2018.11.08 – Echo Arena, Liverpool, England

Date: 8th November 2018
Event: The Prodigy Concert – No Tourists Tour
Venue: Echo Arena
City: Liverpool
Country: England
Support: Dub Defenders, Ho99o9

Tracklist:
1. Breathe
2. Breathe Beats Fill
3. Resonate
4. Nasty
5. Omen
6. Champions Of London
7. Voodoo People
8. Run With The Wolves
9. The Day Is My Enemy
10. The Day Is My Enemy (Bad Company UK Remix)
11. Need Some1
12. Everybody In The Place
13. Firestarter
14. Roadblox
15. Light Up The Sky
16. No Good (Start The Dance)
17. Smack My Bitch Up
Encore:
18. We Live Forever
19. Their Law
20. Take Me To The Hospital
21. Timebomb Zone

Extra info:
Review by Neil Docking, www.liverpoolecho.co.uk:
The Prodigy prove every night is party night
Fans enjoyed an incredible show from the rave pioneers at Liverpool’s ECHO Arena.
“Where are my Liverpudlians?” yelled The Prodigy’s hype man and vocalist Maxim – wearing a fur coat that made him resemble a grizzly bear.
Praising the atmosphere on a Wednesday night, before realising it was Thursday, he later added: “Every night is party night for me, I don’t give a f***”.
Whatever the day of the week, the rave pioneers stormed the ECHO Arena, producing a nostalgic sonic blast, matched by a staggering light display.
The Essex legends have just released their seventh album, No Tourists, which borrows much from their near 30-year musical legacy.
Strobe lights dazzled the crowd as Maxim and co-frontman Keith Flint prowled the stage, with mastermind producer Liam Howlett lurking in the shadows.
The set exploded into life with Breathe, the brooding monster from 1997’s Fat of The Land, with its Wu-Tang Clan whiplash sword sample.
The momentum didn’t dip with the jungle-influenced new release Resonate and survived the faux-menace of Nasty, which sounded far better live than it does on record.
But the arena truly erupted when they played the frantic Omen, from 2009’s Invaders Must Die, complete with that ominous piano breakdown.
Not many acts could declare themselves the Champions of London and still find favour with a Merseyside audience, but they’d now hit their stride.A joyous outing of the 1994 Music For The Jilted Generation classic Voodoo People, with its iconic guitar riff and synths, had fans in total ecstasy.
At no stage did the pace let up, with the sound seemingly getting gradually louder and louder, and the visual display simply absorbing.
Crashing guitars gave way to the uplifting new song Need Some1, with it sweet vocal hook, then a true classic, the 1991 What Evil Lurks EP cut, Everybody In The Place.
The Prodigy excel at bridging the divide between cartoonish electronica and big dumb punk rock and segued seamlessly into seminal hit Firestarter.
Keith temporarily ditched his Johnny Rotten routine to ape Axl Rose, snarling “it’s easy, so f***ing easy” as the flashing lights behind him went into hyper-drive.
Those old enough to remember hazy nights in abandoned warehouses bust out their best Leeroy Thornhill shuffle as No Good For Me blared out.
Its Kelly Charles chorus prompted a mass sing-a-long and led into Light Up The Sky, a new standout, which samples several old Prodigy tunes.
The Beastie Boys famously may not have liked it, but the arena shook to Smack My B**** Up, with Maxim commanding everyone to sit down, then leap up as one.
The energy was intense as they repeatedly declared “We Live Forever” on the storming new track of the same name, unleashing a furious encore.
Their Law, a response to the rave-banning Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, with its powerful guitar riff, is one of the great protest songs.
Tremendous as that was, it was fitting that two numbers again heavily-influenced by their early rave sound – Take Me To The Hospital and Timebomb Zone – closed the stellar set.
The Prodigy have unashamedly embraced their past and reworked former glories to give fans old and new an unforgettable live experience.

