Ambient Light

The Prodigy, Auckland NZ, 2019

6th February 2019
Sarah Kidd

The Prodigy

5th February 2019
Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.

In all honesty, words just can’t sum up the experience of witnessing a live show by The Prodigy; The Godfathers of Rave may be staring down their thirtieth anniversary next year, but they have lost absolutely none of their ferocious and tribalistic intensity that has seen them revered by both their fans and counterparts alike.

Touring Australasia in support of their latest album No Tourists released last year, The Prodigy hit Auckland last night, facing down a voracious crowd who have waited almost a decade for the trio to finally make their way back to our shores. Well known as an act who can bring together all and sundry from bogans to ravers, last night’s crowd was an eclectic mix who came together as one heaving, sweaty mess as the lights fell and the trio dropped ‘Breathe’. Accompanied by both a live drummer – long time touring member Leo Crabtree – and guitarist, the founder and nucleus of the group Liam Howlett led the charge from behind his industrial stylized keyboard as vocalists Maxim and Keith Flint paced the front of the stage like caged animals just begging to be let loose so that they could tear the flesh from those clinging to the barrier.

Ditching the almost comical giant fur jacket he was wearing – New Zealand’s summer heat and humidity combo far too overpowering – Maxim took the crowd through newer material with ‘Resonate’ before dialing back a few years to the 2015 album The Day Is My Enemy with ‘Nasty’. But it was the synthed-out opening notes of ‘Omen’ that saw the first big hit with the crowd for the evening, Flint’s distinct English accent cutting through the wall of bass, smoke and almost horror movie style lighting that swirled around the stage like a vortex threatening to pull the entire arena down into the underworld below. While Howlett remained firmly entrenched behind the keys, Maxim and Flint continued to stalk the stage, pausing only momentarily to fix eyes with a member of the crowd, as if selecting their next victim.

Moving smoothly up and down the timeline of their work, Auckland was taken through fresh tracks such as ‘Champions of London’ before sliding into the hypnotic 1994 hit ‘Voodoo People’; the title track from the album The Day Is My Enemy including a throbbing drum and bass breakdown that saw Maxim demand all the D&B people in the house to show their love. Not afraid to get up close and personal both Maxim and Flint made their way into the security pit on separate occasions, hundreds of arms desperately reaching out towards them; Flint taking his time, often leaning back and regarding those in front of him as he swayed like a cobra ready to strike, head slightly cocked to the side.

By this point in the show both Maxim and Flint were down to singlets; the impressive jackets and shirts ditched along the way as the pulsating heat on stage grew. Often facing each other as they moved side to side, Maxim and Flint continued to feed off each other’s energy as well as that of the crowds; thousands of souls melding together for this small moment in time. Pulling out the big guns, ‘Firestarter’ threatened to tear the room apart as the stage was bathed in blood red, the fans screaming every word along with Flint; no one being able to deny the fact that this track is one of Prodigy’s most recognisable.

With both ‘No Good (Start The Dance)’ and ‘Take Me To The Hospital’ from the brilliant Invaders Must Die album closing off the set the night had already well and truly achieved it’s epic status in the memory banks of nearly all in attendance; but more was both wanted and demanded, The Prodigy soon returning for a four track encore. Reminding all that they are still the undisputed kings of electronica with one of the standouts from the No Tourists album in the form of ‘Timebomb Zone’; The Prodigy threw in a little reggae infused techno goodness with ‘Out of Space’ before closing the night down with the only track that they could, the sometimes controversial but always insane ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ with the ethereal vocals of Sheila Chandra sending shivers up the spine; Maxim encouraging everyone to give it everything they had left in the tank, the fans happily complying.

Thirty years and counting, make no mistake; The Prodigy are still taking our brains to another dimension.