Fatboy Slim

I'm just that little bit too young to remember the Housemartins breaking though in 1986 but the impression I get is they were never considered to be cool. I do remember the Beautiful South forming out of the ashes of the Housemartins in 1989 and they were certainly uncool. It was music for the older generations where you were more likely to hear their new song on Radio 2 than Radio 1.

It's therefore quite astonishing that 17 years after the Housemartins broke through their bass player would be playing a gig to 250,000 people in Brighton, many of whom would have been around my age. Around the time of the Fatboy Slim gig question I found it a little odd that just about the biggest DJ on the planet, the king of cool was nearly 40 and used to play bass in a band known for their dodgy jumpers. 

As someone who thought underground = good and mainstream = bad I was a little skeptical of Fatboy Slim when he hit the big time with his chart topper "Praise You". To this very day I still don't like that record and I find his tunes to be pretty hit or miss. 

However one night I was watching footage from some event on TV which included a Fatboy Slim DJ set. That's when I discovered what all the hype was about. His tunes were big beat which itself was very hit or miss but his DJ set was more house music. There was something about that set which made me want to be there. 

The first Fatboy Slim CD I bought was his set from the first Big Beach Boutique which remains one of my all time favourites. 

By 2008 it seemed like Fatboy Slim was no more. In a way it was a surprise Fatboy Slim had lasted so long given how quickly Norman Cook would change names prior to this. His new name in 2008 was Brighton Port Authority but I think it's fair to say it had little impact.

In 2012 it had been a decade since 250,000 people had come to see him play in Brighton. This year he would play at the newly opened Amex stadium. I was there and the reaction I got from several people was is Fatboy Slim still going. He was still popular enough to play a stadium though so whilst not as popular as he once was he still had a sizeable following. I also stayed in a hotel in Brighton that night for a pretty reasonable price as I recall.

In 2013 he was back in the Top 40 with "Eat Sleep Rave Repeat" which is fuckin dreadful. Like I said though his strength is in his DJing not his tunes.

I've seen him play a few times now and it's been great fun though admittedly I did start to tire of it last time I saw him.

In 2022 he was back on Brighton Beach to mark 20 years since that infamous gig. I thought enough time had passed since I'd last seen him play and considered going to Brighton. The tickets weren't a bad price for an event of that size, but the hotel prices were extortionate so I decided against it.

Another thing that occurred to me was that I was getting older but the average age of an attendee at a Fatboy Slim gig wasn't. 

This year he played at Glastonbury and I've just watched his set on iplayer. If I'm honest I didn't particularly enjoy it. There's still some similarities with his sets of old but what's changed has changed for the worse in my opinion.

He opened with "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen, or more specifically the vocals to "Don't Stop Me Now" to get the crowd singing along with a generic dance beat behind it. Then he did similar with "My Name Is" by Eminem. This was a recurring theme including some of his own material.

Worst of all though was the remake of "Praise You" that he did with the god awful Rita Ora. She appeared on stage to sing it. This more or less confirmed that I'm too old for the modern day Fatboy Slim.

It's strange to say that about someone about to turn 60, but then again he was able to cater for the 20 somethings when he was almost 40 so why not do the same at 60. Maybe when he's 80 the 20 somethings of now will be disillusioned 40 somethings like me and those being born around now will be loving it.