The Prodigy on tour 2005 - Edinburgh Corn Exchange

the prodigy in UK 2005

Corn Exchange

Guest Review by James Jupiter:

Friday, August 4th 2005 - Edinburgh

First I'll get my excuses out the way. Forgive any set order errors as this is written purely from memory. Also, for a change I decided to stand near the back of the venue so that I had some room to 'throw down some moves' rather than stand in the crush at the front. As I was near the back I couldn't always see what was going on onstage so apologies for the lack of
detail about what was going on onstage.

I'll cut to the chase and get straight to the gig.

Support was provided by a DJ but nobody seemed to know who it was. During the DJ set, Liam kept appearing every now and again at the side of the stage air punching along to the music. The crowd cheered every time they saw him.

At around 9.15pm Liam walked onto the stage to where the DJ was, started the Primal Scream track 'Exterminator' and then walked offstage again.

When 'Exterminator' finished the 'Wake Up Intro' started. The Prodigy enter the stage.

'Wake Up Call' does exactly what it says! The venue is packed and the place starts bouncing.

When 'Wake Up Call' finishes Maxim says "If that didn't wake you up then this will" leading into the new 'Wake The Fuck Up Jam'. This track uses parts of Nightbreed's 'Spitfire' remix and 'Wake Up Call'. The beats are really rocky and the track is damn fast!

Next up and it's a crowd sing-a-long of 'No Good (Start The Dance)' as Liam teases the crowd by playing the "You're no good for me, I don't need nobody, don't need no one that's no good for me" samples as the lead in to 'Their Law'.

'Their Law' has been in the set for eleven years but it still has the power to start a riot!

Next up is 'Warning'. In the previous version of 'Warning' Keith did his vocals over the beats. This version seems a bit stop/start. The new (very good) beats stop and Keith does his vocals in the gaps before the beats drop in again. There are around four 'stops' for the vocals. As a live track this seemed to disrupt the flow. Everyone seemed to stop every time the beats stopped. Don't get me wrong, I liked the new version but the number of stops in it seemed to mess with the crowd energy from where I was.

There was a synth 'Fill' after 'Warning' (for everyone to catch their breath) that lead into 'Breathe'. The place really took off to this and everyone was jumping.

Another 'Fill' followed with Maxim saying "Let's take a flight" which lead into 'Spitfire'. This track is perfect for the live show. When the massive beat drops the place explodes. A real crowd rocker.

In an amusing change from the usual lyric Maxim started talking about the different type of schools saying amongst other things "I'll take you back to my Secondary school to teach you how to build bombs". 'Back 2 Skool' is one of my favourites. Massive beats with the sitar type music mid-part followed by more massive beats. Another dance floor destroyer.

Next up is 'Firestarter'. I really like the new version with the Rage Against The Machine 'In My Eyes' sample and the beefed up drums. This remix has given the track a new lease of life for me. As with 'Breathe' the crowd reaction goes through the roof to this.

Keith starts the "A little action is all I need" vocal leading into a pretty long 'Action Radar' fill. I think it lasted a couple of minutes and had some great beats running through it. It seemed more of a proper track than the previous 'Fill' version I've heard live. Good stuff!

The opening beats to 'Hotride - El Batori mix' fire up. A more accurate description would be the 'El Batori mix' re-pumped until it is almost 100% made up of rock hard beats. It really works as a live track for me.

Now we come to the surprise of the show - 'Memphis Bells'. This is the first time it has been played live in full to my knowledge. It's a different mix from the album version and once again this track has been pumped up for the live show. Maxim's vocals include the line "Rude Boy". This version is sort of a fast 'rude boy skank' type track (if that makes sense) with the jittery
stop-start beats. I loved it. It's always good to chop and change the set around and throwing in this track worked for me.

Next is the recently reintroduced 'Voodoo People'. Another track that has extra new beats that give it a refresh. As a side note, one sample I always thought would be good to use with this track is the "Fucking voodoo magic man.....ha ha ha ha" line from the film 'Predator 2' which was also used on Hyper On Experience's 'Lord Of The Null Lines'. It seems tailor made for the
track.

The Prodigy walk off the stage and it's time to shout out for the encore. After what seemed like ages they return with 'Poison'. I'm pretty sure I heard Liam playing a sample from Environmental Science's Dub mix throughout the track. Maxim was calling out the spelling "P.O.I.S.O.N" and getting the crowd to spell it back. The chest vibrating bass was in full effect on this when the beat drops - BOOM! 'Poison' merges into 'Method Beat' with Maxim doing his "Poison, Remedy" vocals faster and faster until the end when 'Smack My Bitch Up' kicks in. Another one of my all time favourite tracks. Acid madness and fast breakbeats. You can't go wrong. I loved it when that new Kool Keith sample (said to be taken from the full vocal version of 'Wake Up Call') drops in. You could tell a lot of people in the crowd seemed to be thrown by it.

The gig 'ends' again until the new beats that open 'Out Of Space' kick in. Everyone was dancing and jumping along as they shouted out the vocal. A huge crowd pleasing finisher to the set.

The gig finished at about 10.45pm having lasted around an hour and fifteen minutes.

Some random notes about the gig: -

It was damn hot! A couple of times I saw Maxim throwing bottles of water into the crowd.

Some people in the middle of the dance floor were texting on their mobiles during the gig. Can't it wait?

Someone asked me "Have you got any pills?". This often seems to happen to me at Prodigy gigs. Is there something about my dancing that makes people think I'm off my face on drugs? Ha ha ha.

I had a great time, met some great people and I can't wait until the next gig.

by James Jupiter

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