Fatboy Slim, the Brighton-based DJ whose real name is Norman Cook, performed a sell-out gig at The Pipeline, a venue with a capacity of just 60 people, in what he described as a 'very humbling' experience. The event took place on Sunday in the seaside city of Brighton.
Venue Preservation and Community Ownership
The Pipeline is earmarked for purchase by Music Venue Properties (MVP), an organization dubbed the 'National Trust for music venues', in a bid to preserve it under community ownership. Ahead of his set, Fatboy Slim told the Press Association he felt 'strongly' about supporting grassroots music venues, noting that they are where careers begin. He added that in the 'twilight' of his own career, he wanted to 'give something back'.
'There's a lot of DJs in my family, we all feel the same, it's a nice thing to do,' he said. 'They are really important [for] preserving.'
Intimate Performance and Festival Finale
The high-energy headliner brought the next heatwave as the crowd jumped, clapped, and cheered to big hits including 'The Rockafeller Skank' and 'Right Here, Right Now' in the small room above the bar. Fatboy Slim said he knew the venue would be 'intimate' but was unsure if it would feel like a 'fun house party' before music lovers were standing, dancing on cushioned seating, and singing along to party anthems.
The performance topped off the final night of the debut festival Everywhere At Once, which organized more than 2,000 artists to perform at over 400 grassroots venues across the country. Fatboy Slim's support act was Jacobi Knight, his daughter Nelly Cook's boyfriend, while his son Woody Cook supported hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks at Patterns on Brighton seafront. The star-studded lineup over the weekend included Tinie Tempah and Becky Hill.
Taking place on what would have been Glastonbury Festival weekend, the festival was billed as a reminder that live music is not just for major cities or festival fields but can also be found 'on your doorstep'.
Industry and Venue Owner Perspectives
Mark Davyd, chief executive and founder of Music Venue Trust, one of the festival's organizers, told the crowd before Fatboy Slim's set: 'These venues are absolutely essential. We are a music nation. We should be demanding the Government do more to support them.'
Everywhere at Once festival is backed by the National Lottery, which has funded £1.3 billion in music-related projects since 1994.
The Pipeline owner, Thomas Evrenos, told PA the festival was a 'great idea'. '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. 'We're honoured to have a pretty cool lineup, so we're happy.'
Mr. Evrenos set up The Pipeline nine years ago, entering the music scene after being made redundant from his banking job in 2008. On plans for the MVP purchase, he said: 'If it happens, I think for me it will feel really good to know that this place will continue to be a music venue even when I give up and I will have better support. 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. I probably still have to pay rent, so it will still be a struggle for me, but it would be really good to have a landlord that understands my situation.'
MVP's Campaign to Save Venues
MVP's Own Our Venues campaign seeks to save community venues by adopting a 'cultural lease' for affordable rents, maintenance contributions, and long-term tenure security. Created by charity Music Venue Trust, MVP has bought nine properties since 2022 that house grassroots gigs to conserve them as 'cultural sites' and raised around £7 million through crowdfunding and fundraising to support the projects.
