Pete Sessions

In a career spanning more than four decades, Tong has mastered the art of having an instinctive understanding of exactly what people want to hear, and when they want to hear it. He has also been the custodian of personal moments, soundtracking our lives with songs that remain ingrained for several years.

On Sunday night, his Ibiza Classics show transformed Guildhall Square into a collective scrapbook. Each anthem unlocked a different chapter for the thousands of people who came to dance.

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Opening with Fatboy Slim’s Right Here, Right Now, was indisputably a great decision on Tong’s part. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know that song, and if they don’t, you would have to immediately cut them out of your life. I don’t make the rules, but that should be one. This song, paired with The Essential Orchestra, who are touring with Tong, is frankly a match made in heaven.

There are few things more British than deciding that a form of music associated with sunburn, questionable decisions and even more questionable outfits deserves an 18-piece orchestra. The absurdity of that idea is what makes it a success, and that is exactly the miracle of Tong’s Ibiza Classics.

The night, sadly, progressed much too quickly for my liking. There was an energy shift when three singers joined the orchestra and Tong on stage, starting their Southampton Summer Sessions debut with Lola’s Theme by the Shapeshifters, followed by Make Luv, the 2003 classic by Room 5, which was the soundtrack to my youth. I was immediately taken back to my childhood bedroom, the song blasting on my pink CD player as I attempted to dance. The latter was repeated last night.

What will remain one of the evening's highlights, however, was the sight of the tuba player unexpectedly stealing the show during Kernkraft 400. In an evening packed with euphoric anthems and crowd-pleasing songs, it was somehow the largest instrument on stage that emerged as the unlikely star. Major props to the incredibly talented player.

At this point, I doubted whether the evening could improve; I was already having such a good time. Then the unmistakable opening of Insomnia rang out across Guildhall Square, and I realised the best was yet to come.

People are often surprised to learn that I love dance music, particularly the anthems of the 1990s and early 2000s. But this music was my bread and butter as a child, and it has stayed with me through adolescence and into adulthood. Insomnia was a huge part of that soundtrack, and hearing it performed live was one of those moments when you realise you do, in fact, have great taste in music.

To conclude, it was an evening full of unadulterated joy, unmistakable dance anthems, and too many people not dancing for my liking. But I like to think I compensated for their lack of movement, for one and a half hours.

These songs may have been written for clubs and sticky dance floors, but they continue to connect generations of listeners. In bringing them to Southampton, Pete Tong delivered not just a concert, but a reminder of the remarkable staying power of a genre that was never meant to stand still.