The year was 2002 and DJ Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, was riding high on success.
His album Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars had stormed the charts, with his single Weapon of Choice scooping the Grammy for Best Video just months earlier. Married to Zoe Ball, Fatboy Slim was considered the world’s most famous DJ and a household name.
Then, on July 13 that year, he threw the beach party to end all beach parties: Big Beach Boutique II, which is now being remembered in a Sky documentary film charting the build up, the mayhem and the aftermath of what has since been described as Brighton’s Woodstock.
Tickets to the two-day event were free and planners had prepared for a total of 60,000 guests. However things took a shocking turn when 250,000 music lovers descended onto the south coast pebbled shores to party the day and night away.
The concert led to some major changes in the industry – requiring all events to be ticketed from then on. But, for many who were there, it’s still hailed as one of the greatest experiences of their lives.
‘It was hot and sunny. The stage was massive and I’d never seen anything like it down on a beach before,’ remembers Sophie Kirkham, who was 22 at the time.
Having performed on the same beach to 40,000 people in 2001, Fatboy Slim was eager to relive that same magic with the city he called home.
‘Brighton is to be invaded, it’s to have fun,’ the DJ, now 59, says in the documentary.
But his soaring popularity meant that the 2002 event received an overwhelming amount of media coverage and attention.
Becky Stevens, who worked for Brighton and Hove’s Council on the event, tells the film that she warned planners they could be expecting a bigger crowd than anticipated.
‘I clearly remember a senior council officer turning to me and saying: ‘Don’t be silly Becky, this isn’t the Beatles. It’s just a DJ.’
While the day started peacefully, with the sun shining down and clear blue skies, by 9am, onlookers claim that there were over 30,000 revelers already on the beach.
‘The atmosphere was amazing, but it was so busy,’ Jo Blood, who was 29 at the time, tells Metro.co.uk. ‘As you came out of the station there was this stream of people all walking down to the beach. It was so difficult to get hold of anyone as all the phone signals were jammed.’
With the crowds spilling out of control, the chief of police considered canceling the event before Fatboy Slim had even performed. But the security team feared that letting down the 250,000 strong crowd could prove even more dangerous.
Backstage, the DJ’s nerves over the vast number of attendants were evident to see.
‘It’s a monster that’s gone out of control,’ he told T4’s Vernon Kay during an on camera interview ahead of the show.
‘I vividly remember the day becoming more riotous,’ Andrea Dewhurst tells Metro.co.uk. She was 22 when she attended the concert with friends and was studying at the University of Brighton. ‘Crowds were surging and the pebbles shifted under your feet so you could never quite stand your ground.’
Dan Holbrook says things became difficult due to the tide leaving many people submerged in water. ‘When we got on the beach the tide was out and there were dozens of boats moored up enjoying the show but as the night went on the tide came in and the people closest to the shore had nowhere to go leaving some stranded in the water.
‘Luckily the boats managed to pick them up and the crowd made space for the rest of them.’
‘I saw ravers up to their necks in the water as the tide came in,’ Paul Cruise tells Metro.co.uk. ‘The music had to be stopped numerous times just to get those people back on the beach.
‘Everybody was forced to wee where they stood because of the crowds. All of the seafront hotel balconies were packed and people were hanging off lamp posts and railings.’
Understandably, the mix of alcohol, drugs and the summer heat brought out the hedonistic side of revelers.
Jo Blood recalls, ‘At one point, we looked up at one of the hotels and there was a couple shagging in one of the windows. They were quite literally performing to a crowd of thousands.’
Meanwhile, Sophie Kirkham reminisces of ‘sitting high, topless and on my boyfriend’s shoulders as the pebbles on Brighton beach morphed into people and practically the population of Brighton turned out.’
It’s no surprise that the sheer scale of people led to injuries. Becky Stevens recalls countless casualties begging the medical team for help.
‘It was relentless for the medics. People were coming to them all the time saying ‘help me, help me.’’
Following the event, it was revealed that a man in his 40s had died on the beach after suffering a heart attack. A 26-year old nurse named Karen Manders had also lost her life due to head injuries caused from a fall from railing onto the Lower Promenade.
Fatboy Slim reveals in the documentary that the death of Karen has haunted him and he reached out to her mother to offer his condolences. She told him that her daughter had called earlier that night to say she was having the best night of her life and thanked him for making her Karen’s last night of her life so special.
‘That really got to me,’ he tells the camera tearfully.
After just over two hours, planners breathed a sigh of relief when Fatboy Slim brought the incredible night to a close with a remix of All Saints’ hit Pure Shores – as fireworks lit up the night sky.
But the chaos continued as a quarter of a million people attempted to make their way home. People clung to the doors of trains to try and prise them open and buses were forced to operate night services to ferry the crowds out.
‘There were thousands of people walking in every direction,’ Dan Holbrooke recalls. ‘My friends and I had to walk hours before we managed to get a friend to meet us and pick us up.’
Once the crowds had finally dispersed from the beach, the damaging toll of night became clear for all to see. Broken glass covered the pebbled shores and the stench of urine was pungent in the air. Fatboy Slim was so apologetic, he paid for the full costs of the clean-up operation.
‘The clean-up job was massive for the council,’ adds Paul Cruise. ‘Tons of temp workers, mainly students, worked to clear the beach of litter. The worst bit was the smell of the beach.
‘It didn’t rain for days, so – as everyone had been forced to wee where they stood – the council were eventually forced to ‘wash’ the beach by bulldozing the shingle back into the sea.’
Despite the chaos and carnage, Beach Boutique II is still regarded to many as one of the greatest nights of their life, with Fatboy Slim returning to the beach last summer for a more organised set 20 years on from that chaotic day.
‘I think I was too stressed on the day about crowd safety to really take it all in, to fully enjoy the experience,’ Norman Cook told DJ mag last year. ‘Now I feel I can look back at the footage, remember the tunes, that sunset, my home seafront looking like a carnival in Brazil, so many beautiful people having the time of their lives, I have never seen such joyous madness, such good-natured abandon.
And in today’s world of social media and iPhones, many believe it’s a day that would be simply impossible to repeat.
‘I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,’ admits Sophie Kirkham. ‘I can’t even remember leaving the gig. I know the next day at work we were all still raving about how epic it had been.’
‘It could never happen again for a bunch of reasons,’ Paul Cruise insists. ‘The lack of phones and social media must have made a huge difference. Everyone was 100% together and in the moment.
‘The world also seemed a more carefree place then. No Brexit, no Covid, no war in Europe – the list goes on. That might sound cheesy but it feels like the whole thing was from a more innocent time.’
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Fatboy Slim: Right Here Right Now can be seen on Sky Documentaries and NOW from 10pm tonight.
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