Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra: Ibiza Classics – O Come All Ye Ravers at the O2 Arena Online

Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra bring their programme of Ibiza Classics to the O2 for the fifth consecutive year, except this time there’s a twist: there’s no one there. This adds another layer of displacement to a concept already based around bringing the Ibiza summer to the English winter, setting up the curious objective of making you wish you were there (the arena) so you could wish you were somewhere else (Ibiza). It achieves those aims, successfully merging a concert and a rave without  anyone having to spend O2 prices on beer or navigate the crowds (depending on how many people you live with).

Conducted by Jules Buckley, the Heritage Orchestra has all the strings and percussion required to free House music from its computerised confines. And they’re not lying about the Classics either, featuring Robin S’s Show Me Love, Rui da Silva’s Touch Me and Stardust’s Music Sounds Better with You, as well as bringing a show-stopping performance of Running from guest vocalist Jessie Ware. There’s something simultaneously pointless and logical about having actual musicians play digital loops but also do justice to music that was always meant to sound like it was played real instruments. It works in some cases better than others (ironically Faithless’s Insomnia is too faithfully adapted to recapture its brilliance), but the overall effect is exciting and transportive. 

The O2 even looks quite nice without all the people, with effective use made of the space by having the socially distanced orchestra on the floor of the auditorium, kinetically filmed and ambiently lit by glowing lights and dancing lasers. It all makes for a joyful, socially responsible rave (providing you don’t disturb the neighbours), and a whole new meaning for the term “house music.”

Dan Meier

For further information and future events visit Pete Tong’s website here.

Watch a trailer for O Come All Ye Ravers here: