Fatboy Slim backs small venues with grassroots gig

19 minutes ago

Tanya GuptaSouth East

News image — DJ Fatboy Slim played a tiny venue to support grassroots music

PA Media DJ Fatboy Slim stands behind a mixing console inside a low-ceiling venue, wearing headphones and a patterned shirt, with turntables, sliders and dials in the foreground and a large Everywhere At Once banner on the back wall under stage lighting. — DJ Fatboy Slim played a tiny venue to support grassroots music

Fatboy Slim has performed at one of Brighton's smallest venues in a show of support for the grassroots music scene.

The DJ, whose real name is Norman Cook, played a sold-out set at The Pipeline, a 60-capacity venue in the city, on Sunday, marking the final night of the Everywhere At Once festival.

The "rock bar" is set to be bought by Music Venue Properties (MVP), which aims to preserve grassroots spaces as community venues through "cultural leases" with affordable rents.

Speaking before the show, Cook said he felt strongly about supporting smaller venues, describing them as spaces where careers begin, and said he wanted to "give something back".

The debut Everywhere At Once festival saw more than 2,000 artists play at about 400 grassroots venues across the UK.

Fatboy Slim's support act was Jacobi Knight, his daughter Nelly's boyfriend, while his son, Woody Cook, supported hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks at Patterns on Brighton seafront.

Cook said there were several DJs in his family who wanted to see small venues preserved, adding: "We all feel the same."

PA Media DJ Fatboy Slim points upward while performing behind a mixing deck in a compact room filled with a tightly packed audience, with people standing shoulder to shoulder, some holding drinks, under bright stage lights and low ceilings. — Fans packed into the 60‑capacity room for the gig on Sunday

The event, which was held on what would have been Glastonbury weekend, aimed to highlight the importance of live music beyond major festivals and cities, reminding people it can be found "on your doorstep".

Glastonbury Festival is taking a break in 2026 as part of a "fallow year", to allow the farmland to recover and the environment to regenerate.

PA Media DJ Fatboy Slim raises both arms behind a mixing desk at the front of a small venue as a crowd gathered closely together records the performance on smartphones, with coloured stage lighting and banners promoting the event visible behind. — The festival, Everywhere At Once, was to show the importance of small spaces

Chief executive of the charity Music Venue Trust, Mark Davyd, said grassroots spaces were "absolutely essential".

The Pipeline's owner, Thomas Evrenos, said the festival was a "great idea".

He said: "We usually compete with Glastonbury, and a lot of people, bands, are going away during this weekend, and suddenly we have a really good festival for everyone."

He said if the MVP purchase went ahead it would secure the venue's future, adding: "I think for the community in Brighton as a whole, if it's a designated earmarked live music venue, I think that would be fantastic."

MVP, which was created by the trust, has acquired nine grassroots venues since 2022 and raised about £7m through crowdfunding and fundraising for projects.

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