Part 3: The Solo Shows: Brisbane & Sydney & Melbourne (feat. Kool Keith!) [ Part 1] [ Part 2] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ] [ Part 5 ] by neko: Tuesday, 8th March 2005: Brisbane Arena After a day at the Gold Coast and missing the Perth show (which I heard was very good) I'm now in Brisbane awaiting the first of the Prodigy's solo shows on this tour. Brisbane itself is nice and warm but not very happening in general. We try and go out on Monday evening but cannot seem to find much going on here (mainly due to being in the wrong end of town, but that's a different story). So, I take it easy on Tuesday, have a swim in the outdoor hotel pool, thinking of these poor people back in England, then a wander up the one street with shops in Brisbane. Also see Kieron and Jim around and we're going to a place named 'G-Spot Cafe', ha ha. The gig tonight is an early one, so we get to the Fortitude Valley Area at about 7pm already, have a drink and then go and check out the venue. It's very small with a tiny stage and the way it's all laid out with the balcony and all is pretty cool. Adam Freeland is supporting DJ and he is actally pretty damn good! Nice change from Two Tribes, I'd say! By 8pm the tiny sold out venue is full and it's hot, hot, hot! Prodigy come on at 8.30pm and as they come on the crowd reaction is simply huge. The Wake Up Intro is followed by Wake Up, this time no technical problems. So many sweaty bodies jumping around, I've rarely seen an audience go so wild. A nice link fades then into Their Law, which is of course very cool and then Warning. This features some cool outro beats tonight and I personally love this track. I hear there's a new version in the making, not sure whether that will be a good thing as the current one seems quite perfect to me! Now, set list change, Breathe is next. Obviously a quite a big crowd pleaser and the place gets even hotter. I am soaking wet, own sweat mixed with other people's sweat mixed with water they sprinkle over us. Nice. I'm getting a bit too much of the 'other people's sweat' for my taste now and am moving back a bit. The venue is so small though and literally every single person is jumping up and down, more intense than most other gigs I've seen. Maxim meanwhile climbs onto the balcony and makes his way through the crowd up there. Spitfire is next, very cool. Links between tracks are now working very well. Nothing new played, but all kinds of old known ones spread across the set. Girls / More Girls then next, followed by Back to School. Apparently Liam wanted to play some 'new bit' at the end of this but Maxim walked off stage, so that has to wait another day! Then next 'new' Firestarter. I'm looking at people's reaction to this one, obviously this is the one song still that Prodigy are known for. I'll stick with what I said in the Sydney review and contradict rest of the crowd reaction, personally think it's the weakest track in the set now and the new version doesn't really save it. But i guess it needs to stay in the set, especially at festivals. Now a personal favourite, the Action Radar fill. I totally love this to bits and Prodigy sound just soooo hard tonight. The fill kind of fades directly into Dead Ken Beats now. This is another one that I love, but it finishes kind of early tonight and fades into the next one, Mindfields. Maxim on the mic, very strong tonight and before you know it, they've left the stage. Already? Every single person in this room is wet from head to toe now. I'm so grateful for wearing black today, too many people looking like in a wet T-shirt contest. No one thinking about leaving yet though and we all want the band back on stage. They return very soon and now it's of course Poison. Two thousand people jumping up and down to the beats. Release Yo Delf gets us into SMBU, and what can I say, this is of course always a great ending. Or not ending yet. They briefly walk off stage but, yeah, Liam and Kieron walking back and playing some beats. Of course its again Out Of Space and that indeed goes down very well. So now, finished. We can't wait to get outside to get some fresh air. Not that it's anywhere below 25 degrees here even now, but still better than in there. I look at all the people leaving this building, every single person is wet, totally worn out and has a big smile on their face. Totally how I feel, great show and one of the best audiences I've ever seen. Later I see Jim, Liam and Maxim, very nice. I can only imagine how nice it must have been meeting me, in the still very wet state I am in, ha ha. Ewwwww. Everyone seems to be happy with how the shows are going and with being in Australia. As the band are then leaving the venue, there are lots of fans waiting at the gate. And that is one thing I so respect this band for; Liam, Keith, Maxim leave their car and every single person gets their autograph or photo taken with the guys. I've never seen them turn down anything like this and it means so much to the fans. Very cool. I'm told to go to the 'Rev Club' later. So Katie and I go back to our hotel (have a shower!) and ask concierge where the 'Rev Club' is. He doesn't know, but sends us to the 'Pres Club' indeed. This actually looks like a cool bar, but not much is happening. Doorman tells us 'Rev Club' is around the corner, so we go there. It's a very tacky looking place and there's lots of people, but we go in anyways. Still can't get over the fact that I have to show my passport everywhere here in Australia to prove that I am 18 already (I am 27). So we go in there, DJ plays some cheesy version of voodoo people and lots of sweaty people from the gig are banging their heads to it. Not really where you'd think to find the band, but as promised Kieron and Liam are actually there and we get to join for a couple of drinks. Dutiful as I am, I of course remember the task I've been given by my forum members and ask Liam about THAT Osaka fill. He knows exactly what I am talking about, but the track is indeed not No Souvenirs, but instead something he had written prior to