If The Prodigy set during the Lucca Summer Festival last week is any indication, fans can expect a high-octane performance in Malta in three weeks’ time, with The Prodigy delivering a rousing mix of classic favourites, tracks from their latest album Invaders Must Die and even some previews from the new album.

The concert took place in Piazza Napoleone in Lucca. A good venue, spacious enough to accommodate the violent moshing that was about to kick off. Moshing that, unlike what typically happens, was not limited to the first few rows but spread across all areas.

The Italians set up a rather impressive stage for the occasion, although I would have had the stage facing a different direction - but that is by the by. Allow me get the technical stuff out of the way first.

The sound system and the light show were both impeccable; I was told by band manager that – as expected – the band have very precise specifications when touring, which means that we will be treated to the exact same experience when they perform in Malta.

The Prodigy is one of the few acts that require no warm up band. From the start, their performance in Lucca threw the audience right in at the deep end, the crowd going wild as soon as it heard the opening bars of Breathe.

The second single to be released from their 1997 Fat of the Land album, Breathe helped cement the band’s status as club favourites. In its live version, the track is every bit as effective, launching a venue-wide mosh pit in a few seconds.

This was a great opening that reflected what would turn out to be a very strategic set list, one that kept the crowd engaged by switching between the band’s most popular hits and the lesser-known tracks without once losing the connection with the audience.

Jetfighter segued smoothly into a rendition of Voodoo People that pushed everyone into overdrive. The Italian audience is a good audience, though I suspect the Maltese will beat that.

Omen was next, and it was easy to see why it was one of the singles instrumental in propelling Invaders Must Die straight to the top of the UK Albums Chart in 2009. The crowd’s chants of “the writing’s on the wall” almost drowned out the vocals, much to Keith Flint’s grinning.

AWOL is a beast of a track, a mash of unrelenting breakbeats

Another track from the upcoming album was next, AWOL. From the tracks that have been previewed so far, this – and even more so, its derivative AWOL Beats – is arguably the one that gets the strongest reaction from the audience.

AWOL is a beast of a track, a mash of unrelenting breakbeats, a hardcore reprise and aggressive vocals.

In its live rendition, AWOL Beats is seriously punishing, both on crowd and on artists, and is totally worth the sweat and the metaphorical blood.

When the artists know their stuff, by the time the second half of a concert is underway the audience will be riding the crest of a the wave.

Anyone who has been to a good concert knows about this wave; this is when the band can do no wrong.

Firestarter was probably the one track that could send the audience into an even bigger frenzy, a level that was sustained right up until the two concluding tracks, Invaders Must Die and Smack My Bitch Up.

Despite the controversy it courted, the latter remains the band’s signature anthem, something that they milked to full effect with Flint wooing the crowd and Liam Howlett and Maxim urging everyone on further.

The concert was definitely ending on a high. Only, it wasn’t quite ending, of course, because encores are expected nowadays.

After a suitable amount of catcalls from the audience, The Prodigy were back with Take Me to the Hospital, new track New Beats and Their Law.

A fittingly upbeat conclusion to a concert that never once dipped in terms of energy levels and audience response.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.