In the 1980s Tong witnessed the birth of clubbing as we now know it and saw that it was good. He played his part in the evolution of the species, as electronic music bewitched the world in the early 90s. He lived in the acid house and in the jungle and became a household name. As host of the famous Essential Selection radio show on BBC1, he was often the conduit when the Chemical Brothers made tracks and the Basement Jaxx jacked.

It’s this dance music supporting role which Tong plays once more in his latest project: DJing at the opening of the second annual Heineken Thirst tour in Cork.
Thirst is a touring dance event which last year entertained 90,000 clubbers all over the world. It runs in tandem with Heineken’s DJing competition, ‘Found@Thirst’, giving local wannabe spinners the chance to play a warm-up set on the tour.
Pete Tong explains the rationale.
“Heineken have come up with this idea of enabling an event to happen that wouldn’t normally be able to happen without the punter being charged an exorbitant amount of money. The level of production at the Thirst shows is amazing and would normally only occur at a festival, where it would cost far more.”
Found@Thirst will be separating DJ Wheat from DJ Chaff until eventually one winner is given the chance to warm up for Pete Tong and Dutch trancester DJ Tiesto in Cork on the 11th of October. It’s this nurturing of young talent which most attracts Tong to the Heineken-sponsored event.
“It’s one thing to sponsor a show which wouldn’t normally be able to take place in Cork, it’s another to try and do some good by creating something that can unearth new talent,” he says. “But it’s not just a competition which culminates with the winner supporting me and DJ Tiesto. Thirst will continue to help the person who wins. That’s another reason why I’ve come on board this year. I want to get involved in promoting new DJs.”
But how do these new DJs promote themselves, when DJing is a competitive sport at the best of times? What advice has Pete Tong got for future Found@Thirst entrants?
“The main thing is a sense of originality and personality in their DJing style. It’s not about being the best technically, although these days you can be sure that people will expect you to mix competently.
“The single most important thing is what records you play and what order you play them in. We’re in the entertainment business, so it’s about getting people dancing.”
Dance music’s much publicized recession, as well as stricter Irish licensing laws, pose a real threat to the Irish scene. What is the solution for Irish clubbers when events like Thirst II have left their mark? Tong has some clear ideas.
“You’ve got to remember the reason people made dance music was to party and the reason everyone wanted to party was because that was the best possible thing they could do with their spare time,” he reasons. “It became an essential thing to do. If people are entrepreneurial enough and can create great parties, they can create a great scene.”
With Thirst II, Heineken are helping to achieve this. And Pete Tong is adamant that Thirst is an electronic initiative with a difference.
“I don’t usually like working with sponsors since it’s not really in the old rave or acid house spirit. But I think in this instance it’s been done in a way which is really attractive. I’m lucky to be doing what I’m doing at the opening show. DJing is great fun – and for the first time I can say that I’m getting quite good at it!”
There is no question but that Pete Tong lives and breathes music, and his relentless enthusiasm makes it difficult to see how Heineken’s Thirst II can be anything other than a massive positive for electronic music in Ireland and around the world.

Heineken Thirst II takes place in Cork on
October 11