WORDS AND IMAGES MICHAEL BOND
Fatboy Slim Brings His Unique Dance Mixtape To The Banks Of The Manchester Ship Canal For Sounds Of The City to kickstart the weekend July 5, 2024.
Fresh off an impromptu cameo with Paul Heaton at Glastonbury last weekend, which saw Norman Cook reliving his years in the Housemartins, playing bass to ‘Happy Hour’. Fast forward 6 hours and under his alter ego Fatboy Slim (FBS), he is now headlining the new Arcadia stage (also at Glastonbury). A old decommissioned Royal Navy helicopter that has been reworked to look like a Dragonfly with lazer wings and a DJ booth for eyes! Roll forward a week and the OG superstar DJ’s ‘Fatboy Slim Loves Summer’ dance roadshow takes a pit stop at Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl.
Tonight’s warm up comes curtesy of UK DJ and producer Anthony McGinley AKA ABSALUTE. Bringing his high-energy set as a warm-up ahead of the main show. With the crowd getting a sneak peek of FBS, as he sneaks on stage to give Anthony a hug and some encouraging words.
As the anticipation builds, FBS arrives on stage beaming from ear to ear, arms raised & barefoot, and to quote a track from his 1997 album Better Living Through Chemistry, ‘The Weekend Starts Here’!
Opening with a cut of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Everyone is immediately singing along. Laying out the DJ’s intention for the evening as everyone prepares to strap in for the ride.
This tour is taking in some interesting and unique venues along the way, like Cornwall’s Edan Project and Galway Airport, as FBS try’s to mix things up to stay fresh, and he really is as fresh as ever and clearly still loving what he does.
Playing snippets of his back catalogue through the set, teasing the crowd with classics like ‘Funk Soul Brother’ and ‘Praise You’ with Rita Ora. Paying tribute to the past but primarily focuses on the overall mix and playing the songs he wants to. then ‘Role model’ drops, the DJ’s most recent music as the lead artist and the first track he has released since 2022, with a backdrop of AI celebrities like Bowie, Iggy Pop and Mohammed Ali singing the lyrics.
As you would expect if you have seen him before, FBS’s set is nothing if not eclectic and varied, cutting samples into tracks and masterfully weaving his unique style and sound through the carefully curated tracks.
At one point he gets the crowd to crouch down closer to the dance floor, sitting on the edge of the stage he’s lip syncing with the track, ‘I am not a sinner ……. I am a winner’ with the crowd joining in, before the beat drops and everyone’s back up and dancing again.
Track after track, FBS is playing sonic ping pong with the crowd, serving up tune after tune. Goading the fans and feeding off their euphoric energy, as they return the sentiment in an epic musical rally. Dropping mixes of ‘Rappers Delight’, ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ along with his own classics like ‘Push The Tempo’ and ‘Rockafeller Skank’.
To complement the music, there’s a screen packed full of visuals, with a camera set up on the desk to show FBS’s face and another on the crowd. This is cut with other visuals like acid house smiley faces, space invaders, and robot jellyfish, amongst other things. Providing the perfect backdrop to the performance.
FBS has put on an amazing show tonight as he shares the joys and togetherness of dance music with the world, and long may it continue.
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