Live Report: Fatboy Slim dazzles Electric Picnic with a rip-roaring headliner

If you're standing in the sweaty, ecstatic sea of bodies under Stradbally’s electric sky tonight, you aren't just witnessing a Fatboy Slim set: you are being absorbed into a ritual. Norman Cook, the veteran DJ and relentless showman, is turning the main stage into a hyperactive kaleidoscope of nostalgia, chaos and laser-guided euphoria.

From the opening drop of 'Right Here, Right Now,' the energy is immediate: sharp, infectious and impossible to ignore. Cook has long mastered the art of controlled hedonism, and for 90 minutes, he's bending time and taste to his will. His signature blend of big beat, acid house and techno-fried samples still packs a wallop, the freshness never buried under too thick a layer of throwback gloss.

Fatboy Slim at Electric Picnic. 30 Aug 2025. Copyright Erica Keogh

It’s clear that Fatboy Slim knows his audience. The set is a greatest-hits whirlwind:  'Praise You' has the entire arena singing in unison like a church choir on MDMA, while a remix of Oasis' 'Wonderwall' drops with just enough swagger to keep the groove grounded. Even 26 years later, these tracks never feel dangerously close to being museum pieces, polished and overplayed. The crowd does more than to feed on mere memory, and sink their teeth in the sheer momentum of the set.

Visually, the show is a trip: LED walls pulse with surrealist collages, rave slogans and that ever-present grinning Slim logo. Behind the strobes and slogans, Cook makes sure to not lean too heavily on spectacle. The newer tracks pack similar punches to the ones made him a genre-bending pioneer. A nod to the current club landscape - a grime drop, a techno detour, even a moment of ambient-laced introspection - add a necessary contrast.

Fatboy Slim at Electric Picnic. 30 Aug 2025. Copyright Erica Keogh

For those there to lose themselves rather than dissect the craft, it's a thunderous success. Cook plays like he’s still the hungry DJ he was in the ‘90s: dancing and grinning with the manic joy of a man whose BPM is permanently set to 130. Keeping things lit since the early days, a Fatboy Slim set feels like a jolt of sugar to the brainstem.