Date: 5th October 1996
Event: The Prodigy Concert
Venue: The Apollo
City: Manchester
Country: England
Support: n/a
Tracklist:
n/a
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Review by subtract:
First ever proper gig and I was 15, me and my mate stood at the front for hours waiting for them to come on stage, Support from what i can remember was Eboman which was pretty sweet as I had his first ep at that time. I remember watching Electronic Punks on video before i went and expecting a similar sort of gig but man was i in for something completely different!
The curtains pulled back before they came on to reveal an amazing stage set up, a full decked out house complete with fish tank, lampshades with strobes in, skins on the walls like the breath vid and a second stage at the back with sofas and other items on! I just remember the buzz at being right central at the front getting crushed from the anticipation before they came on…
Then when they arrived on stage the crowd were feverpitched, id never experienced anything like it, the heat, the buzz of seeing the prodigy for the first time right in front of me! Maxim had a massive beaver-like fur jacket on with kilt and i could clearly see the whites in his eyes i was that close!
Then the intro kicked in, which to this day is by far my fav intro (usual suspects sample) then i could hear this distorted sound loop id never heard before.. it was the intro to SMBU! at this point no one around me had heard this tune, we had all heard firestarter but all of this was new material… I just remember the build up and then when the first beat kicked in i truly can say i have never ever felt a beat hit me so hard like that!! I felt like id been kicked in the head! with maxim screaming SMBU kicked in and rolled on, the crowd went fucking nuts, sick infact!!
From there on in, i lost a trainer from jumping so hard, breathe came along and again new material for me, but the highlight was Minefields by far. Those beats, the lyrics and to this day my fav prodigy tune ever just smashed my head in! Keith came over loads, i was grabbing his jacket going nuts, i was so close to them that i could literally feel the wind of leeroy as he whooshed past, proper intense stuff.
They ended with Gabba, which ripped the fucking roof off! and then it was home time,
I left a sweating mess, me and my mate got picked up by my dad and i could hardly speak, i was just buzzing my tits off and had minefields lyrics rolling around in my head for days afterwards!
As i walked out my dad was waiting with his mate, who worked at the apollo, he told us to wait there and he was going to get me something….
He came back with signed autographs from Liam, Maxim & Leeroy!!! Keith was no where to be seen! So i had this peice of A4 paper with their signatures on, couldnt be fucking better! I still have them framed, with sweaty stained ticket and small tour ad from the NME!
I’ve seen them so many times after that gig, in big stadiums, festivals, smaller gigs but nothing compares to that gig and the energy from it!
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