Cornwall Live

The Prodigy blow the roof off Plymouth Pavilions

• 7th November 2018
• Lee Trewhela

THE PRODIGY, PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS *****

Was this the best gig in the venue's history?

I’m part of the generation that grew up with The Prodigy; that raved to the cartoon dance of Charly and Out of Space; that grew our hair to the prog-techno of Music For The Jilted Generation and found our inner cyber-punk with the release of the era-defining Firestarter.

If you had told me back in 1996 that the misfits from Essex would be responsible for one of the most thrilling gigs I’ve seen for a while, 22 years on, I would have burned your furry parka.

The trio of musical brain Liam Howlett and his vocal sidekicks Maxim and Keith Flint took dance music into the rock arena but to many who may not have been paying attention it would be easy to pigeonhole them as a ’90s heritage act – the ravers’ version of Oasis.

However, since the Fat Of The Land hugeness they’ve actually become a far better “band”.

Howlett produced the rather brilliant and also rather overlooked Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned without his compadres and there then followed two huge albums – Invaders Must Die and The Day Is My Enemy – which honed their collision of balls-out dance-rock, amplified hip hop beats and punk attitude.

Now comes the even more furious No Tourists – the very essence of The Prodigy boiled down to a no-holds-barred thrilling ride that’s likely to decapitate unsuspecting listeners.

Being part of the generation that’s grown up with The Prodge I admit I was slightly scared of being in the heart of a concert which, by all accounts, goes off. At almost half a century old I was rather relieved to find myself in the balcony.

But as soon as the synapse-killing light show erupted and they powered into Breathe with the de rigeur live drummer and guitarist I knew I was in the wrong place.

That astonishing lighting rig should get a tour of its own.

Dystopian anthem after anthem powered out at extraordinary volume – Nasty, Omen, the ridiculously loud and fast new track Champions of London, Voodoo People – as Maxim (“I’ll ****ing die doing this”) riled up a more than up-for-it crowd on a stage that looked like a JG Ballard council estate come to life.

Down the front among the bare chests, sweat, flailing arms and the odd fight, this was as exciting a gig as I’ve ever been to as classics like Everybody In The Place, Their Law and No Good (Start The Dance) revived the days of illegal parties but with a 21st century steroid makeover.

Smack My Bitch Up was simply astonishing. I’m sure there are few survivors.

Newer tunes like Need Some1, Light Up The Sky and We Live Forever demonstrate why whippersnappers like Idles need to watch their backs as this trio of Dorian Gray-in-make-up fortysomethings could well be the best live act in the country right now.

Plymouth proved itself more than a match for The Prodigy – particularly impressive on a school night – and this was the best concert I’ve witnessed at the Pavilions and I've been going there since the early 1990s. In fact, since The Prodigy first played there.

Long may The Prodigy continue being punkin' instigators.

---

• Review
• Gigs

---