Pete Tong tour: Miami, Austin, and Denver (sort of)

Pete Tong tour: Miami, Austin, and Denver (sort of)

30 October, 2009 | 7.36AM

• Written by: tongy
• Filed under: Music News:

Pete Tong meets two nuns who want to start a rock band in Miami, discusses the results of the DJ Mag Top 100 poll (he expected a certain Frenchman to win), reveals his current DJ set up, and cancels a gig in Denver due to a horrendous snowstorm, all in this blog dispatch from the North American continent.

Plus he reports back with some killer tracks that did wonders for him during his club sets.

Miami

We all associate playing Miami with a visit to the annual Winter Music Conference. I happen to be the freak who prefers to visit outside of that insane week, when you can walk down the street without getting forced off the pavement by pedestrian traffic, under the wheels of a giant pimped bling wagon.

Death by a superstretch limo…not a good look.

It’s also nice to see Collins Avenue without the club flyer decoration. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to walk on concrete.

A Tuesday is not a regular night on South Beach but the owner and host of MYNT, Romain Zago, has a passion for what I’m doing and a big black phone book. They just finished re-modeling the DJ booth about an hour before the doors opened and I’m happy to say it puts you right back in the room and not cocooned away from the action.

Another packed house and I got to try out my new microchunk visuals which looked hot.

Great to see Wally Lopez , Cedric Gervais, and Stephen Lee in the place.

My North American tour’s next stop is Austin Texas. Don’t forget I am on the hunt for new talent and new tunes both for my BBC radio show and new label.

The idea is to put the spotlight on the next generation of North American electronic artists under the banner of Tong Factor. The best I find will get a special release via Beatport, so hand your music to me at the shows.

Final note: the web is awash with the results of the DJ Mag Top 100 poll. I don’t take this thing too seriously and many of the DJs who I think are really important don’t seem to figure, but that will always be a matter of personal taste.

However I do think the number one position is symbolic for our business and sends out a certain message about what we do as a collective. So the Armada man has won again. 

No offence (I spent an amazing time with Armin and David Guetta in Brazil this year), but I’m sure even he’s surprised by the fact that he hasn’t been topped by David Guetta.

After the year DG’s had… the hits he made, the clubs and festivals he sold out, and the way he has generally rammed dance music into the mainstream, it’s astounding that he hasn’t been voted number one.

I can only assume that the vast majority of the people who indulge didn’t actually vote. Which of course is not as ridiculous as it sounds. Reading this you might not be a fan of David Guetta, but I don’t think many of his professional colleagues and peers would have had a problem with him getting the vote this year.

My big 3 from South Beach

1. Salvatore Freda & Volta ‘Tiramisu’ (DJ Madskillz Remix)

2. Empire of the Sun Vs. Steve Angello ‘Walking on Tivoli’

This is probably the bootleg/mash up of the year.

3. Calvin Harris ‘Flashback’ (Eric Prydz Mix)

Austin, Texas

So I’m checking in behind these two nuns in Miami [lead pic above] and they tell me they are starting a rock band. I tried to tell them about DJ Hero but they were having none of it! They think the nuns with a guitar angle will be unstoppable. I gave them Simon Cowell’s number…

Back to Austin and rain. I didn’t think they did precipitation in Texas!

The gig was at a small but perfectly formed club called PHOENIX which happened to be owned by a nice man called Steve from Miami.

I ended up on the roof of his building once with a beautiful woman… but that’s another story for the book.

I had a great time at South By South West earlier this year so it was a great pleasure to return.

The people here are so enthusiastic for cutting edge music and there were a handful of ex-pats in the audience which always helps. The Irish were out in force.

It’s the third night of the tour and things really clicked in Austin. For those of you interested in the tech stuff I’m running, my new set up includes four decks from Traktor Pro with Native Instruments’ Maschine as the midi controller and an effects unit.

It’s a smoking combination, and I really got my head around it last night, and I think the crowd felt it. No one wanted to go home.

The guy that played before me was William A, who was really good. His last tune is a Tong factor contender for sure!

3 big tunes in Austin

1. Marascia & Dusty Kid ‘Wiwy’ (Edit 1)

2. Rob Marmot ‘Carpe Diem’

3. Steve Angello ‘Monday’

Sorry Denver

As I finished writing this, I get some bad news – I have to cancel my show at Beta tonight in Denver, home of course, to this very institution Beatportal/Beatport, and my current fave club in America.

The weather is terrible, there is a snow storm, and it will make it both difficult for people to attend and for me to get in and out of the airport which could have a disastrous knock on effect on the the next leg of the tour.

Here is the official weather story:

The 9NEWS Weather Team expects a grand total of 10 to 20 inches of snow by Thursday evening for Denver and the Interstate 25 corridor from Monument Hill north to Cheyenne. Totals may be more than 20 inches and will be found in the western and southwestern suburbs within 4 miles of the foothills.

The foothills could see up to 40 inches of total snow accumulation by late Thursday while mountain areas above 10,000 feet right up along the east side of the Continental Divide may see up to 4 feet of snow.

I’m already working out how to get back to Denver soon. Which means today we’re off to Mexico. It’s the first time for me, so very exciting.

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