FOREST LIVE FESTIVAL – DAY FOUR – FAY BOY SLIM

Fatboy Slim takes over Delamere Forest.

The man, the myth, the legend known as Fatboy Slim took over a sold-out Delamere forest on the penultimate night of Forest Live. I have been waiting years to see him in action, and I am so glad that the first time I did was at one of my favourite festivals. The crowd was packed and ready to go the second that the arena gates opened – we saw fans flooding in from every angle. Arguably, this was the best night in the forest. Everyone was on their feet from start to finish, even before any support acts came on, and from that, we could tell it was going to be a night to remember.

First up, was DJ Sasha Gigi, who took to the stage first and played outstanding tunes to get the crowd moving and excited for the night to come. She first started her DJ journey whilst studying at the University of Bristol, where her love for dance music certainly grew, and she even hosted her own radio show. She has played at iconic venues such as Hï in Ibiza, as well as making her international debut all the way in San Francisco. Sasha is extremely talented, and the crowd absolutely loved her – she also released her newest track on the 19th of June, only two days before this show. She’s a DJ to definitely look out for in the future, as I think she will definitely go even further.

Sarah Story also took to the stage and played a track with Sasha, which was lovely to see, and it made the transition into her set absolutely seamless. Sarah Story is one of the UK’s best-known dance music broadcasters. She is multi-talented and is a DJ, Producer annd radio presenter – best known for hosting future dance on BBC Radio One every Friday night. As a DJ, Sarah has played major events such as Glastonbury, Creamfields and again Hï in Ibiza. Sarah is an extremely important voice within the dance scene and is mentioned along with influential figures such as ‘Danny Howard’ and ‘Annie Mac’. Her set certainly got the crowd buzzing for the biggest set of the night. We even had Fatboy Slim himself pop up from behind the decks and praise her.

After the two support sets of the night, which felt like their own concerts in themselves. We had the renowned Fatboy Slim get behind those decks himself – when I say I don’t think I have ever heard a crowd cheer as loud as that, I mean it. Again, we had such a diverse crowd of people of all ages, which I love as it really shows music brings people of all generations together – this is honestly why I love Forest Live, because it’s like a community where everyone can just be themselves and likely come out with more friends than they came in with. We heard some of his biggest hits, such as ‘Praise You’, ‘Rockafella Skank’ and ‘Right Here, Right Now’, which everyone knew the words to, and he was absolutely loving it. One of the best things about his performances is that he does not stand still, he moves around, even at the decks, points out to the crowd and sings along to the words himself. Beach balls were flying around the crowd the whole night. I even saw an inflatable giraffe at one point. The high energy from the crowd did not stop at all, even for one second, making the atmosphere electric and certainly motivating Fatboy Slim to keep going. He was even greeted by a beautiful sunset peaking from behind the trees at every angle. What a way to spend a Saturday – in a forest surrounded by happy faces and Fatboy Slim himself. If you ever get the opportunity to see him live – take it.