Photo Credit: Raul Singh
Words: Mia Jackson-Booth

The Prodigy brought their exhilarating electropunk music to Birmingham Utilita Arena, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of ‘The Fat of the Land’, their most successful and popular album.

Hyping up the crowd was guest performer, the renowned Carl Cox, with his DJ set of techno and house music, setting the tone perfectly. His old-school music sparked up memories for (most of) the crowd, taking them back to their days of raving and partying. 

Throughout Cox’s set, questions were asked about whether The Prodigy’s performance would be the same without their missing member, and it’s fair to say that while the band’s performance was sensational, there was a somber undertone in memory of the legendary Keith Flint. 

The Prodigy opened with the electrifying song ‘Omen’ with its distorted synth lines and relenting tempo, creating a mood of organised chaos. Strobe lights and lasers stretched across the venue, inciting an exciting and almost hypnotic atmosphere.

The vibe of the crowd was ecstatic, the room moving as one haphazard mass. People jumping and dancing with their hands in the air in a frenzy made the floor rise and fall with the music. ‘Omen’ was followed by another fan favourite, ‘Voodoo People’, which filled the room with intense and tribalistic energy, evoking a trance-like and hypnotic feel throughout the crowd. 

In true Birmingham style, the band dedicated ‘Poison’ to the late Ozzy Osbourne. The song’s vibe of paranoia and unease subtly reflects Ozzy’s work – both solo and with Black Sabbath- which offers the same unsettling energy. Popular songs ‘Smack my b*tch up’ and ‘Breathe’ saw impromptu moshing and unrestrained dancing, with people feeding off the shared adrenaline in the arena, creating a body of chaos moving throughout the room. 

The flashing lights and strobes fractured reality, creating a different dimension in which the crowd got lost, fully immersing itself in the intoxicating music vibrating through their bodies. Arguably, the band’s most popular song, ‘Firestarter (Claustro intro),’ paid tribute to their missing dancer and singer. A dancing outline of Keith Flint, including his iconic hairstyle: the ‘double mohawk’, was displayed on the screens on each side of the stage. This was undoubtedly a great tribute to this unforgettable star, who helped redefine what a performer in electronic music could be. 

‘Firestarter’ saw the crowd truly and fully lose itself to the music. The dancing got more and more chaotic, cups flying miles in the air, disappearing in and out of the green strobe lights shooting across the room. Hands and arms flailing and thrashing. The floor moving more and more. While the song was missing its frontman, it was undeniably the highlight of the show. 

Songs such as ‘Warrior’s Dance’ and ‘Invaders Must Die‘ were greeted with frenzied dancing and jumping, aided by the pulsing lights and visuals displayed on the screens. The band closed with their certified platinum song ‘Out of Space’, in which the crowd’s singing was heard fully over the music, congregating as one raving mass. Shouts and cheers were heard as the song’s refrain hit with the lyrics “I’ll take your brain to another dimension,” which the band definitely did. 

Overall, the electro punk band brought a sensational show to Birmingham, leaving the crowd with an unforgettable high.