3rd February 2002 Big Day Out Festival, Perth, Australia

Report by nojman:
The sound of military marching drums at the Purple Stage announced the arrival of Liam Howlett and his puppets, aka The Prodigy. Without these hired hands to work the crowd the Prodigy would never have made it out of the Boiler Room and it is dancers Maxim and Keith, as mad as they are, who transform the wall of psychotic beats into something visible. The retirement of former dancer Leroy meant more stage time for the other two and surprisingly they hadn’t lost much of their flair. The crowd apparently shared their anger, revelling in their thoughtful classics celebrating the simple joys of domestic violence and arson (“Smack My Bitch Up” and “Firestarter”). Unfortunately their performance seemed a little too easy for them, and didn’t capture the electric atmosphere and attitude that won my heart so completely as a starry-eyed 14 year-old at my very first big day out. (sniff sniff). But they were still great to watch. Tracks from the past two albums received the most coverage as well as a new track “Trigger”.