Live Review: Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra

2 November 2017 | 5:13 pm | Jessica Dale

"If you get the chance to see Tong and co live, don't let it slip by you."

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When you think of Ibiza, it's near impossible to separate the island from the dance tunes that define it.

Wednesday night saw Pete Tong bring Ibiza to Sydney Qudos Bank Arena. Along with conductor Jules Buckley, Tong has brought along a 65-piece orchestra for their Ibiza Classics show. The backstory goes like this: the legendary British DJ takes classic, and some contemporary, house tunes and reimagines them with The Heritage Orchestra and full light show. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine what a colossal show that could be. 

Tong and orchestra took to the stage and there was a literal bang to start. If you're familiar with Fatboy Slim's Right Here, Right Now, imagine that opening note but with 65 instruments behind it. It was a triumphant start, with the crowd immediately cheering and in awe of the stage in front of them.

Three songs in and they pulled out The Shapeshifter's Lola's Theme and the crowd are more than into it, before they soon work their way into Moby's Go. Ever the professional, Tong was more than inviting to the crowd sharing that "it's our first gig in the Southern Hemisphere".

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They rolled through hit after hit before bringing out Sneaky Sound System's Connie Mitchell. Mitchell wasn't the only guest for the evening, with Thandi Phoenix joining in for guest vocals for a huge version of Jax Jones' You Don't Know Me.

There crowd roared for Moby's Porcelain, while Tong wandered around his raised platform encouraging the crowd. "We'd like to break some records," said Tong, in reference to the former Olympic Village the show was housed at. "How about the longest ever breakdown by a string section?" he asked before they broke into a massive vision of Faithless' Insomnia.

It wasn't long before they played a brand new track for the crowd, The Chemical Brother's Galvanize with Remi kolawole on vocals. It was here that the juxtaposition of dance music with the orchestra truly shined. It wrapped up all too quickly, Tong called back Mitchell for the huge closing number, a version of Florence & The Machine's You've Got The Love. The crowd are all on their feet, dancing and cheering to round out the show.

If you get the chance to see Tong and co live, don't let it slip by you.