FATBOY SLIM – BRIGHTON CENTRE 16.3.23
I decided to go out tonight in town and watch some bloke spin some tunes. Turns out I wasn’t alone, as between 4000 and 4500 other folk had the exact same idea and what a terrific idea it was, as it was only blimmin’ Fatboy Slim in da house wasn’t it!
The venue of choice for this world famous top DJ was obviously the Brighton Centre, but not only was he bringing the carnival party atmosphere to us this evening, but he’s at it again tomorrow as well.
After one hour long DJ sets each from Lizzie Curious and then LP Giobbi, it was time for Fatboy Slim to show us exactly why he is still at the top of his game after all these decades, with a two hour set rammed full of banging choonz.
At 8:50pm the house lights were extinguished and hundreds of mobile phones were held aloft in order to catch the opening action. Above the fans heads was an impressive semi-circular gantry which was loaded with lights and a screen to show graphics and films. The first action was a lazer beam shooting from just below the centre South balcony onto the giant screen as in etching into it and Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ blasted out from the many speakers. The journey was to begin……and Fatboy drops into ‘Clubs/Put Your Hands Up (In The Air)’ by His Majesty Andre, The Black & White Brothers & Fatboy Slim and dutifully almost everyone obliges and just two minutes into the set the overhead confetti cannons burst and ticker tape rains down on the crowd.
Shortly after this, there was a slide of Gary Lineker’s face which was followed by a shot of Brighton & Hove Albion’s in form 28 year old son Solly March. This was greeted by massive cheers throughout the venue, especially as he had scored the winning goal the night before against Crystal Palace. It would have been awesome if Solly was here tonight, might have equaled his buzz at scoring that goal. I suspect there were quite a few well known people in the venue this evening, I spotted Sleeper’s Louise Wener in passing.
Fatboy Slim’s ‘The Rockafeller Skank’ had a deserved outing and was followed by ‘Work’ from Kevin McKay, Pupa Nias T & Denise Belfon, after which was ‘Speed Trials On Acid (feat. Dan Diamond)’ by Norman Cook & Carl Cox, which was a corker.
The pre-recorded films were intercut with live action from Fatboy as well as the crowd, I felt that this worked rather well indeed. The fantastic dance numbers just kept on coming, including ‘Just Feels Tight’ from Fisher which was intermixed with ‘Right Here’ Right Now’ from Fatboy’s famed 1998 ‘You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby’ album. Fatboy then asked everyone to crouch down as low as they could and then on command jump up again – that was a sight for sore eyes, everyone working in unison.
His number one classic ‘Praise You’ from 1999 got a remix treatment tonight, as did virtually all of the material. ‘Powder Keg’ from DJ Arturo Sanchez & DJ Gomi was memorable as the vertical fire cannons went off for the first time. His remix of Cornershop’s ‘Brimful Of Asha’ (another number one) got served up too in a heavier beat. ‘Work It (feat. DJ Deeon)’ from Dance System, was a popular choice with the dancing crowd as they sang “whooah whooah”.
There was a sad universal “ahhhh” as a shot of Maxi Jazz from Faithless was shown during ‘Insomnia’ as he sadly passed away last December. I spotted ‘Meet Her At The Love Parade’ by Da Hool in the mix too, but my gaze was solidly on Fatboy as he jumped down from the stage during the number to be closer to his adoring fans.
‘Tu Amor’ from Ben Hemsley was a decent bouncing number as was ‘The Parade’ by Joel Corry & Da Hool, and ‘Set Me Free’ by D.O.D. After which we were served the legendary earworm ‘Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat’ by Fatboy Slim, Riva Starr And Beardyman. Shortly afterwards, he delivered my choice cut of the night in ‘Rock Your Body’ from Chocolate Puma, it sounded terrific! ‘Skankylicious’ from Flashboy Dim was enjoyable as was a version of ‘Born Slippy’ by Underworld, which has to have one of the best intros ever!
Near the end of the set, there was a loud bang and long yellow streamers fell from the ceiling, many of which were spotted along Kings Road and West Street afterwards. The finale was a genre defining mashup of The Rolling Stones ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, Ramones ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, his ‘The Rockafeller Skank’ and ‘The End’ by The Beatles.
It had been yet another major success for Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim and he is doing it all again tomorrow, Friday 17th March – Grab your tickets HERE.
Would have loved to have gone but had to use my universal credit on bills. Not fair. Maybe next time free tickets for those on benefits? Love fatboy slim. Top DJ