The Prodigious Prodigy

Image: Britannica

I got back from a couple of days through in Glasgow around 4pm today; sore, weary, but very happy. The reason for my visit was to stay at my sister’s flat, do some catching up, and go to a gig that Lindsay had bought tickets for me for my birthday in September.

We went to the Glasgow Academy last night to see The Prodigy, a band I’d wanted to see for years – since the early 90s as it happens – but never managed to get the opportunity. When the tickets went on sale for this gig they sold out faster than the proverbial bat out of hell, which is why I was over the moon when my sister managed to get her hands on a couple of briefs.

The Prodigy didn’t disappoint. The crowd inside the Academy was well up for it before they came on stage, and despite the visible police presence outside the venue – which I think l is a close second for atmosphere behind only the Barrowlands – the atmosphere was as good as I have ever experience. The place was highly charged and my adrenalin was pumping for the whole set.

The sound these guys generate is simply awesome. When you can physically feel the underlying bass trembling through your body like radioactive sound waves, culminating in a thundering beat that moves you off your feet, you can’t help but become absorbed. And when you have characters like Keith Flint and Maxim bounding around the stage with black contact lenses and provocative moves, all under strobe lighting, it really is something to behold.

I’ll write more about this in my column in next month’s Scruffy Dog Review.

If nothing else it was good to have a coupe of days off work and a long weekend. It’s going to be a busy week but what a way to kick things off!

Still nothing in from any of my submissions, and still trying not to think about them – despite writing this. My freelance work is still rumbling on nicely so things are all well on that front.

I’ve been asked to contribute to a Madness tribute album with a couple of sound bites and a recording of the Madness-related poem I wrote last year, Turning the Page. It’s not guaranteed the producer will take hem but they might still be used if not picked, in other projects. Should be interesting and a lot of fun but I might need to get hold a decent microphone if the one I have doesn’t live up to the task.

Not much else really. I’m tired and sore around the rubs from last night but it was so worth it. I can’t describe just how good a gig it was. I’m going to try and get an early night because I have my team Christmas lunch tomorrow afternoon. Usually I’m not into these things but since it’s in Khushis – probably the best sit-in Indian restaurant in Edinburgh – I can’t resist.

To finish up, here’s some footage of The Prodigy at Scotland’s biggest outdoor music festival, T in the Park.