Hot off their epic set the previous day at the Portola Music Festival, The Prodigy hit San Francisco’s historic Warfield to make up for their April 14 show that suffered a last-minute cancellation due to an illness in the band.
DJ Nitepunk warmed up the eclectic crowd as they crammed every inch of the general admission floor, the 40 minute set doing a remarkable job of getting the San Francisco pumped and loosened up for the mayhem that was set to follow.
The house music blasted Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life,” teasing an intro for The Prodigy as the clock ticked past the scheduled 9PM set time. The energy waned for a second before the band finally took the stage led by Liam Howlett who flashed his “Bring The Ruckus” forearm tattoo to the crowd in a sign of what was to come. Last out was Maxim, an imposing figure appearing out of the thick fog and wearing a hooded jacket.
Equal parts hypeman and vocalist, Maxim was clearly pumped for some action, calling out his “Warfield Warriors” as the band ripped into “Voodoo People” and the 100+ year old room went absolutely bonkers. Bathed in haze and with strobe lights blazing, Howlett held down the center stage encircled by all forms of electronic music gadgetry while Maxim prowled the stage, getting up close with the crush of the front row. Drummer Leo Crabtree was the perfect foil for Howlett, delivering a torrid tempo that didn’t let up all night.
The Prodigy fans were nothing short of rabid and every song brought both the production (lasers!) and energy higher. After 90 minutes the sweat dripped from the walls but there was no doubt that the room could have gone all night.
Even with the band’s set the previous day (which many in the crowd seemed to have attended) and their April 13 performance at the Warfield, the demand for The Prodigy’s first US shows since 2017 appears to remain unquenched. And while much of the Bay Area was woken up early by a 4.3 magnitude earthquake, there’s no doubt Richter scale registered some shockwaves on an otherwise quiet Monday night.
