Just noticed that too! Man I hope they play that on Thursday!

Review: The Prodigy, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

Apr 8 2009 by Mark Smith, The Journal

THEY’RE back – and back with an almighty bang.

It is so easy to forget that The Prodigy have remained at the top of their game for so long.

They have rampaged the rave scene, hammered the hardcore and battered the breakbeat in a career spanning two decades, and their latest stadium tour shows no sign of the three-piece letting up.

It is clear from the start of their Arena performance that the material from the new album, Invaders Must Die, is perfect for a packed-in Arena crowd.

Heavy guitar riffs, deep bass lines and grimy synth sounds are the foundations of the album, and when played at high volume for 10,000 people, there aren’t many more intense experiences.

New singles Omen and Warriors Dance offer a glimpse of nostalgic 90s rave with a bit of the new Prodigy thrown in, and both tunes went down a storm as a result. The majority of tracks from this year’s album are aggressive and punchy, offering perhaps what their last album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, lacked in some departments.

The band feeds off the crowd throughout, taunting and cajoling them into jumping higher, screaming louder, and ultimately turning the Arena into a mass sweat fest.

But in some parts of the set, the band sounded a little messy. Chart-topper Firestarter sounded oddly out of tune in parts, but at that stage I don’t think the audience really gave two hoots.

Besides, they really made up for it with brilliant versions of Poison and the anthemic Smack My B**** Up, which tantalisingly built up and up to an awesome climax.