The Prodigy Live at Paaspop : Schijndel, Netherlands Gig Review by Boudewijn Rens

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Photographer: Rahul Singh
Photographer: Rahul Singh

It’s a warm and sunny day in Schijndel. Rarely anything happens in the small town in The Netherlands. Back in 1978 a few friends organized an event and named it ‘Paaspop’, which refers to the fact it is held during Easter weekend. Ever since the start of the event the organizers dreamed of an international headliner. On the thirty-fifth birthday of the festival they finally saw their dream realized: The Prodigy.

In 1978 the event was hosted on a farm with only a few people attending. Nowadays the festival is hosted on a big meadow with over ten different stages. As it is still April and weather is unpredictable all stages are placed in tents. The Prodigy is set to play the Apollo tent, which is, not so surprisingly, the biggest tent on the site. Hours before the concert the tent starts to fill with fans, interested folks and a handful of local farmers. While the tent is getting fuller the temperature starts to rise and bar personnel is getting busier and busier.

Photographer: Rahul Singh
Photographer: Rahul Singh

When it’s finally 00.30 am and the Apollo is completely full it’s time to start the dance. Voodoo People has been an opener for some time now and no exceptions are made for this round of madness. Unlike their Dutch gig last year at the Indian Summer Festival all spectators now do feel the vibe and start to dance, mosh, jump and twerk immidiatly around the place. I said the tent was getting warm earlier, now I’d rather say the tent is boiling! As soon as Breathe kicks in most of the men in front of me pulled of their t-shirts and are walking around like mad men (or Techno Viking for that matter).

The show only just started as first (mostly girls) spectators flee the scene of the crash while mosh pits are getting bigger and bigger. The Prodigy themselves are totally in their element rocking the Netherlands in a way I’ve rarely seen them doing. Last time the Dutch crowd went that crazy must have been all the way back in 2009 during their club show in Amsterdam to promote Invaders Must Die. It’s good to see that Rock Weiler developed so well since the first time I heard it during it’s premiere at Rock am Ring last year. While at Rock am Ring the crowd reaction was kind of lame tonight it can count on one of the biggest explosions I’ve seen so far for Rock Weiler.

Photographer: Sergey Sergeyev
Photographer: Sergey Sergeyev

When it’s time for Keith to do his round of Firestarter and Run With The Wolves the crowd has calmed down a bit. More and more people are in search for the bar to enjoy the rest of the show with a well-deserved beer. Only a few Dutch (and some from the UK too) warriors in the front decide to stay at the barrier. When the thirsty warriors get replaced with new warriors thirsty for more Prodigy Get Your Fight On kicks in. The track that has been played since the Warehouse Project last December is clearly in a development stage and needs some reworking to be done. The reaction to the next track Spitfast is therefor much more explosive with warriors screaming the lines they’ve heard so many times.

Photographer: Sergey Sergeyev
Photographer: Sergey Sergeyev

One of the highlights of the show must have been the powerful encore. Take Me To The Hospital can be seen as a classic already and Maxim can count on 25.000 people ‘singing’ the lines with him. It’s almost like everyone knows this is the moment to loose your last bit of energy as Hyperspeed, which saw it’s live comeback in 2012, drops in the Apollo tent. While the sun is long gone the Apollo tent finally reaches its boiling point. With almost everyone raving around the place for one last time this is definitely one of The Prodigy’s best endings in the past few years. Only thing the warriors rest to do is a taking that desperately needed shower.

Setlist – Paaspop, The Netherlands 19/04/2014

  • Intro
  • Voodoo People
  • Jetfighter
  • Filler Discontent
  • Breathe
  • Omen
  • Rock Weiler
  • Poison
  • Thunder (Dubstep Mix)
  • AWOL
  • Firestarter
  • Run With the Wolves
  • Get Your Fight On
  • Spitfast
  • Omen (Reprise)
  • Invaders Must Die
  • Smack My Bitch Up
  • Take Me to the Hospital
  • New Beats
  • Their Law
  • Hyperspeed (G-Force Part 2)