Whether you're a fan of dance music or not, the name 'Pete Tong' screams out anthems and that legendary status aura. And although he's famously known for the rhyming slang phrase, "it's all gone Pete Tong", it seems that everything is going perfectly right for the producer.
He's one of Britain's, if not the world's, most recognised DJs and has held a commanding presence over the industry for more than two decades, which has earned him a reputation as the global ambassador of dance music.
At the beginning of the year, it was announced that he along with Jules Buckley and 65-piece The Heritage Orchestra would play the 3Arena, Dublin on Saturday 24th and The SSE Arena Belfast on Sunday 25th November 2018, bringing his Ibiza Classics extravaganza to Ireland for the first time. And it's going to be epic!
Speaking on The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show, the 58-year-old told of his excitement to be returning here after an incredible display at Electric Picnic last year, "EP was the festival version of what we go around with".
(clip via paul g on YouTube)
He gave us some insight into how the concept for the show came about and claims "it all started, it was a kinda challenge, a stroke of luck and a bit of a dare".
After being asked to curate a prom for an iconic venue in London back in 2015, he stuck on the headphones, got classical and created something very special, "the reaction in the Albert Hall that night was unbelievable".
"None of us thought it would ever go beyond that point" Pete chuckled, but how wrong he was. Three years later and the exhibition is gathering momentum all the time.
The BBC's second-longest serving DJ also revealed what he has in store for his Irish shows with four new tracks from his album and a couple of surprise guests.
Iano wanted to know what his favourite track from the show to play is, and although he loves the opener from Fatboy Slim, he says "I always get moved by Café del Mar".
The lads chat about where Pete's love for music, especially DJing, comes from, like when he was playing in a rock band at a school disco and remembers "I saw a DJ and I thought he was making a much nicer noise than I am, and I just got infatuated by it".
There's also his spot-on analogy of why he loves Ibiza so much and they also get to the bottom of where that Cockney classic, "It's all gone Pete Tong" actually comes from.
So the 3Arena & The SSE ZArena are the places to be this November and here's a little taste of what you can expect:
(Clip via BBC Radio 1)
Catch the chat in full by pressing the play button in the image at the top of the page.
