Returning to your roots, finding who you are, rocking out with complete strangers, breaking a sweat, bringing it back with your favorite drink, and finishing the night by singing along to Prodigy. It never starts with the headliner, so let us rewind it to the top.
Arriving at a new venue is always awesome. You have to find the spot that you’ll always go to when you attend future concerts, and then hunt down your favorite place to get a drink (the one in the back corner with no line). You tip the bartender heavy to get it heavy and you observe. Two gorgeous overhanging balconies on each side of the stage, and a dance floor the size of one-and-a-half skating rinks. The stage is huge, and ready for the three fantastic artists. The Hollywood Palladium carries amazing sound throughout the hall. I would recommend that if you love the bass, stand on the non-VIP balcony against the back wall. If you’re at the right concert with the right artist, your shirt will vibrate.
8:30pm and Destructo calmly asks the crowd if they are ready to rock. It’s the simplest part of a concert and my favorite part. It’s the first artist on the stage. Most of the people in the crowd don’t know who they are, as they usually only know the headliner. I feel for the painstaking ordeal they have to deal with, going from a silent room to rocking out. The opening is crucial to everyone in the room. The artist must pass judgment upon the crowd in hopes that their first track will be received with open arms. Destructo, a man that changed the music culture for Los Angeles, opened with melodic tones and hums. This is a man that was instrumental in the 1993 Knott’s Berry Farm New Year’s party, which changed the underground electronic music scene to the open air of Southern California. His forty-five minute session was short and received on the level of normal DJs. I would not frown upon Gary Richards, for the crowd was impossibly young to know him, or Prodigy, and their history. I would only frown upon Gary “Destructo” Richards for not giving himself a better intro. I assume the humble beginning is necessary for the youthful crowd, so letting it pass is what I did.
9:12pm and Glitch Mob starts up with loud bass. The crowd is more receptive to them and their hip-hop style, slow-rolling beats and the many turntables they are rocking out on. Before we talk about Glitch, let’s chat about the crowd. Everyone showed up for this show. And when I mean everyone, I mean hippies, hipsters, gangsters, Asian ravers, tweakers, rockers, punks, LA-Hollywood-sexy-mama (also known as Silicon-LA-Girls), security, alcoholics, black-x’ed kids, moshers, crowd surfers, I’m-a-VIP-at-a-concert crew, and I believe I saw Ferris Bueller but I could be wrong. The mixed crowd is something that an artist has to take into account. There are new people, age-old fans and people who were dragged by their significant other. I would not expect the crowd to sing along perfectly. I know this because in Washington State, that’s the only crowd you get, and they are terrible at singing along. The Glitch Mob had three of their artists. The Glitch Mob originally was composed of four artists, Oooah, ediT, Boreta and Kraddy. Glitch, is in its own music category, which is composed of noise-based music welded together to create a flowing track. The show they delivered was fantastic to flow into a hip-hop feel without a rapper stealing the show with lyrics. I’m unsure as to which artist was missing from the show, but the latest update is that Kraddy has left the group following the show due to creative differences. The beat is not always danceable, but is very hip-hop sway inducing. All three of them bobbing to the beat really makes you want to be involved with the music. Ninja sword? