WORDS AND IMAGES BY BILLY SEAGRAVE
As the UK baked in record breaking temperatures, Billy Seagrave, made his way to Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse, for an evening of Electro rock Punk, from the masters of techno dance fusion, The Prodigy, who are currently on their first tour since the untimely and tragic loss of the enigmatic frontman Keith Flint.
Since announcing earlier this year, Electronic Dance titans The Prodigy were embarking on a live tour for the first time since Keith’s death, there has been a real buzz, the shows are to celebrate the release of the iconic album “Fat of the land”, which is now 25 years old with over 10 million sales, as the rumour mill went into overdrive, have they got a new front man, will they be able to pull off not having Keith in the front roll, will the new stuff come over as good as the classics, well we are about to find out.
The support slot tonight is DJ Jaguar Skills, who (ironically given the weather), has been tasked with warming up the crowd, which he more than admirably did, with a great blend of dance, funk, techno bangers that helped built the atmosphere.
As I enter the pit the outside temperature at 9.05pm is 34 degrees, instantly the heat in the venue hits you, and fair play to the venue staff who are constantly passing out water to whoever needs it. As the lights dim, an air raid siren screams out and the crowd explodes in anticipation of tonight’s onslaught. Making their way on stage. Liam Howlett comes centre stage arms aloft and grinning like a Cheshire cat in response of the welcome they are receiving from the crowd. Taking his place behind his decks and joined guitarist Rob Holliday guitar aloft and drummer Liam Crabtree, they are finally joined by frontman Maxim, “Are you ready Manchester”? “Manchester are you ready”? the crowd’s response was loud and clear, their ready.
As the unmistakeable notes of “Breathe” hit the audience with a systematic barrage of lasers and strobes, it was as if someone had opened the gates of hell for the party to begin, “Omen is”, keeps the pace and temperature rising, getting around the pit trying to capture the magic, the power and the intensity on the stage, I can feel the crowd behind me, letting it all go, you can feel the heat my clothes are soaked, whether you like it or not, you are part of the experience.
Playing Tracks from the bands’ recent albums “The Day Is My Enemy” and “No Tourists”, fit into the set list flawlessly and are well appreciated from the insane crowd. If you have never been to see The Prodigy live, the only way I can explain the experience is you don’t come to watch and sing a few songs, you are here to participate, you don’t have a choice, the band bring you into hyperdrive, you reply by embracing the energy coming from the stage.
As a reprise of “Omen”, makes way for a touchingly poignant moment of the evening; Green lights and Lasers emit from the stage and cover every corner of the venue. “Firestarter”, brings the biggest and loudest cheer of the night. Projected on stage is the outline of Keith and those unmistakeable dance moves from the video, made the track as iconic as it was. The track is mainly played as an instrumental, Maxim stood centre stage, screaming to the crowd “He’s still here. He’s still here. He’s in this room tonight, in your vibes. His presence is here.” embracing and savouring every moment the crowd show their warm appreciation, to one of their lost heroes.
This tour coincides with the 25th anniversary of The Fat of The Land and, while they haul out all the big hitters from that ground-breaking album, they also stud the set with gems from throughout their career. “Their Law”, sounds massive, bolstered by live guitarist Rob Holliday, and is sadly no less relevant as, more than a quarter of a century on, another Tory government has just passed laws impacting the rights to protest. “No Good (Start the Dance)”, causes a frenzy and “Smack My Bitch Up”, pushes the dial to eleven.
The encore nudges to the present, with, “Take Me to The Hospital”, along with, “Invaders Must Die”, that once again brought the venue to another level. “We Live Forever”, is the penultimate track, and brings things almost to a close with an entirely suitable sentiment and high-energy breakdown. Leaving only an instrumental version “Out of Space”, to close things on a night of high heat and performance a sweat-soaked musical barrage that not only laid tribute to the past but pointed firmly to the future. On tonight’s performance The Prodigy is still a tour de-force and quite comfortably headline many a festival.
SET LIST
1/ Breathe
2/ Omen
3/ Wild frontier
4/ Voodoo People
5/ Climbatize
6/ Everybody about the place
7/ Omen (reprise)
8/ Firestarter
9/ Light up the sky
10/ Roadblox
11/ Break and enter
12/ No good (start the dance)
13/ Their law
14/ Poison
15/ Get your fight on
16/ Need someone
17/ Smack my bitch up
18/ Take me to the hospital
19/ Invaders must die
20/ We live forever
21/ Out of space
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