Fatboy Slim raved with South East Queensland once more, this time at Sirromet Wines in Brisbane's south on Sunday.
Non-stop dancing and hands in the air ensued. Fatboy Slim smiled from ear to ear behind his decks, energetically pointing and mouthing lyrics (23 March).The live visuals would cut to a close up of himself; smiling he lovingly mouthed the lyrics. If it was not a closeup, he'd walk over to the camera himself to make it one.
The fresh, approximately two-hour set, was forever changing and shifting. I would be lost in the sauce dancing. By the time I came to, or slowed in dance moves, we were already off on the next adventure and amping up again.
When the live visuals cut to a wide shot of the crowd, you could see even those in the back up and dancing, getting involved. Looks like the comfy lawn chairs and picnic blankets brought from home were a waste of time.
Image © Kalem Horn
There were some interesting mashups. The intro instrumental to Underworld's 'Born Slippy' with the lyrics from The Killers' 'Mr Brightside' caught me off guard, and kept me on my toes. . . literally!
There was extensive use of AI in the visuals (I believe I heard some AI lyrics too). During 'Role Model', for the whole song, AI versions of different celebrities mimed the lyrics. Another was Greta Thunberg miming 'Right Here, Right Now'. Another common recurrence was Fatboy Slim's own AI face miming the lyrics. Other songs had less direct, more abstract AI generations.
Obviously Fatboy Slim is a big advocate for what AI can do to transform art. I tend to lean on the same side of the fence, but it was the first time I've seen it used so extensively in a show, if at all. It will be interesting in years to come to see if more artists embrace AI for their live shows. I wager Fatboy Slim is once again on the pulse of what is current and upcoming.
Towards the end of the set, we were graced with a modern 'Rockafeller Skank' and 'Praise You' remix. This was super exciting for me being my first Fatboy Slim concert experience. I was foolishly expecting a boring studio replay of the '98 version. I truly underestimated Fatboy Slim.
Image © Kalem Horn
That's really how I felt by the end of the night. Woefully unprepared, I hadn't listened to Fatboy Slim in many years. I was pleasantly overwhelmed with how modern and fresh the set felt.
The music was upbeat and warm. It made you feel good. Like everyone else, I didn't stop dancing until I made it back to the car, and even then, the stereo kept it going 'til we got home. Thanks Fatboy Slim!
