Longest Road’ and a new cut called ‘For Want Of A Better Name’.

I’d like to report tales of afterparties and excess, sharing these few days on the road with Joel, and there was much banter as we got back to the hotel teasing each other that we were going back out..... yeah, right.