‘Emotional’ - Rolling back the years with Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics at Aintree Racecourse, gallery & review

I wasn’t sure what to expect heading to Aintree Racecourse to watch the great Pete Tong and the 65-piece Essential Orchestra debut their new show for 2023 with an array of reimagined Ibiza classics. The last time a saw the influential DJ live was quite some time ago, at Cream and other super clubs, during his meteoric rise in the 90s and 00s.

But from the moment the show began with Snap’s Rhythm Is A Dancer it was clear this certainly wasn’t going to be some sort of middle-aged meander. The beats were pumping and the crowd, which ranged from a surprising amount of teens to over 60s, were well up for it.

It was a different experience for each group: the youngsters revelling in the festival atmosphere whilst watching one of dance music’s most iconic figures and the older generation rolling back the years - drifting back to the beach bars of Ibiza or the big clubs that peppered the UK.

The orchestra, conducted by Tom Richards and joined by a trio of brilliant vocalists were sensational, with each section or instrument given a moment to shine at various points in Tong’s set. As the sun went down and the lasers and visual effects really started to take affect, a hedonistic evening of fun and nostalgia really ramped up.

The set took the crowd on a journey from the 90s to present day, including Robert Miles’ Children and Rudimental’s Feel the Love, but the high point of the night had to be the back to back classics of Faithless’s Insomnia and The Source featuring Candi Stanton’s You Got the Love.

“It’s been emotional,” Tong told us after the encore. It certainly was Pete.