THE PRODIGY

With over 20 million albums sold worldwide, The Prodigy are the undisputed superstars of British club culture. Their unique blend of techno, rave, big beat, jungle, drum'n'bass, acid house, punk and electronic hardcore has been finding millions of fans across the scene for three decades. They were the only ones to win an MTV Music Award for both "Best Alternative Act" and "Best Dance Act" in the same year. In 2018, the British trio made an impressive return with their seventh studio album, "No Tourists," which promptly shook up the international charts, landing in the Top 10 in Germany and Switzerland, among other countries, and topping the charts in their native Britain like almost all of its predecessors. In the wake of Keith Flint's tragic death, part of the planned tour for the final album was canceled in 2019, and the band took an extended hiatus. After a few festival shows, The Prodigy will also return to the big European halls in the fall and will also make a stop in Germany for four concerts on their tour. Between November 30 and December 9, the band will make guest appearances in Düsseldorf, Berlin, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. The story of The Prodigy begins in 1990, when techno was still in its infancy. At that time, band head Liam Howlett was a hip-hop DJ and breakdancer and initially had nothing to do with the freshly burgeoning scene. It was only with the revival of acid house that he turned to harder club sounds. At a party he first met Keith Flint and shortly afterwards Keith Palmer, who had already gained local merits as an MC under the name Maxim Reality. Leeroy Thornhill joins the band, but leaves the project, which is called The Prodigy, in 2000. The band had great success in England right from the start. Their first singles, "Charly" and "Everybody In The Place," reached the top three in the charts, and their debut album, "Experience," reached number 12. With their second album, "Music For The Jilted Generation," released in 1994, they not only achieved an international breakthrough, but the album is still considered the prelude and blueprint for innovative electronic music that combines all known styles of house and techno. Hits like "No Good," "Voodoo People" and "Poison" are considered classics and can still be heard in clubs. But The Prodigy want more - they are looking for the absolutely new, never heard before. They succeeded with the album "The Fat Of The Land", released in 1997. With singles like "Firestarter," "Breathe" and "Smack My Bitch Up," they move away from classic techno and create a new genre: the big beat, which gives electronic music a fresh aesthetic full of broken beats, punky sounds and powerful vocals. The Prodigy finally join the ranks of the superstars. They win countless awards around the album, are nominated for two Grammys and play a triumphant world tour. At the zenith of their career, The Prodigy seem to be overcome by a creative crisis: they had revolutionized dance and club music in a lasting way - what is to come now? The members take several years off and put out solo albums, including "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" by Liam Howlett, which is released in 2004 under the name The Prodigy without the participation of his two bandmates. It wasn't until 2006 that the trio reunited, and in 2009 the outstandingly oppressive comeback album "Invaders Must Die" was released. With "The Day Is My Enemy" and and "No Tourists" follow two more fantastic long players, before it comes to 2019 to another caesura: On March 4, 2019 Keith Flint is found dead in his house. Initially, the band cancels all dates and tour dates, only in 2022 The Prodigy play again a few shows in the UK on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of "The Fat Of The Land". After playing some international festival dates this summer, the first European tour in memory of Keith Flint will follow in autumn. - Army Of The Ants European Tour December 2023