Fatboy Slim is releasing a documentary about his notorious Brighton Beach Boutique II concert.
In the summer of 2002, more than 250,000 fans of the legendary DJ – who launched the Boutique Nightclub in the seaside town – gathered on Brighton Beach in Sussex, England for his second free open-air concert, a record number given only 40,000 were anticipated to attend.
The historical concert quickly descended into chaos and changed the way events are organised in the UK.
And now, Fatboy – whose real name is Norman Cook- and those who were working at the seafront concert have shared the story for the Sky Original ‘Right Here, Right Now’, which is set to premiere on Sky Documentaries on February 4.
A press release states: “Norman, and those who were on the front line of this seismic historical moment talk us through the process and the obstacles; The immense difficulties and struggles that the local police faced with such an unexpected amount of descendants on the city, the councillors and residents that opposed the controversial event and many of those who participated in what Norman has described as a ‘Woodstock moment.'”
Norman admitted he was in “autopilot” mode during the set.
He recalled: “Looking back, I don’t remember much about the actual gig. I must have been completely on autopilot.
“It wasn’t the most relaxed I’d been, because I was aware that we were potentially, if anything went wrong, we could be in a lot of trouble safety-wise.
“What I do remember is just feeding off the energy of the crowd.”
Celebrities including Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Vernon Kay and John Simm have given their accounts of being at the concert.
Fatboy said of the doc: “It has been wonderful with the fullness of time and some hindsight, to revisit such a seismic event in both mine and my hometown’s history. Warts and all, the story told in full…. Watch, sleep, rave, repeat.”
‘Fatboy Slim: Right Here Right Now’ can be seen on Sky Documentaries and NOW from 4th February at 10pm.