Big Beach Boutique II

Big Beach Boutique II

The concert viewed from a balcony along the Brighton seafront towards the concert stage, with the derelict West Pier in the distance.
Date	13 July 2002 (2002-07-13)
Venue	Brighton Beach, Brighton, England
Coordinates	50.8209°N 0.1505°W / 50.8209; -0.1505
Type	Free concert
Organised by	Fatboy Slim
Deaths	1
Non-fatal injuries	171
Arrests	6
Attendance	250,000
Album	Big Beach Boutique II

Big Beach Boutique II was a free concert held on 13 July 2002 by English DJ Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) on Brighton beach, Brighton, England. The concert was attended by over 250,000 people, four times the expected 60,000. Due to the far higher than expected attendance the local authorities were severely underprepared, which led to many incidents including two deaths, over 170 injuries, and six arrests.

Background

On Saturday, 7 July 2001, Fatboy Slim's first Big Beach Boutique concert occurred, organized by Channel 4, and released as an album, Live on Brighton Beach.

"Harris started the club night Big Beat Boutique with Fatboy Slim in Brighton in '95"^[1][2]

Fatboy Slim had run a 300-occupancy Brighton club night called Big Beat Boutique, featured in On the Floor at the Boutique.^[3][4]

"Big Beat was coined by Cook's mate Gareth Hansome"^[5]

Logistics

On the day of the concert, Sussex Police reportedly considered cancelling the event due to the vast numbers of people, but decided not to as they feared a riot,^[6][7] they allowed it to go ahead with the proviso that he finish 30 minutes early.^[8] The concert was attended by more than 250,000 people, double the city's population at the time and more than four times the 60,000 expected attendance^[9] and more than three times the 80,000 maximum which had been planned for.

The A23 road, the principal route from London to Brighton, was backed up past Gatwick Airport, more than 25 miles away, from the huge numbers of people. Abandoned cars were left along the coast to nearby Hove.^[10]

As a result of the enormous crowds, the local authorities, such as the police and ambulance service, were very underprepared.

"The crowd that came together on 13 July 2002 was more than four times bigger than expected, doubling the population of Brighton & Hove at a stroke. It was an incredible sight to behold and amazing to have been a part of it - but I do still look back and think about how easily things could have gone very wrong...I was working that day as a crowd density spotter for a friend's local stewarding company. It's a role that was created following recommendations from the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster" — Chris Cocking^[11]

Several hours before the concert started, the beach was crammed with people. In a live TV interview on his seafront balcony at the Grand Hotel, Cook said "I'm quite scared".^[10]

During the concert, people clung to ambulances to escape the crowds.^[12] A coastguard helicopter hovered over the shoreline throughout the evening, with scores of unconscious people being rescued from the sea.^[13] Paul Cruise, who attended the concert, said that "all of the seafront hotel balconies were packed and people were hanging off lamp posts and railings". As the tide came in, people were reportedly "up to their necks in the water", and small boats had to rescue many of them from the sea.^[14]

After the concert ended, the hordes of people who attended the concert began to make their way home. People clung to the doors of trains to try and prise them open and buses were forced to operate unplanned night services to ferry the crowds out.^[14]

Casualties were taken from the beach by lifeboats because the streets were too jammed for ambulances to easily access it.^[15][16] Ambulances and stretcher parties could not reach treatment centres, and some crews were abused by drunks.^[13] A total of 160 people received minor injuries from the event, with a further 11 being taken to hospital.^[7][9] Among the injuries were two broken legs and a broken back.^[17] After the event, an Australian nurse^[18] was seriously injured and later died after falling from the Upper Esplanade, and a 45-year-old man died from a heart attack. Another six people were arrested for assault, drugs and public order offences.^[13]

Aftermath

Thousands of people were marooned and forced to sleep on the beach because of a lack of trains, with the last train to London leaving 15 minutes after the concert finished.^[13]

After the concert the beach was covered in litter, mostly broken glass, and the smell of urine filled the air as people had been forced to urinate where they were standing. There was no rain for days after the concert, so the council was eventually forced to bulldoze the shingle back into the sea to clean the beach.^[14] The cleanup operation cost £300,000, which was partly paid for by Cook. Of the police on duty, half required trauma counselling.^[17]

The council subsequently decided to restrict future concerts on the beach, fearing a repeat of the concert's events. They considered banning events like it entirely, but decided they would go ahead after appropriate safety guidelines were approved.^[18]

"No similar free concert has been permitted in Britain since."^[19]

Right Here, Right Now

"a Titanic story devoid of an iceberg"^[20]

A box set^[21] and feature-length documentary^[22] titled Right Here, Right Now,^[23] a reference to Fatboy Slim's song of the same title, was released on Sky Documentaries on 4 February 2023. The documentary recounts the events of the concert^[24][25][26] and includes video interviews^[22] on the day of the event, and clippings from newspapers, magazines, and other publications, both positive and negative.^[27][28]

References

1. "The Big Beat Revolution: 11 Essential Songs". Retrieved 1 February 2024.
2. "Fatboy Slim's 'You've Come a Long Way, Baby' at 25: Norman Cook's rock & roll opus". DJMag.com. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
3. Harris, Damian (9 April 2008). "Big beat: creating a dancefloor monster". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
4. Danz (29 September 2022). "Interview With Fatboy Slim". Synth History. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
5. Wartofsky, Alona (19 April 1998). "MEET THE BIG BEAT". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
6. Evans, Connie (27 January 2023). "Fatboy Slim says he was 'on autopilot' during infamous Brighton Beach party". Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
7. "Memories of Fatboy Slim's Big Beach Boutique parties". The Argus. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
8. "20 years already! Fatboy Slim looks back on THAT seaside bash". The Argus. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
9. "Fatboy Slim calling for memories of Big Beach Boutique 2 concert". The Argus. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
10. Seale, Jack (3 February 2023). "Right Here, Right Now review – Fatboy Slim's beach concert will make you flinch with anxiety". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
11. ""Things could have gone very wrong" – Crowd safety expert sheds light on Fatboy Slim beach party in new Sky documentary". University of Brighton. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
12. Gladwin, Anna; Graves, Kieran (22 July 2022). "Fatboy Slim's 'apocalyptic' Brighton beach gig in 2002 - by those who were there". Sussex Live. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
13. Kelso, Paul (15 July 2002). "Fatboy Slim 'monster' beach party brings chaos to Brighton after 200,000 crowd in". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
14. Romero, Kat (4 February 2023). "Fatboy Slim's 2002 iconic beach party - from those who were there". Metro. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
15. "Death at Fatboy Slim's beach party". NZ Herald. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
16. "Fatboy Slim crowds cause chaos". 14 July 2002. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
17. Gladwin, Anna (5 December 2020). "The 'apocalyptic' Brighton Big Beach Boutique gig - by those who witnessed it". SussexLive. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
18. Gray, Chris (21 December 2002). "Brighton restricts beach parties after Fatboy Slim concert chaos". The Independent. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
19. Seale, Jack (3 February 2023). "Right Here, Right Now review – Fatboy Slim's beach concert will make you flinch with anxiety". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
20. Wilson, Benji (4 February 2023). "What happened when 250,000 ravers descended on Brighton Beach and changed British law". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
21. "Fatboy Slim celebrates 20th anniversary of Big Beach Boutique party with box set". Mixmag. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
22. 25,000 people flock to Brighton beach, retrieved 1 February 2024
23. "Fatboy Slim calling for memories of Big Beach Boutique 2 concert". The Argus. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
24. Fatboy Slim - Live At Big Beach Boutique II, Brighton, 2002, retrieved 1 February 2024
25. Aubrey, Elizabeth (4 February 2023). "You can now watch Fatboy Slim's 'Big Beach Boutique Brighton' 2002 in full". NME. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
26. Live On Brighton Beach / Mixed by Fatboy Slim (CD 2002), retrieved 1 February 2024
27. "New documentary on Fatboy Slim's Big Beach Boutique II launches on Sky". Mixmag. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
28. "20 years on from Fatboy Slim's mammoth Brighton beach party". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2024.