Live Review: Fatboy Slim
5 May 2023 at Burswood Park, Perth
Review by Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
The producer repeatedly punches into the air in dedication of his own production, while shouting in ecstasy as if he has just won the state lottery. The sea of followers nine feet below mirroring his repertoire, sonically pounced by the infectious sing along hooks and sultry melodic detail of the urban groove. He points to a lady in white sitting on the shoulders of her friend. She screams and returns gesture while recording her fleeting touched-by-fame moment for the personal archives. Others vie for his attention. Instead, he jumps and raise his hands, clapping, urging everyone to reach to their fullest state of euphoria for the night. As the music is about to hit the crescendo, the stage darkens and infused with smoke. Like a battle scene in Star Wars, battle-like lasers are projected into the infinite darkness, punctuating the constellations under a full moon night, dramatised by one of the most alluring auditory escapes in the world of music.
At almost sixty years young, Quentin Leo Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, is considered by ravers as the OG of Electronic Dance Music – or EDM. The producer scored several hits during an era where the genre was plotting along the contemporary charts, with only a handful slithering into regular mainstream airplay. Most of the Producers had diminished into obscurity, while some are spinning on the world podium, headlining in packed festivals and shows.
The night was sparked by a remix of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. It marks the first sample among many tracks. There was sence that even without the dance reverberation, most of the crowd – who appeared youthful enough to be in preschool during Fatboy Slim’s initial dominance – would still cranked up thanks to Cook’s physical exhortation that resembled Anthony Robbins’ get up and live to your fullest potential style of exuberance. From the Crown Casino to the Optus Stadium end of Burswood Park, the ravers were induced into jumping castle mode, tranced by the house and remix of yesteryear’s bangers.
The giant screen behind the DJ set were displaying images that were quirkily and thematically curated, such as a group of Buddha figurines moving in circles, while later we were hypnotised by smileys from emojis during Eat Rave Sleep Repeat. Progressive messages of solidarity including “Racist Go Away” and “Love Will Conquer Hate” were also preached. Cook paid homage to the late Barry Humphries through the alter ago in Dame Edna, with the crowd applauding as a mark of respect and appreciation. The video of actor Christopher Walken – who is a trained dancer, got the crowd nostalgically warped in Weapon of Choice.
The setlist were full of club bangers, such as Put Your Hands Up In The Air by Denzel, pantomoning the audience with the lyrics, consciously or subconsciously. House favourite Meet Me At The Love Parade was echoed across the park, and the hypnotic Can’t Get No Sleep by the late Insomnia sprinkled the house element with the seductive organ beat.
For many, Right Here, Right Now is considered by many as one of the best dance tracks of all time. It’s a sample from James gang’s Ashe, the Rain & I and the lyrics from Angela’s Basset’s performance. Almost twenty-five years later, the track is still a popular in clubs, raves and festivals, as evident in tonight from the crowd’s enthused sing along. The live version delivers another level of transcendental groove as the intro proceed to the main body, as if Cook is taking us into another dimension and culminating into the energy that’s about to explode as it reaches critical mass from a fusion of solidarity. And that’s the essence of Fatboy Slim’s show – peace, harmony and solidarity.
The penultimate track was Praise You, which was released before the turn of the millennium. Six samples were used in the recorded version, pairing with piano riff to form a praise and love in a relationship. Once again, the audience appreciated the genius of music sampling and dexterity by Fatboy Slim live, the funkiness and the effortless beats roll into one, and the positive vibes it exude across Burswood Park.
Fatboy Slim ended the night with the electric guitar riff in The Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction infused into Rockafeller Skank – the track with one of the most recognisable hook with “Right about now, the funk soul brother, check it right now, the funk soul brother” – which was sung by almost everyone. We heard the pure genius of the big beats and the multi-layer vocals on top of each other. While the music video features a group of people dancing in front of a cinema in LA, the mood in Perth was a combination of karaoke and dance.
After two hours, most would agree that EDM is back into our playlist, thanks to the infectious beats and grooves, and high energy performances incorporating the sounds of funk, RnB and house music from sample tunes that most are familiar with. Listening live, we get a sense that Cook is a master of sampling and remixing music, taking the occasional banal tunes from an obscure track and making them a world hit. Picking and selecting samples was his forte, without the predictive and reflective novelty. Dance and house tunes can the repetitive nature, but on this occasion, the tracks provide a sense of purpose – which was fully appreciated live.
There are not too many people who love their jobs as much as Norman Cook. Even after forty years, he’s still drenched in electronic buzz, and as ecstatically excited on the deck as he was during the days of You’ve Come A Long Way Baby.
Indeed, Cook is born to thrill.
Sheldon Ang Media expresses his gratitude to Frontier Touring and Fatboy Slim for the Photo Accreditation and reviewer tickets.
About the Writer/Photographer: Sheldon Ang Media (est. April 2022) have been accredited to photograph and review the hottest acts in Perth, including Rod Stewart, Florence + The Machine, Harry Styles, Backstreet Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Post Malone, Sting, KISS, and RnB Fridayz Live, with reviews and phoros shared by the likes of Richard Marx, UB40, Delta Goodrem, Tina Arena, The Fabolous Caprittos and Synthony on social media. He has interviewed rockers Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Ian Moss (Cold Chisel) and forty other legends.
