Big beat king Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, has announced an Australian tour kicking off in April 2023, tacked onto the end of a more extensive six-show stint in New Zealand. The legendary musician and DJ is but the latest in a long list of big-ticket international acts heading down under to help fill the first half of next year with nostalgia-powered concerts, joining the likes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Ice Cube and Elton John.
Cook will first touch down across the ditch in January and February, playing shows across Christchurch, Napier, Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown and Taupo. He’ll give it a few months before then touching down in Australia, where he’ll play Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on April 29, followed by Brisbane’s Riverstage on May 3, The Entertainment Quarter in Sydney on May 5, and Burswood Park in Perth on May 7.
Considering Fatboy Slim’s thick stack of bangers like ‘Weapon of Choice,’ the immortal ‘Right Here, Right Now,’ ‘The Rockerfeller Skank’ and ‘Praise You,’ there’s little doubt these outdoor concerts will be well worth the price of admission. After all, 1998 album You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby is constantly referenced as one of the defining records of that era and was widely considered the soundtrack to nightclubs around the world at the turn of the century.
Cut from the same cloth as The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx and The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim drove the big beat style of electronic music into the mainstream and arguably helped refine EDM to the point where it is today, paving the way for more sophisticated productions in the space.
In case you haven’t revisited Fatboy Slim’s discography in a while, take a look at the award-winning music video for ‘Weapon of Choice’ below, instantly recognisable for Christopher Walken’s slick moves with direction from none other than Spike Jonze.