Review by Steven Doherty, http://www.getintothis.co.uk:
Anyone who encountered The Prodigy on the release of their supposed-one-hit-wonder Charly back in the heady days of 1990, would be flabbergasted to find them, seven albums in, still playing to massive venues such as this, their first Liverpool gig since 2008.
Here in support of latest release No Tourists, their most critically acclaimed album since their imperious period of the late 90’s, garnering much praise for updating rather than re-inventing the Prodigy sound.
First up were HO9909, an angry trio, singers resplendent in miners headlamp and hi-vis jackets. Bleak shout outs over rampant dance beats, their drummer earning his living by creating an assault on the ears.
Brutal.
As the clock strikes 9.20, The Prodigy take to the stage. They start with 1997’s number one Breathe, however, this is no trip down memory lane.
Their new material blends seamlessly alongside the hits from years gone by, with no drop in ferocity or quality. Recent singles Need Sum1 and Light Up The Sky sound huge.
Unlike some “heritage” bands (hello U2), there’s something for everyone tonight, whichever album was your entry level, with tracks from each and every one (with the exception of the widely-regarded-to-be-a-mis-step album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned).
The two frontmen, Keith Flint and Maxim (who at one stage shouts ‘Wednesday night is my party night‘ before someone points out to him that it is actually Thursday) never stop.
Prowling the stage, as well as both coming into the audience, covering every inch of the ghostly London bus crash set-up.
They, coupled with the genius beat-making of Liam Howlett (tonight helped out with a live guitarist and drummer) are the reason this dance behemoth is still as relevant today as they have ever been.
Traditional rock bands would give their front teeth to be able to create an atmosphere such as this, in what can be a cavernous, unatmospheric space.
They end their main set with controversial single Smack My Bitch Up and are gone.
With a peerless encore of new album standout We Live Forever, an always (sadly) relevant Their Law and a massive Take Me To The Hospital, this was relentless from start to finish.
So, from perceived novelty act all those years ago to their current national treasure status, hopefully, we won’t have to wait another 10 years for the next time they play here.
Special.

Review by Ian R. Abraham:
It could be difficult being in THE PRODIGY. Where do you place them now? Evil rave? Metal dance? Broken acid? There’s a mass of pigeon holes that the three-piece could slide into and then slide out of the other side kicking and shouting. But each hole would never fit the spiky shaped peg that The Prodigy have become. They have never deviated from what they have always believed they’ve been. They are the musical equivalent of scratching that itch that you’re not supposed to because it’s bleeding, but it feels so good to scratch it, regardless of the damage you’re doing to yourself. I hurt myself dancing tonight, so the analogy stands. Not so much blood, more a bruise. Injured in the line of live music reviewing. Keith, Maxim and Liam would love that.
They love the reception that over 5,500 people give them when the thin fabric drops, billowing out a light show that blinded the eyes and set the scene for the next 90 minutes. LOUD. BRIGHT. VIOLENT. And that’s just the crowd. It’s everything that one has come to expect from The Prodigy now they steadfastly refuse to calm down. Or write a ballad. Or write anything with a BPM slower than a speeding car. Which is pretty much the new album No Tourists; a breakneck ride that doesn’t let up with the beats and production. Thankfully, the live side of the record is the same. Although 90 minutes seems a bit short, at no point does it stop or sag or feel like they are catching a moment to compose themselves. Breathe opens proceedings and it’s relentless from here on in.
“LOUD. BRIGHT. VIOLENT. And that’s just the crowd. It’s everything that one has come to expect from The Prodigy now they steadfastly refuse to calm down”
Keith Flint fronts the powerful Omen which lapses into Champions Of London, possibly the most angry tune on the new album. That’s not taking anything away from Maxim, who is, arguably, the best frontman on the live arena circuit. He prowls and scowls, leaping from one shape to another, his rhyming and lyric toasting is cold, clinical and dynamic, even when it’s limited in the fantastic Need Some 1. He loves Liverpool, it seems, although his patter is slightly diminished when he gives a shout out to all his “Wednesday people”. It’s Thursday, as the band point out to him. He’s a dance overlord. He doesn’t care what day it is. Touring does that to you.
Late noughties bass beat shouters Pendulum did a cracking remix of Voodoo People in 2012 and it’s this version that gets an airing here. The difference in the feel of the song is not lost on the Arena floor tonight. One seething and sweating mass moves across the floor like gas as the band struggle to keep up with the beats that seem as though they are at one with the volatile heap. Is it a cover version if you cover someone else’s remix of your song? Does anyone care?
Smack My Bitch Up unites everyone even more, the chorus giving an un-PC delight to everyone gathered. More loud. More bright. More twisted. The highlight, though, was Their Law. A guitar stabbed indie dance epic, co-written with Pop Will Eat Itself, that still sounds as fresh and dangerous as it did in 94. A bit like our techno crew, still lurking and leaping like they’d just arrived on stage, with the lights still drilling into the collective Liverpool cranium; the buses as part of the stage set lit as though they’re about to drive off the stage and straight into the audience, managing to mow down the band in the process. That would seem quite normal and entirely fitting with what Liverpool witnesses tonight. Violent anger-techno with a seething disco core. It just what we wanted and just what we get. Utterly incredible.

Poster:

Advert:

Tracklist:

Review from Bido Lito!, december 2018:

Hoodie:

T-shirt:

Sweatshirt:

Photos from the show:

Slaves (support):

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