Date: 15th July 1999
Event: Rockwave Festival
Venue: Agios Kosmas
City: Athens
Country: Greece
Support: see lineup
Tracklist:
1. Run DMC Intro
2. Rock’n’roll 98
3. Smack My Bitch Up
4. Funky Shit
5. Prepare For The Rush
6. Breathe
7. Fuck What You Want (v.1)
8. Voodoo People
9. Voodoo Beats
10. Their Law
11. Firestarter
12. Mindfields
13. Poison
14. Rhythm Of Life
Encore:
15. Fuel My Fire
Extra info:
Lineup*:
The Prodigy
Terror X Crew
The Afghan Whigs
Bloodhound Gang
Queens Of The Stone Age
The Earthbound
Sigmatopic
* rockwave festival has only one open air stage.
Review by Soren Sloth:
Well at last, almost 1 o´clock they entered the stage, to 75 min. of pure adrenalin-rush. First to enter was Liam and Keiron Pepper and then Liam started he`s “run dmc” intro before “brainstorm” was played very laud out to the crowd. only Maxim entered the stage (no Keith) and he was kicking out in the air, and screaming “where the fuck is athens, it has been a fucking long time”.
After this exceptional opening they played “smack my bitch up” and Keith went on stage to do his mad-man dancing, and Liam didn`t allow the crowd to stop jumping, under the female voice in the track Liam made some heavy beat´s and people was really in to it.
Then some crackheads throwed a water bottle at Liam`s keyboard, and for a short moment i thought Liam would stop the gig, but instead he took the bottle and throwed it hard right back in the crowd.
After that my girlfriends favorit Leeroy entered the stage to “funky shit” wich is my favorit track, and here you could really hear the bass compare to the cd where it more seems like to be a breakdance track. But Leeroy moved he`s leg`s very fast, he is really one of a kind to this form of dancing.
After that some more hip-hop, they played the “Dr.Dre” track “the man with the masterplan” i don`t know what Prodigy calls it, but they sing “prepare for the rush, prepare to get crust” and it has a very cool beat.
Then Leeroy went off to get a break, and Keith entered again to sing along with Maxim to “breathe” a track i`m actually think is getting pretty boring to hear. (and i`ve heard the band is getting pretty bored to play it).
Then it was time for a new track, i don`t know what it´s called but it´s a Maxim track where he sing´s “we do what we want, we say what we want and we fuck who we want” and then Keith dancing around(but this gig no stage diving).
Then it was time to Leeroy`s “voodoo people” this track is going in the “oldie but goodie” category and it`s so great live, and right after they where ready to “rock the house in” to the remix of voodoo people, this is also one of the brilliant live tracks.
Then it was time to “their law” with Keiron on the guitar(alway´s listen to neko) and keith singin “i`m the law, and you can´t beat the law” actually a good track, but i think they should drop it, they have played it since`93. Right after Maxim took a break from stage and i actually thought Keith aswell, but then liam played the intro beat to “firestarter” – “it´s my own secrect tecnich” then Keith was back on stage and firestarter started, and greece was going wild (well ok 97% of the crowd had never heard this track live before).
After that Liam played “the climbatize horns” and then “mindfield” started slowly, with Maxim and Leeroy on stage.
then it was time for “poison” where maxim was trying to sing along with the crowd, but it seems like the crowd didn´t know a what to sing, but i spotted people from around europe, then we had to make up for the rest of the crowd.
And then the last track before the encore was “rhythm of life” actually a big surprise for me and neko, it´s a really great live track i actually haven´t heard it much(i only have it on the electronic punkt video) so it really was a good track to say goodbye to Leeroy.
finally the encore, where i thought they would play “ghost-town” but the played “fuel my fire” instead and that´s a good track to end the whole thing with. And Maxim and Keith throwed their mics up in the air and they left stage, even without saying goodbye, but that the whole Prodigy style.
i think it was one of the best gigs i´ve seen (but it can´t beat Copenhagen`96), they really showed they still wanna be a band, and go out to perform, now they just have to put out a new album in the near future!!!
