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“If anybody brings as much noise as this, I’ll retire!”
It’s been almost three decades since The Prodigy topped Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in 1997, cementing a legacy not only as the first dance artist to headline the festival, but as the noisiest. Vocalist Maxim’s words ring true tonight, as the heavy electronic linchpins prove why they’re still the reigning, unmatched kings of noise with a performance as moving and as unhinged as their historic headline set all those years ago.
Since then, the Essex dance icons have played Worthy Farm a handful of times, but their set this evening closing The Other Stage is their first here since the death, in March 2019, of their much-loved, trailblazing dancer-turned-vocalist Keith Flint.
“Tonight, this is the fourth time we've played Glastonbury," Maxim tells the tens of thousands watching. "It's supposed to be five times, but six years ago, we lost our brother. This show tonight is dedicated to Mr. fucking Flint. This is his night!”
It’s a statement that underlines the performance with a grounding emotional weight, a sense of togetherness, and a clarity over the things that really matter: being surrounded by the people you love, celebrating the best of music, and dancing like your legs are on fire.
Though everyone here is undoubtedly tired, having completed essentially a five day hike across Worthy Farm’s monumental ground, they shed their last nodules of energy with a last embrace of chaos. And what a better way to start the night with a riot-sparking Pendulum-remixed version of Voodoo People, its hypnotic drums spiralling down into a dingy, dark rabbit hole, before Omen acts like a detonator, uprooting the field in a play for ultimate madness as disorientating stage lights, lasers and flares welcome us into the next track, Light Up The Sky.
Fan favourite Firestarter arrives with a dancing green silhouette of Flint - horns and all - blazing across the screen, as Maxim stands silent and motionless in honour. Unfortunately, it’s at this point that attention begins to wane, the riotious momentum built from the anthem-stacked beginning faltering due to spacious interludes between each of the following songs, with multiple fans in the crowd commenting how it all seems very “stop and start”. Though the energy never quite manages to restore itself fully, songs such as Invaders Must Die, Breathe and Smack My Bitch Up are utterly lethal, each drum smack and electronic tear hitting as hard as any metal riff. The set closes with the reggae-leaning, chaotically cosmic Out Of Space, and truthfully it feels anti-climatic, not only because the set finishes 15 minutes early, but because it’s wrapped up so quickly. The band disappear in a blink.
As the field begins to disperse, this writer reads texts from friends who have been watching the BBC televised performance from home. “This looks absolutely nuts!”, says one message, and they’re right, to some degree, but unfortunately, we leave the site feeling like those sat on the sofa might have had a far better, curated view of the night.
“I think we did Mr Flint proud”, Maxim comments in closing, and we have to agree. For even when they're not functioning at their very best, no-one does it quite like The Prodigy. And Glastonbury festival wouldn’t be the same without them.
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