The gods of house were in a benevolent mood when Norman Cook hit the beach at Brighton, at a free beach party that saw 40,000 revelers witness FatBoy Slim turn more than a few tunes into orgasmic grooves. Headed off by Groove Armada, the set included pieces originally done by other members of the underground, but with the Fatboy twist.
Deftly interspersing the continuum with his own snatches of "Right Here Right Now", "Rockerfella Skank", "F^^^ing In Heaven" and "Star 69", other fireworks like "Where’s Your Head At?" by Basement Jaxx, "Austin’s Groove" by Kid Crème and "The Groovy Thang" by Minimal Funk spun this deal around like Catherine wheels on the ground.
And when a retro-esque male voice announces, "we don’t want you to feel good - we want you to feel great", you know that’s the feeling Slim’s promoting, as he spills from one sound to another with mercurial ease. It doesn’t get better than this, and when they say that house music is the music of the 22nd century, you’ve got to follow instructions and "Put Your Hands Up In The Air" (Black And White Brothers) in surrender.
This article was first published on06 May 2002.