What Went Down: Future Sound Asia Pres. Fatboy Slim @ KL Live

By Sarah Sofian  •  23 Jul 2012 in Reports

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While most Malaysians were excited about the MTV World Stage, JUICE got really excited when we heard that the legendary Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim himself, is coming down to spin live in front of us! So we headed down to KL Live on Saturday 14 July to catch the acid house and techno king in flesh. With a busy weekend full of festivals, including the Northern Music Festival in Penang and the Rainforest Music Festival in Sarawak, we thought that the timing for Fatboy Slim’s showcase was not a good choice but as we arrived, there were a considerable number of people already waiting in the line, which starts at the bottom of the two flights of stairs and ends at the top.

We entered the venue and it didn’t take long for it to become packed with people. Although it was not super packed like last year’s Deftones showcase, it is safe to say that KL Live was filled 3/4 way through. Excited fans bounced on their feet whilst enjoying the opening acts, Phil K Lee and also Nick Haydez. DJ Phil K Lee looks like a timid person but he didn’t fail to fuel the crowd’s excitement with his progressive house and trance sounds. In other words, he delivered and left the crowd wanting more. Fortunately, DJ Nick Haydez got his back and the crowd was served with an energetic platter of nu-rave, electro, techno, house and a little bit of indie and rock. He even included remixed samples from MGMT, Daft Punk and more.

After the two DJs, enter LAPSAP duo Blink and Xu, who are behind LAPSAP’s video-based side project named Literall. With impressive visuals and lighting, these two DJs never fail to entertain. There was more techno sounds than Blink’s usual music, and the visuals featured a more black and white motif than before, it was an interesting sight to behold. By then the air of anticipation was massive. We were all thinking the same thing; how would Fatboy Slim top all these?

Well, to cut the long story short, he did. Never underestimate an experienced DJ who has played all around the world for 20 years! As he came on the decks, he had an unbelievable stage presence and everyone cheered for him. With visuals not unlike LAPSAP’s, but even better, his performance was tip-top and different from what everyone had expected. He remixed all of his songs, and didn’t play any of them in full or in the original version. That move surprised the crowd, but it didn’t take them two seconds to start enjoying the remixed Fatboy Slim songs that we all have grown up with and loved.

Though some would have preferred listening to the original version of the songs, we at JUICE enjoyed ourselves because that’s what live shows are about, innit?

Future Sound Asia pres. Fatboy Slim was on Saturday 14 July 2012 at KL Live. For more pictures, click here.