Ibiza comes to West Berkshire as Englefield House goes a bit Pete Tong

N2’s NIKI HINMAN went along to Heritage Live at the Englefield Estate, where The God of classic dance music arrived accompanied by a 65-person strong orchestra and an impressive light show to bring a dose of Balearic sunshine to West Berkshire.

Heritage Live: Pete Tong

at Englefield House

on Saturday, July 20

Review by NIKI HINMAN

NEW boy on the block Pharma D got the afternoon crowds juiced up with some Ibiza-style live mixing.

The park in front of the big house was sectioned off in part for a VIP area, where, for an extra £75, you could use some nice toilets and fight for a space on the sofas provided, and use the pay bar in the area.

That said, flashing the cash seemed the order of play in the fenced off area – one lady next to me at the bar was buying three bottles of Veuve Cliquot to ‘top up’.

Pumping dance music on the PA filled the gap between Pharma D and Groove Armada, who really did bring that Ibiza vibe.

Recognisable snippets of all manner of tunes, superbly mixed, up beat, sunny and hugely enjoyable.

Techno gurus The Grid were up next, and provided a darker more gritty contrast.

At 9pm, the PA is extinguished and a minute later the live spectacle begins.

And it really is a spectacle as Pete and his Essential Orchestra grace us with their presence.

Pete is on a platform above the orchestra, and facing him in the usual position of a conductor is Jules Buckley, and the pair seem to spar between mixing, and live musical blasts from the orchestra. The bloke on the tuba must have had a great time doing the reverberating bass lines.

In addition to this there is a trio of mainstay vocalists.

The atmosphere is euphoric, joyous and the place is hopping.

Pete Tong is one of the founding fathers of trance music and he every bit delivered on expectation and energy.

Coupled with the incredible laser display, you would be fooled into thinking you truly were somewhere in Ibiza in the late 90s.