A secret set from Fatboy Slim at this year’s edition of Electric Picnic was cancelled after too many festival-goers found out about it.
The DJ and producer – real name Norman Cook – headlined the Co Laois festival on Saturday (August 30), joining fellow headliners including Chappell Roan, Hozier, Sam Fender and more.
He was set to follow it his performance with a separate 90-minute set at the venue’s smaller Salty Dog stage, but when fans caught wind, Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn said it would have been “impossible” for it to go ahead safely.
“Unfortunately, it was supposed to be a secret,” he said (via The Journal). “I don’t know why I keep believing that I could keep a secret in Ireland.”
“It would have been amazing, he was going to play a different set for 90 minutes,” Benn added. “He was hugely disappointed and in all honesty, I think I’ve let him down, but I’ve let all the fans down as well.”
@rte2fm @Fatboy Slim has ARRIVED 😮💨 #2FMEP #ElectricPicnic #FatboySlim
“But we have to keep safe, and ultimately the decision was taken on safety grounds and that was the right decision, as disappointing as it was for me and for him.”
Elsewhere over the weekend, Kneecap accused the Irish government of being “complicit in genocide” over Israeli war bonds, with their performance coming only days after festival boss Michael Benn confirmed there would be no censorship of their set.
In other news, late last year, Fatboy Slim revealed that he’d lost his “passion for making music” and preferred DJing instead.
“For five years, I tried to beat myself up about it and go, ‘You should be doing this’. But then I thought, ‘Well, everybody likes my DJing and I enjoy that more, so I’ll do that’,” he said at the time . “I’m hoping that one day the passion will come back.”
In March, he played a DJ set at a fish and chip shop in Melbourne, and he previously spoke out against what he called “sick” dynamic ticket pricing for Oasis’ 2025 reunion tour.
The same month, Slim released his new book It Ain’t Over ’til the Fatboy Sings.
The illustrated coffee table book gives fans a glimpse into the DJ’s 40 years in showbiz and highlights what it is like to work in the music industry. It features live photos, tour posters, and untold stories of obscure memorabilia he’s collected throughout the years. You can get your copy here.
