While everyone seems to have forgotten about it now, the real winners of the 1990s Britpop wars were The Prodigy.
The Essex guys – musical boffin Liam Howlett and some more outgoing friends to perform for crowds of frenzied youngsters – managed to appeal to everyone from old punks to dayglo dancers, hip-hoppers and metalheads with some of the least nostalgic pop music. ever made.
So, to celebrate 25 years since The Fat of the Land sold 10 million, they’ve gone out and played some (but not all) of it in rooms that seem way too small for them even now.
They took the stage at Leeds’ O2 Academy, with previous tour dates including Liverpool and Sheffield, before moving on to London and Manchester for performances in July.
It was really nice. The classic bangers were all there, from the opening of Breathe – still the best punk single to top the UK charts – to Voodoo People, Poison and the time capsule of No Good (Start the Dance).
In what was the band’s first tour since Keith Flint’s death, his presence was missed, with the absence of his heavy guitar violence by Firestarter even more poignant.
However, the lead singer – who died aged 49 – was honored by his bandmates, with his famous granny-horrifying silhouette most effectively etched with lasers.
The light show was great, by the way, transforming an unpromising cramped venue into a mini arena.
Even less lofty, later tunes like Wild Frontier and Get Your Fight On, little more than chants about those oh-so-seductive and familiar beats, were fine in context.
It may not be a new sound, but it is their sound and it still works.
So the music may not have changed, but everyone in the house, on stage and in the audience has.
No longer fluorescent adolescents, but adults who have dealt with life-changing events, good and bad, are all releasing their inner teenager tonight.
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