Review by neko:
[…] Liam comes on stage, everybody is screaming, huge excitement!!! He is by the way wearing that same The Clash T-Shirt as at Gatecrasher. He starts Rock n’ Roll, then stops again (yeah, he should have done his soundcheck….) but finally really starts and Maxim comes on stage, his hair is longer than last time I had seen him. Kieron is sitting behind the drums. It was wicked. We were still standing directly in the middle in front and had the best view possible. People were dancing, jumping, but not as mad as in UK, Switzerland or wherever else I had seen them before. Noone was crowdsurfing, the few securities were just standing there, sometimes pulling someone out of the crowd (compare to Reading 98 where about 50 were busy every second). After the song, Maxim screams: “Its been a f*ckin long time!! Its been a f*ckin too long time!!” (I couldn’t agree more!)
Then SMBU starts and Keith enters the stage, while Maxims comes down and walks along the front. Keith has his hair a bit longer, as we have already seen in Dublin and Gatecrasher, but still shaved off in the middle and his ‘horns’. He is wearing an English flag on the shirt. No one hates him for that, although people hated us for only talking English already. Kieron still on the drums. As soon as SMBU is finished, Funky Shit starts and Leeroy now also joins on stage. All my fear that Prodigy could have got less power now, cause they had stoppped gigging was blown away. They were great as they used to be, Keith and Leeroy going mad, Maxim MCing and Liam beind his keyboard. It was a dream come true to see them finally again after 11 month without.
Next was Lose your mind with Maxim on stage and then, Breathe! “Where the f*ck is Athens??” Then Keith ran on stage as well, and the crowd was going mad for once. And now, “This is a new tune”, Maxim says….. Liam starts with first some sort of sirens, then some very hard beats, Maxim goes :”we do what we want, we say what we want, we fuck what we want” that would be the textline, I guess. That ‘new tune’ can not be compared with anything else we know I think, but in my opinion it was wicked!
Next is Voodoo People, which is amazing live, as you all might know. A bottle is thrown on stage. Liam reacts with a sign he should better drink that. ‘Rock da house in, rock da house in”, and of course, the Voodoo People Remix now started. They just performed it this time, unlike last year where (at the gigs where I been to) Maxim let the crowd sing it first. As soon as the song is finished we see Kieron jumping up running to the other side of the stage and grabbing a guitar! So he is really doing BOTH!!! “What we’re dealing with here is a total lack of respect for the law” ….. and Their Law starts!! The first time with Keiron on guitar, and noone on drums!! Some people behind me scream “Gizz Butt!”. But everything goes well, and Keith leaves the stage again and gets ready with a microphone at the side of the stage.
“Its my own secret technique”….we could hear and we knew next was Firestarter!! Keiron was still at the guitar, and noone on drums. After the song not only big applause, but also people behind me screaming “Gizz??…”. Kieron meanwhile had again jumped behind his drums and Liam started Mindfields. After the song, Maxim again: “I cant hear ya! I said, I cant hear ya!”. Then Poison started and everybody was singing along to the lyrics, Maxim and Keith again went down to the front a few times.
And now, the probably biggest surprise of the gig, except the new tune, Liam started Rhythm of Life!! I loved them for playing it, there was no other tune I wanted to see live more than Rhythm of life, and I definitely did not exspect them to play it! I had never seen it live, only on videos, with usually Keith on stage. This time he unfortunately wasnt, but Leeroy dancing around, doing similar gestures as Keith to that song on the Electronic Punks video.
Now they left the stage, Liam waving, was that already the end?
Screaming all over the place! “moreee!!!”
And they came back! Kieron grabbed the guitar again and Maxim screams “Are ya still here?????”. Meanwhile Liam starts Fuel My Fire, and Keith starts to sing. Amazing, but also over too fast. Its the last track of that great gig, and its over……some last beats, people behind me scream “Liam, Liam, Liam”, but then, they are gone….[…]
Review by John Stamos:
I went to the Prodigy gig here in my country, Greece. I knew that the Prodigy are the best band in the world but I still cannot believe what I experienced! Also, the new tune was great!! Here is my review of the Prodigy gig at Rockwave Festival in Athens on July 15.
BEFORE THE GIG
I had been waiting for the Prodigy gig since February when it was announced. I had bought my ticket since May. I couldn’t wait anymore. Finally it was 15 of July! I was going to see the Prodigy, the best band in the world live in Athens! I went to the place of the gig at 4pm. The doors opened at about 5pm and I ran to the stage to get the best view possible! I was lucky enough to get view from the front row in the middle! I knew I wouldn’t move from there until the Prodigy gig would finish at night. It was raining which was quite strange for the weather(usually very hot) here in Greece. After some minutes it stopped raining and the first band was doing its soundcheck.
THE FIRST BANDS
I knew that the first two bands, Sigmatropic and Earthbound(both greek) would be a little boring. But it was a great chance to see the stage and the soundsystems on it. When Queens of the Stone Age came, the crowd started to jump around and the atmosphere was getting hotter! Then the Bloodhound Gang came and they set up a great show but they stayed too much and people wanted them to go away. The same for the Afghan Whigs. They were ok but noone wanted them to stay longer. Then it was time for the opening act that had been chosen by the Prodigy to appear before them. It was a greek hip-hop band called Terror X Crew. They did their best and people enjoyed them very much. When they finished, it was time for the soundcheck before the Prodigy!
THE PRODIGY!!!!!
The soundcheck for the Prodigy finished after 45(!) minutes. Huge soundsystems were set up and now we could see Liam’s keyboard! There was a poster of Mr.Oizo near it which was kinda strange. At about 0.45pm the man who was doing the soundcheck announced: ”Who wants it? From the UK, it’s the Prodigy!!!” And we went crazy jumping and screaming for the Prodigy! Liam came and started working with his keyboards and there was massive hysteria! Kieron went behind his drums while we couldn’t see Gizz! Then it was time for Maxim’s powerful appearance! Liam checked some samples and he put Rock n’ Roll! After it Maxim said to us:”Where the fuck is Athens? It’s been a fucking long time!” and we all remembered their gig in 1995 which was stopped due to some violent events. It was time for Smack My Bitch Up and Keith came! The crowd went crazy when Keith started doing his mad moves! Energy!! Next was Funky Shit and Leeroy came to start his show! He was very funny during it and people enjoyed his fast moves. Then Liam looked like he put an unusual tune but it was Lose your Mind. It was a very interesting live track. Next was Breathe! All funs were already addicted to it! It is such a powerful and agressive song already, imagine it live! Maxim and Keith were so funny, you could see they were enjoying it!
After a while Maxim said: ”This is a new tune!” I couldn’t believe it! Finally, after so long time, we would hear a new prodigy tune! The new track was amazing! It had very hard beat! Then Voodoo People started and people hyped it a lot! We were all feeling the power and the darkness of this track inside our bodies! Then Liam played the Chemical Brothers’ Remix of Voodoo People which was also great live! After that we could hear Maxim screaming: ”I can’t hear ya! I said I can’t hear ya!” and we thought it was time for Poison but Liam started Their Law! ”What we’re dealing with here is a total lack of respect for the law!” Who would play the guitar? But ofcourse…Kieron!!! He left his drums and started playing the guitar!! Maxim said:”I want everybody to jump here! JUMP!” and we were jumping like crazy with so much energy!! Their Law was great and proved that even today it remains one of the best live tracks. ”Its my own secret technique” and ofcourse next was Firestarter! Then Liam put the frightening horns of Climbatize as the intro to Mindfields. Then it was time for one of the best live tracks, Poison! Maxim was screaming and we were trying to satisfy him singing with all our power the lyrics! And when we thought Liam would put Fuel My Fire and end the gig, he put Rhythm of Life!! I couldn’t believe it! It’s one of my favorites and I thought there was no way I would ever hear it live! But I did and I enjoyed Leeroy’s wild dancing too!!
We knew it wasn’t the end. After a while the Prodigy came back and after Maxim asked ”Are ya still here?” we heard Fuel My Fire, the last song of this incredible gig! Liam was the last member to leave the stage after he moved his hand to us saying bye to Athens!
Poster:
Ticket:
Photos from the show:
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