releasing AONO already, as part of Shoot Down apparently. So anyways... really good evening (until the bar runs out of champagne and Liam doesn't know what to drink anymore, ha ha) and of course there are two more solo shows to look forward to in the next two days! Wednesday, 9th March 2005: Hordern Pavillion We fly back to Sydney in the morning and chill out at Manly beach in the afternoon. As I'm sitting there getting tanned I'm thinking, can holidays get any better? I have beach, sun, am in lovely Australia and get to see Prodigy in the evening, what would I want more! The venue is slightly outside Sydney in the 'Fox Studios' area with lots of bars, cafes and all, so we get there at about 9 and have a little drink outside first. As we get in, the venue is really crowded already and once more Adam Freeland is on. As last night, his set is pretty damn cool and hard and totally fits with the Prodigy vibe. At about 10pm then the band start the gig. Setlist is pretty much the same to the night before, apart from that Dead Ken Beats isn't played which I am really gutted about. I later hear that they're just sorting out the lyrics and then it will be back, so that's reassuring. The audience isn't as crazy as the one in Brisbane, but that would have been hard to match. Just like all shows in major cities like London, Sydney etc people are much more restrained at gigs. However, tonight band performance is absolutely amazing. Especially Keith is totally into it all tonight. Whereas at the last two shows he had been more a bit coming and going, he is now so totally there, throughout the whole set, 200%. Very cool. Maxim and Keith make lots of audience contact as well, climbing up to the balconies and all that. The set list goes something like this: Wake Up Intro encore: After the show am pretty knackered and we have an early flight (or so we think) so just have quick drink and go back for some much needed sleep. Thursday, 10th March: Melbourne The Metro (with Kool Keith) This day starts pretty shit for us. We think we're on the 9.30am flight to Melbourne, but in reality (long story) are actually booked on the 12.30 one. So after very little sleep we get up at 7am, make it to the airport for 8.30 and are told our flight isn't until 12.30. damn. Being the cheap-asses we are, we're obviously on the cheapest totally non-changeable fare. Also I realize I forgot some clothes at the hotel back in Sydney, so we check-in and go back into town. Get back to airport midday and feeling knackered already despite not doing much. Also see band at airport, Jim and Liam looking very partied out, awwww. We finally get to Melbourne about 2pm. Katie and I have got a small apartment for the 5 days here so we actually have a washing machine. Heaven. Apart from a quick stroll through town we're not doing much today, have dinner and go to venue at about 9pm. This is the last of the solo shows, and unfortunately also the last small venue for a long while, so this better be a good one. The venue already is really cool. Small standing area, 3 balconies and lots of little bars spread throughout. I decide I have to soak up the intensity of such a last small gig and am going for the front row, a bit on the side. After another excellent set by Adam Freeland, the band come on about 10.30pm. As expected, the show in this venue is absolutely amazing. And while I dont remember much of the details due to a couple too many drinks before and after the gig, I totally believe that this show felt like having the two good things of the Brisbane and Sydney ones combined: Great audience combined with maximum band performance. So, similar as the nights before, the set list goes like this: Wake Up Intro But now, they are not leaving the stage and Maxim announces that they have a very special guest joining them tonight, someone we would all know: Kool Keith! Yeah! We get to witness the ultimate live performance of a collaboration: Diesel Power. Kool Keith comes on stage and him and Maxim do vocals together on the track. Ahhhhhhhh, so amazing. You can tell Kool Keith loves it, seems quite into it. The beats dont sound as hard as you'd think they would though, but its the first ever and only full performance of that track, so I let them get away with it. I just have to capture the moment and take a couple of pics with my mobile as you can see below (they're about as blurry as my memory).
Now all leave the stage, but soon return for Poison and Release Yo Delf. This leads into SMBU and now Kool Keith is back as well. Obviously the track is based on a Kool Keith sample, so this is really cool. Again him and Maxim are on vocals together, and Kool Keith looks like he doesn't want to stop. At the end of the track he just lies down on stage and repeats his line over and over again. Very cool! As he leaves, the band finish the set with a once more excellent Out Of Space. This time now also Keith (as in Flint) is back and it's one great ending to a really great and very special show. There's an afterparty as well, and rather funnily Kool Keith introduces himself to me (as he does to any other female who is anywhere near him). Later Maxim introduces me to him again and I ask how he liked playing with Prodigy. He says he did indeed and very proud "I did some tracks with them, you know!". Oh, I do know, ha ha. I hear it's the first time Liam has met him as well tonight, so that sounds very special indeed. Also really good to see the whole band out and about again as well, sounds like they're all having a lot of fun on this tour. A guy from Green Day (a band I like a lot) is there as well and I meet Liam's pro tools guy Damian Taylor. All very cool and it turns out to be a very long night for me due to a couple of not to be named but well-known names leading me astray! No show on Friday, time to relax! [ Part 1] [ Part 2] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ] [ Part 5 ] back to prodigy live [go home] (If you copy this, please link back to this URL) www.nekosite.co.uk - copyright © 1998-2005 by neko - all rights reserved |
