Leeds church graced with presence of Fatboy Slim

ONE of the UK’s biggest DJs and record producers, Fatboy Slim, is coming to Leeds this weekend after being booked by the city’s new iconic venue, Church Leeds.

The former Housemartins bass player will be performing this Saturday (November 19) at the new arts and event space which recently opened in an 18th century church.

Based on the Leeds University campus just off Woodhouse Lane, Church Leeds is a joint venture between Aaron Mellor’s Tokyo Industries and Leeds clubbing legend, Dave Beer.

Having known Fatboy Slim AKA Norman Cook during his rise to fame, Dave said: “Norman never ceases to amaze and surprise me with his performances, a true master of invention. I recently saw him play at The Rabbit Hole at Glastonbury and he tore it apart with a totally unique mash up of house edits that were unbelievable.”

Norman has been filling dance floors internationally for two decades, winning numerous awards along the way including ten MTV Video Music Awards and two Brit Awards.

His major hits, Praise You, Right Here, Right Now and The Rockafeller Skank (Funk Soul Brother) helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s.

Having played at countless major Festivals including Glastonbury, V Festival, O2 Wireless Festival, Bestival, the 2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony and numerous international events, why Leeds?

Fatboy Slim said: “It all started very late one night whilst I was DJ-ing at Glastonbury this summer. It was very noisy and Dave Beer can be a difficult man to understand when he is overexcited and all I could make out was ‘my new club…in old church…wanna play?’ He had me at Dave Beer.”

After opening the doors just last month, Church Leeds has already played host to some of the world’s most renowned DJs, including, Damian Lazarus, Matthias Tanzmann, Kölcsh, Louie Vega, Santé, and Sidney Charles.

Managing director at Tokyo Industries Aaron Mellor said: “Architecturally, Church Leeds is incredible – we wanted to create a unique and breath-taking arts and event space, without the limitation of what a convention ‘club’ means.

“We want to show off all types of art and events. Fatboy Slim perfectly crosses the boundaries between pop music and sustainable dance with all the energy of a live show.”