Prodigy Live

Date: Monday the 13th of April, venue Sheffield Arena, artists The Prodigy and Dizzee Rascal. This marked the first time (not for lack of trying...!) that I managed to see my favourite band live, and if you’re short on time/lazy and just want the verdict....they were awesome!!

For those reading on, we arrived at 7pm, and a queue had already built up, my initial thoughts were how varied the crowd looked, from indie kids to old skool ravers (just a quick aside, get with the times Bill Gates if your reading, spell-check on ‘skool ravers’ tut tut!?!), via skinheads and townies, it was as I imagined it would be, but seeing it for the first time it really drove home just how far reaching their sound is! After queuing for about 40 minutes we were unleashed on the standing arena, and the standing section, where on entry everyone was sitting neatly on the floor thankfully not a sign of events to come.....

We took our place to the right of the stage, near enough to a barrier, just in case my partied out knees were to fail. 1 beer later and we were treated to the DJ stylings of South Central, they were new to me, but from the minute they dropped A Guy Called Gerald ‘Voodoo Ray’ the mood was set, and I knew it was going to be an immense night! They managed to keep us entertained with further bleepy electro goodness, breakbeats, old skool joints and the odd indie mash up, until the arrival of Dizzee Rascal. I like most people have had some happy memories trying to dance to Dizzee classics like ‘fix up look sharp’, and when I saw on my ticket he was playing it was definitely a case of killing 2 birds with 1 stone by attending that night, and he didn’t disappoint. He worked up the crowd extremely well, and built the already high anticipation levels. The alcohol was starting to kick in by now, and the crowd was bouncing along to the likes of ‘stand up tall’ and ‘jus a rascal’. Dizzee and his MC got the crowd shouting OI in competition with the other side, how I didn’t see it leading into ‘fix up look sharp’ I’ll never know, but it really got the crowd dancing! Like The Prodigy, Dizzee had a new album to promote, and last but not least he dropped ‘Bonkers’, love it or hate it you’ll be hearing it for a while longer in the clubs. Dizzee’s set was everything I expected, loud, energetic and impossible not to dance to. He respected Prodigy were the main event, and managed to enhance the experience by sticking true to his style!

After Dizzee there was little time to recuperate as South Central launched into another set. The crowd however dispersed, refuelled and returned expectantly to their positions, the main event to follow! The Prodigy arrived on stage, crackling with electricity and (as they should) lowered the mood after Dizzee and made the night a whole lot darker by kicking off with ‘Their Law’ the scene had been set...... Myself being an old skool fan, I’m particularly glad they ignored Dizzee when he said ‘blud don’t make me get old skool’, and I have to say I’m pleased all the albums were well represented. Personally I’m not such a fan of their new album ‘Invaders Must Die’, but a slight slip in form from The Prodigy still eclipses efforts by most other bands. The tracks were however well chosen from Invaders, including ‘warrior dance’ and ‘omen’ amongst others, a particular highlight saw Keith menacingly inviting the crowd to ‘Come with me to the dance floor, You and me cause that´s what it´s for ’, this of course being a sample from True Faiths 90’s tune ‘Take Me Away’, and a welcome sign The Prodigy knew and respected their rave roots. Fat Of The Land, was expectedly and welcomingly represented by ‘smack my bitch up’ ‘firestarter’, ‘breathe’ and ‘Diesel Power’. Smack my bitch up starting the mother of all mosh pits, ahhh to be young again! The crowd were treated to classics such as ‘No good’ and ‘Jericho’, to all of these Keith and Maxim adeptly stomped about the stage, spitting and snarling at the crowd, and lets have it right, we wouldn’t want it any other way!?!? There was not a tune I didn’t want to dance to, and hearing them live really brought a new perspective on each tune, particularly their final offering ‘out of space’, few will question its status as a classic, but until I heard it live I hadn’t really experienced it. The singing along, and bouncing in all the right places, talk about finishing on a high, BOING!
The night was finished, and all that remained was to beat the rest of the crowd to the tram stop, entertainment came in the form of some dancingly induced shaky videos on my camera. They exceeded my expectation, and come highly recommended live. If they’re still around in 20 years I’ll happily oblige by attaching lights to my walking stick. Final thoughts, music of this standard doesn’t die, it finds a new generation to invade......P.L.U.R

Words:Tim Vautier