The Prodigy, Arena Birmingham – review and pictures
Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth Park, 2014. The Friday night headliners were The Prodigy – a bunch of ravers given the biggest slot in a predominantly metal festival ahead of Limp Bizkit.
Their show that night was nothing short of sensational. Their sound. Their setlist. Their stage.
Since that balmy summer night, every time their tour comes around this writer is ready for them to set up for a fall.
They can’t continually be that enthralling, right? Wrong.
What we witnessed here on this Saturday night at Arena Birmingham was nothing short of phenomenal. Yes, we know. Many will read this and think...’really?’ But in this case yes, really.
The evening had started in a rather tepid manner.
Ho99o9 opened up and nobody seemed clear what was going on. Part metal band part ravers they just seemed to sit on a weird middle plane that didn't quite hit the heights either genre can reach.
But when The Prodigy arrived amid beams of light they smashed straight into Breathe. Still a huge favourite all these years later it sounded heavy as hell with its percussion drumming across our spines and those intimidating lyrics inviting us to play the game.
Nasty and Omen followed early on. These encapsulate the trio at their modern finest, vocalist Maxim stalking mercilessly while Keith Flint plays the aggy child antagonizing everyone.
Champions Of London off of new record No Tourists sounded menacing, before Voodoo People arrived to remind us what they could do early doors in their career by testing drummers on their staying power.
The venom continued. The Day Is My Enemy is one of their most unashamedly volatile tracks. It’s thundering drum beat wound up the crowd nicely before Need Some1 got the stomping feet shaking the Arena Birmingham floor as one, outstretched arms making each one of us look like victims of a Medieval torture wrack.
The Prodigy’s back catalogue is ridiculous. You can pick up any album and enjoy the rhythms hidden within.
No Good (Start The Dance) followed by the evergreen Smack My B**** Up closed the main set with a flurry of big electro cuts, and they still had room in the encore for the crashing sounds of Take Me To The Hospital and Timebomb Zone.
One final teaser of Out Of Space left us crying out for them to finish the track and completed their mission of leaving us wanting more.
