From in front of a giant black and white Union Jack, the Prodigy shook the walls of the Congress Theatre on Milwaukee Avenue with an eardrum-bursting set. The group who was all spitfire and brimstone, the trailblazers of a genre, were undoubtedly rusty, but they more than satisfied the crowd who rivaled the band in both energy and volume.
Rays of emerald light and bass drums heralded the Prodigy onto the stage one man at a time. Setting up behind a complex set of keyboards was the band founder, Liam Howlett, who was followed soon after by the tall sparkplug of an MC, Maxim, and the band’s sawed-off vocalist Keith Flint. Immediately bounding fluidly across the stage, Maxim brought a human wave from the fans as he jumped onto and from the large speakers at the edge of the crowd, taunting and exciting the audience by raining water and beer down on them. By the time the bright white stage lights cut into the dark and the notes of their first track, “Their Law,“ started, the audience was a seething mass of anticipation.
Remorselessly building the fans up in this fashion, trying to trump the expectations of the crowd and fulfill the promise of their name, The Prodigy pounded the cavernous walls of the Congress Theatre with electronica-styled samplings and scream punctuated lyrics for an hour and a half. With Maxim dancing through any vocal breaks, sneering at and cheering along the fans, the band delivered a highly charged set. Only the quiet stage presence of vocalist Flint, who appeared to defer to Maxim at every opportunity, slowed the awesome momentum of the night.
Trusting their loyal audience, The Prodigy withheld some of its biggest hits, “Firestarter” and “Smack My Bitch Up” until very late in the night, but they knew what they were doing. Saving their best for last, The Prodigy drew the fans into a froth of crowd surfing and bone-bruising body slamming with their most familiar and appreciated hits. The anticipation paid off in the end as the theater exploded in chanting applause and exultation from the sweating stream of fans at the foot of the stage.
Throughout the night, Maxim, the voice of the band, paid tribute to Chicago and the city’s fans. Proving they obviously know where they are, The Prodigy, by leaving their hearts on the stage, also showed that they knew how long a road it was to come back. Eight years since their last performance in the Windy City, The Prodigy made up for lost time and gave their fans a show they won’t soon forget.
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