Fatboy Slim at Scarborough Open Air Theatre - review

Touring off the heels of Glastonbury and the 25th anniversary reissue of his legendary album 'You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby', the sold out show was titled ‘Fatboy Slim loves… Scarborough’ – a love that was clearly reciprocated by all of those in the crowd.

Arriving midway through a torrential downpour, my friend and I took shelter under one of the entrance buildings – where we were able to dance and enjoy Yorkshire born support act Meg Ward’s set at a distance without getting soaked through.

Support act Meg Ward entertains crowds at the Scarborough Open Air Theatre (Image: Provided)

Once the rain eased up, we ventured out and were able to secure a spot in the centre of the stage just back from the barricade. Playing a mix of house bangers, her performance did a fantastic job of getting the crowd warmed up for the main act.

Much like the weather, spirits began to lift as England secured their place in the semi final and people flowed into the venue shortly before the DJ’s scheduled start time of half 8 – dressed in a mixture of football shirts and smiley face acid-house inspired bucket hats.

Whilst the crowd leaned slightly older, there was a good mix of ages and genders with groups chatting and mingling as they waited.

Superstar DJ Fatboy Slim at the Scarborough Open Air Theatre (Image: Provided)

Fatboy Slim himself, Norman Cook, took to the stage just before 8:45 – shoeless and dressed in a Keith Haring shirt- and kicked off the show with a mix of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now into dance hit Put Your Hands Up In The Air.

After that, his set flowed seamlessly from song to song with the superstar DJ mixing his own popular songs with classic hits such as Burning Down The House, Bette Davis Eyes, and music from The Chemical Brothers to name but a few.

The visuals were consistently topical, interactive, and funny - pictures of the England penalty scorers flashing up onto the screen to mass cheers, something which stood in contrast to Conservative politicians also being shown.

There were also regular pans into the crowd, something which allowed me to make my big screen debut!

True to form, the (in)famous Fatboy Slim ‘sit down’ came halfway through the set with the DJ sitting on the edge of the stage, the crowd squatting with him as we all yelled the words: ‘I am not a sinner, I am a winner.’

The 'sit down' part of DJ Fatboy Slim's set in the Scarborough Open Air Theatre (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

The atmosphere in the crowd was fantastic with dancing continuing to the toilet and bar queues. Unlike other gigs I’ve attended in the past, it was a fairly easy exercise to return to my spot by the barrier and the open-air venue meant that nothing was missed.

Sadly, due to a combo of the delay in set times and public transport, we were forced to make an early departure for the last train to York – not getting the chance to hear some of the DJ's most iconic tracks (including closing song, Rockefeller Skank) – but truthfully, it didn’t feel like we’d missed out as everything that came before was simply so good.

Whilst it would have been nice to catch the final few songs, the good vibes, audience interactions, and quality of the music were so consistent from start to finish that, coming away, all I can say is Norman Cook - I have to Praise You like I should.