2008.05.16 – The Plug, Sheffield, England

Date: 16th May 2008
Event: The Prodigy Concert
Venue: The Plug
City: Sheffield
Country: England
Support: Evil Nine, Alex Metric

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. World’s On Fire
3. Breathe
4. Their Law
5. Beat55
6. Spitfire
7. Warrior’s Dance
8. Back 2 Skool
9. Firestarter
10. Action Radar Link
11. Voodoo People
12. Poison
13. Diesel Power Beats
14. Smack My Bitch Up
15. Out Of Space
16. Dead Ken Beats

Extra info:
Premier performance of New Intro, World’s On Fire, Beat55 (fill) and Warrior’s Dance.

From this gig Rob Holliday back playing gitar and a new drummer Leo Crabtree joined the band.

Review by Som Tolley, Rocklouder:
Somewhere between your face getting covered in warm beer and a sweat drenched naked upper body rubbing against your back, you get the feeling this is child’s play for The Prodigy. In fact it brings a beaming smile to your face to realise this fact, even within the current situation you happen to find yourself.
And as the juddering electronic riff of ‘Breathe’ cuts through the amps and amongst the proceeding mayhem that ensues as a result, you really couldn’t care less. Because as far as contemporary music goes, it doesn’t get much better then this.
The pounding beats are relentless, with ‘Their Law’ picking up the pieces of Howlett’s bridging improv, thudding this backstreet part of Sheffield deeper into the underground. Which is relevant as tonight has more then a mid-nighties feel about it, helped by the rave remnants of ‘Voodoo People’ and ‘Poison’ taking us on some intense nostalgic trip.
It’s all good of course, as the boys run through their timeless timeline as if reliving their career is fast forward. ‘Firestarter’ transformed this band from a reggae induced techno act into dance pioneers of course and it takes The Prodigy up a gear tonight. Flint bounces around the stage like it’s his birthday while Maxim constantly reaches for his ‘Sheffield people’.
While it’s awesome to witness this band’s greatness in full force we are also turning the page on a new chapter tonight. New songs are sampled tentatively to say the least, mixing the old and the new. ‘Warriors Dance’ holds a tribal feel while ‘Worlds On Fire’ is the sound of a band rediscovering their youth. The fact that it opened proceedings, suggests some need for progression within The Prodigy camp.
The hardened fans will criticise the predictability of tonight’s set as they cower at the back, for those of us who came to dance ‘Diesel Power’, ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ and ‘Out Of Space’ end things near perfectly. That’s not before ‘Dead Ken Beats’ adds a twist to conclude things outright, no doubt pointing a massive index finger towards the future.
Lack of match fitness stopped this from being truly great, as the ‘greatest hits’ aspect of this bands live outings readies to be phased out. Back to business not business as usual would be a spot on way to describe tonight. For those who wanted a new Prodigy album the time for waiting is nearly up.

Poster: