Pete Tong @ The O2

A number of rock music fans have always criticised dance music because its made on the computer instead of using real instruments, therefore it isn't proper music. My view has always been that as long as it sounds good, I don't really care how its made. Last week though, Pete Tong brought along an orchestra to the O2 to play many well known dance tunes from years gone by using actual instruments.

Having done the same thing at the proms last year, I had already seen footage of this to get an idea of what to expect. The set did not differ too much, but its all about hearing it out loud.

The set began with "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim, as soon as the beat kicked in I was out of my seat dancing and never sat down the rest of the night.

At times, you wouldn't know there was an orchestra there without looking at the stage, that show just how good they managed to replicate the tracks on their instruments.

Whilst they did get the instruments pretty much bang on, there was something they didn't do so well, the vocals. Obviously they can't get the original singers of every track played to come and perform, but they did highlight which vocalists would be present.

First up was Ella Eyre who came on to sing "Good Life" by Inner City. With a lot of dance music, the vocals are a bit of an after thought, but this was a track that originally had genuinely good vocals on it. To be honest, I had no idea who Ella Eyre was, but she did an absolutely dreadful job of singing "Good Life".

A bit later we did actually have the original vocalist for a track there on stage. Unfortunately that was Ella Eyre who sang a Rudimental track, can't say I'm a fan of Rudimental either, but was a good time to take a toilet break.

The set was rounded off with "Café Del Mar" with images of Ibiza being projected on the screen which seemed the perfect way to round off the set.

Then came the inevitable encore where Candi Staton came on to sing "You've Got The Love". At 76, her voice isn't what it was but was still a big improvement on the dreadful Ella Eyre.

Then the absolute final track was a Rudimental one, this time featuring vocalist John Newman who sounded like he was trying to be Mark Morrison. Not a great way to finish, but awful vocalists and Rudimental tracks aside it was an excellent night.