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Tong an Essential Selection

From Pacha to Paris, Pete Tong spreads dance scene around the globe

Who: Pete Tong

When: Monday, Nov. 13

Where: Garfinkel’s

Tickets: $15

Ibiza’s hottest DJ, Pete Tong, returns for his annual North American tour with a stopover in Whistler Nov. 13 at Garfinkel’s.

Usually performing to crowds in the tens of thousands at his Friday night residency at Pacha in Ibiza, Spain (the world’s biggest rave and club scene), Tong moves inwards with a more intimate showcase for a couple of hundred people in Garf’s.

Other stops on his North American tour include a Las Vegas show with fellow turntable legend Paul Oakenfold. While Tong looks forward to catching up with the Joneses in Vegas, skiing is bringing the worldwide phenomenon to Whistler.

The British DJ/Producer has brought the beats from dark club corners and into the light of mainstream listening as both a DJ and radio jockey on the BBC Radio One show Essential Selection.

The champion of dance music has launched luminaries such as Orbital, Brand New Heavies, Salt ’n’ Pepa and Artful Dodger on his seminal ffrr label.

The man on demand seems far removed from his humble beginnings as a wedding DJ teen in Kent, England. He lived by the idea, “the only way to do it is to run your own club, create your own scene” and began booking an alternative night at a club on Baker Street. The first booking was a then-unknown band called Culture Club.

He moved on to host dance music segments on various radio stations, including BBC’s Radio One, Invicta and Capital Radio. With his Essential Selection show he became one of the most influential people in the business, propelling the latest underground hits up the charts, and influencing what music U.K. club-going youth buy today.

His ear for talent propelled him from writing for Blues and Soul Magazine to assuming an A&R position at London Records.

Meanwhile, he began spinning in Ibiza in the mid 1980s and brought the Ibiza experience back to UK clubs and the house generation was born. He never strays too long from his sandy haven.

The broadcaster, clubland DJ and A&R man is always in search for the next big thing, amounting to Essential compilations albums. Tong produced several of the best sellers himself. Tong’s Essential Classics, a triple CD collection, capture songs that define the dance generation.

The first 100 tickets are priced at $15 each and are available at Electric Daisy.