Review: Fatboy Slim serves up an evening of joy and hedonism at Victoria Warehouse

Norman Cook - AKA Fatboy Slim - will turn 60 later this year.

Despite more than four decades in the music game, the iconic DJ has lost none of his appetite for entertaining crowds of ravers.

During the first of two sets at Manchester's O2 Victoria Warehouse as part of his ‘Y’all Are The Music, We’re Just The DJ’s’ tour, he arrives on stage beaming from ear to ear.

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As he appears, a strobe light burns laser-like on the screen behind him and the crowd lets out its first euphoric roar of the night. The venue is packed out with battle-hardened ravers ready for an evening of hedonistic fun.

It all makes for a joyous and energetic affair from the off as the big beat pioneer opens with Queen before moving into a show full of heady house mash-ups.

An impressive light show provides the backdrop to the performance. Among the many graphics that flash behind Cook throughout are the acid house smiley face, as well as a rotating procession of famous faces.

When an image of Gary Lineker appears, both DJ and crowd cheer and applaud the pundit, who it was revealed just hours earlier the BBC had told to step back from presenting Match of the Day.

It feels more like a massive club night experience than a conventional gig, with Cook saving his most well-known hits until last. Yet he teases snippets of the likes of the Rockafeller Skank and Right Here, Right Now - at one stage using edited footage from speeches made by former US president Barack Obama - throughout.

Ever the showman, Cook knows exactly how to feed the crowd’s insatiable desire to rave right back into the 90s. He has an intense, charismatic presence on stage, spending as much time geeing