The Prodigy are always outnumbered, never outgunned. But with the untimely passing of Keith Flint in 2019, the electronic punks are a main man down.
When the Prodigy embarks on another national tour this February, their first in five years, the Brits do so with a lineup led by core members Liam Howlett and Maxim.
Flint was the firestarter for the Prodigy. A wildman on stage, and with the mic. His last full-fledged tour with the Prodigy was their lap of Australia in February 2019. A month later, Flint was gone.
Does Australia now have a bittersweet edge?
“No, not at all,” Howlett explains. “We can’t wait to return and play again there. We do have a long connection to Australia, all the way back to 1992. But during the heightened chaos of the gigs, it will be emotional for us. It always is.”
Speaking with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Howlett insists this 2025 version of the Prodigy will unleash the same riotous energy, and the songs, that saw them earn superstar status in the ‘90s, and never relinquish it.
“People know what to expect from us by now. We come to raise and ignite the soul,” he warns ahead of the four-date Disrupta jaunt, presented by Handsome Tours, Astral People and Double J. “Every tour we do, we try to push it a little more and change it from the last. This is no different. We can’t fuckin’ wait.”
The Prodigy was founded in Essex in the early 1990s as a foursome of producer Howlett and three energy men who completed their dynamite live show: Maxim, Flint and Leeroy Thornhill (a dancer, he left the group in 2000 to focus on his solo music and DJ career).
Their debut album Experience from 1992 was on high rotation with savvy music fans in the UK (where it peaked at No. 12) and Australia.
The followup, 1994’s Music For The Jilted Generation, was a monster and gave the Prodigy their first of seven UK No. 1s.
From there, the Prodigy did what few dare to dream. Powered by music videos for “Firestarter”, “Breathe,” and “Smack My Bitch Up,” The Fat Of The Land from 1997 went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
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It was on The Fat Of The Land when Flint for the first time unleashed his caustic, scallywag raps.
“I miss not having my brother around, of course,” recounts Howlett. “I miss his humour, he was a very funny guy. That’s what I think of now, all the funny shit we used to get up to, loads of mad adventures. He always had my back and I had his. But also he would bite back hard if he wasn’t happy with something, not caring who he upset. Instead of holding it in. I respected that side of him too, as it was honest. We just had a total understanding of one another.”
On their last visit to these parts, the Prodigy supported their seventh studio album from 2018, No Tourists, a UK chart leader. In the intervening period, a rare quiet patch with no new LPs.
The question was put to Howlett. Is more Prodigy music on the way? The answer, “yeah.”
The Prodigy’s ‘Disrupta Tour’ of Australia
Presented by Handsome Tours, Astral People & Double J
Tickets on sale at ticketek.com.au.
Feb. 13th — Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Feb. 14th — Hordern Pavilion – Sydney
Feb. 16th — Riverstage, Brisbane
Feb. 18th — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
