Get Excited Right Here, Right Now: Dance Music Legend Fatboy Slim Is Touring Down Under in 2023
The UK DJ and producer is heading to Australia and New Zealand to break out 'The Rockafeller Skank', 'Praise You', 'Weapon of Choice' and more.
Trying to dance like Christopher Walken, pretending you're in Cruel Intentions, being transported back to the late 90s and early 00s: that's all on the agenda when Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, returns Down Under in 2023.
Touring New Zealand in January and February, then hitting Australia in April and May, the British dance music legend will take to the decks to bust out a hefty range of dance floor fillers. His 1998 album You've Come a Long Way, Baby was the club soundtrack to end the 20th century — a staple of every 90s teen's CD collection, too — and responsible for hits like 'Right Here, Right Now', 'The Rockafeller Skank' and 'Praise You'.
As for 2000's Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, it gave the world 'Weapon of Choice' and its iconic Walken-starring (and Spike Jonze-directed) video.
You might not be able to dance along the walls when Cook plays Christchurch, Napier, Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown and Taupo in Aotearoa — and then hops over the ditch a couple of months later to do the same in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth — but you'll want to thanks to his big beat sound. Indeed, alongside the Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, The Propellerheads and Crystal Method, he helped bring the style to mainstream fame.
Cook has been making music since the 80s, but took on the name Fatboy Slim in the mid-90s, starting with 1996 record Better Living Through Chemistry. His discography also spans 2004 album Palookaville and 2013 single 'Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat'.
If you've seen Cook live before, you'll know that this is news to get excited about right about now.
His Australian tour marks Cook's return after his 2020 headline shows — pre-pandemic — with his Melbourne gig at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl recorded for an epic live video that's notched up more than 2.4-million views.
FATBOY SLIM 2023 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND TOUR
Friday, January 27 — QE2 Park, Christchurch
Saturday, January 28 — Tremain Field, Napier
Sunday, January 29 — Gardens Music Festival, Victoria Park, Auckland
Friday, February 3 — Anderson Park, Wellington
Saturday, February 4 — Gibbston Valley, Queenstown
Sunday, February 5 — Riverside Park, Taupo
Friday, April 28 — Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne
Wednesday, May 3 — Riverstage, Brisbane
Friday, May 5 — The Entertainment Quarter, Sydney
Sunday, May 7 — Burswood Park, Perth
Fatboy Slim will tour New Zealand in January and February 2023, and Australia in March and April 2023. Tickets for NZ are on sale now. Pre-sale tickets for Australia start at 2pm local time on Wednesday, November 23, with general sales from the same time on Friday, November 25.
Top image: Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México via Wikimedia Commons.
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