Live review : The Prodigy + Jaguar Skills @ Mounford Hall, Liverpool on July 14th 2022

The last time I saw The Prodigy was also in Liverpool. I’d spent a lonely afternoon day drinking after nobody turned up at the agreed time, rocked up at the arena after a few shots in Bar Ca Va, and had a fight with a guy because his trainers were worth £400 and what was I doing dancing near him… mate I am living my best life, good grief. 

It was also the last time I saw Keith Flint. 

I have seen The Prodigy about 15 times, appearing at festivals and going to their gigs. They were undoubtedly one of THE most important acts for me as a teenager, from the days I used to sneak into the Krazyhouse and Jillys underage. Universally accepted across the rave crowd and the rock crowd, The Prodigy’s music had this incredible gift to unite people. I bought “Fat of the Land” when I was 16 and it blew my head off. After 3 years of nothing but Nu-Metal, my eyes and ears became open to dance music and gradually I ended up finding Chemical Brothers, Chase and Status, Pendulum, Andy C, and then falling head first into Industrial around the age of 17 (thank you “Downward Spiral”).

Flints death in 2019 shocked me to the core. How could that bundle of energy I had seen a few months before be gone? I was on my way home from watching Laibach in Glasgow and the tears just rolled silently down on my face for a huge chunk of the journey.  He had a  larger than life persona and an unmistakeable voice, and it was difficult to imagine The Prodigy without him. 

The announcement of this tour was met with a mixture of curiosity and nerves, and I was lucky enough to get 2 tickets on pre-sale. Whilst queueing inside the venue for a drink (2 pinter cup of Stowford Press… or a mega pint as we’re now calling them), I turned to my brother and said “I’m super nervous for how this is going to be without him” and his face visibly twisted with worry as he said “Me too”.

We didn’t have time to dwell too long on that anxiety, as tonight’s opener is none other than one of my all-time favourite DJs Jaguar Skills. Another act I’ve seen well into double figures, this isn’t the first time I have seen him open for The Prodigy. They’ve had a close relationship for a number of years, and it’s hard to hide my delight, as he tends to bang in a huge amount of drum and bass, and honestly, that stuff gets me going. I spill some of my mega pint. Do you know how hard it is to dance when you’re holding one of those things? See also, me at Nine Inch Nails, me at Rammstein… 

Jaguar Skills is well known for his ability to mash up genres, and spliced between all the dnb we hear stuff like Queens of the Stone Age, Rage Against the Machine, and Beastie Boys. He plays to his audience in a way that looks almost effortless, despite using vinyl for a number of the drops. And despite Jaguar Skills not being “Rockflesh” he is very definitely “Sarah” and I’ve been here since the beginning. Well, nearly the beginning. 

Perfect examples of Jaguar Skills fun and frantic style can be found here in his Classic Number One mix   and History of Drum and Bass. Great for pulling bass face. I pull a lot of bass face after a few mega pints, probably why I am still single. 

The Prodigy’s set list tonight is something of beauty. Liam Howlett had previously hinted there would be new music on this tour, however, we’re treated instead to what can only be described as a “best of the best”. Opening with ‘Breathe’, the crowd goes absolutely insane and at some point I land funny on my knee as I am dancing about. There’s a certain intensity to seeing them in a room this size as opposed to them filling the arena like they did in 2018; the sweat drips off the walls and nobody has any real space to cut shapes but it doesn’t seem to matter in the moment. 

They storm their way through fan favourites ‘Omen’ and ‘Light Up the Sky’, before an amazing mix of ‘Climbatize’’with’ Warriors Dance’ mixed in, and before there’s even a moment to pause for air ‘Everybody In The Place has kicked in. 

However it was the next moment that it really struck me “Keith isn’t here” when they played an instrumental version of ‘Firestarter’ complete with a bright green lazer outline of him. I never expected to cry at a Prodigy gig, but for that moment I truly felt his loss and I don’t think I was the only one. My brother tried to console me, but you know that moment where you see someone you love crying and it gets a little bit too much? 5 minutes outside was needed. 

I’m not entirely sure how, but The Prodigy played 19 songs and it only felt like they were on stage for 10 minutes. I was lost in a sea of lazer beams and big beats in what was probably one of my favourite ever Prodigy sets (although nothing will top the tent at Download in 2006. It was chaos, if you were there you will know what I mean), and yet I couldn’t help coming away feeling a little sad. It felt very final and very much “This was us, this was our career, look at what we did”. I want to be wrong, I really am praying that I am mistaken with my concerns that they might be getting to the end of their career. I want them to bounce back with new music and further dates, I have a 13 year old who has just started to pick up on them and I hope I can take her to see them one day. But if this is to be the last time I ever see The Prodigy, then oh my God, thank you for going out with such a big bang. And destroying my knee. Thank you for being the soundtrack for my teenage years. Thank you for being my gateway drug into drum and bass. Thank you for giving me and my friends some of the most amazing memories for gigs and festivals.

I really miss you Keith.