Right Here, Right Now

I had heard of Fat Boy Slim (who hadn't). This was interesting as I saw behind the scenes and a bit of who he was as a person. I now appreciate his craft more and am now a *fan* lol. Put it this way, before, apart from hits, not in my car. Now, hell yes!

Seeing him as he was before and after was great, he really hasn't changed. There are some pretty funny bits, but no spoilers! Also was cool learning he was in a band and could sing! Hearing from after famous people was interesting, and surprising as well. The love for Brighton shone through and made me feel proud. Listening to the council was pretty funny in places, tho they did do a fantastic job!

An excellent documentary that starts with an introduction to the rise of the British dance club movement, how it moved from the streets into the club, then moves to the rise of Fatboy Slim and the main topic, the near disastrous, free concert he threw on the shore of Brighton Beach.

Includes archival footage, interviews with patrons, ravers, celebrities in attendance, the police commander in charge, the music media and the man himself F. S.

Having participated in large event planning as both patron and on the organization side I can say it was nothing short of a miracle multiple people were not killed.

While at first glance this appears to be another DJ live event movie, its actually an in depth documentary about the now infamous Big Beach Boutique event in Brighton, where Fatboy Slim played a free event hosted on Brighton Beach. Your age will determine just what your response to this information is.

That event has gone down in UK history as probably one of the biggest mistakes ever made by a local council, who greenlight what they thought would be a 60,000 at best event. Unfortunately for the council over 250,000 people from all corners of the globe showed up. This obviously demonstrated a level of naivety on the part of the council, who simply hadn't noticed the power of the draw of a superstar DJ at the height of the popularity of dance music in the UK.

The strength of this documentary is that it isn't simply a Fatboy Slim documentary. The talking heads obviously include some famous faces who were there, but also the police, security teams and even the council. It also doesn't stop when the music does, Brighton had 250,000 people to transport elsewhere and people had to make that happen.

There is a definite trend of this type of documentary, a very similar one is the Oasis Knebworth one which includes fan stories with the artists recollections. It definitely works and provides better content than an artist slapping themselves on the back saying how great they are.

The obvious clean-up operation is covered as well as the obvious casualties, you don't have quarter of a million people in one place for so long without something bad happening.

The only gripe I had with this was the suggestion that Fatboy Slim was the first DJ to play to big crowds. Simply not true if you look at the number of people who attended raves. He also wasn't the first to bring electronic music into concert venues. While his style of dance music ended up being at the pop end of dance, hence the big crowds at Brighton, any big pop act that advertised a free gig would draw similar numbers. To many dance music people he is an averagely skilled DJ who managed to sell his Fatboy Slim persona to a mainstream audience.

What this documentary does well however is capture the freedom that existed in the UK at the turn of the millennium and that fact that this event was given the green light. As well as the fact dance events are generally safer with better people than other styles of music. Its obvious what the outcome if it was a rap or rock gig.

A great documentary made all the better for the fact its not really a Normal Cook story.

As a Gen X'er in my mid-20s in 2002, raving was still very much in vogue. This documentary follows the rise of one of the first superstar DJs, Norman Cook-better known as Fatboy Slim-culminating in his iconic free, open-air beach concert at Brighton in 2002.

From his humble beginnings as the bass player in the '80s band The Housemartins, to DJing on the side thanks to his extensive vinyl collection, Norman gradually evolved into a global dance music icon.

For me, this was a deeply nostalgic watch. I was a huge fan and had attended similar events-albeit on a much smaller scale. The fact that this event even happened is remarkable; something like this would be unimaginable today (in the 2020s). 250,000 people-mostly young, but all ages-came together to party, dance, and celebrate, all before Norman even hit the stage.

This film is a perfect time capsule of the early 2000s-a pre-social media, pre-smartphone era, where human connection and shared experiences were at the heart of it all. The joy on everyone's faces speaks volumes. This one event not only changed the trajectory of Norman's career internationally, but also helped propel other superstar DJs like Carl Cox and Armand Van Helden into the spotlight.

I really enjoyed this, and if you're a fan of dance music or just craving a trip down memory lane, this is 90 minutes well worth your time.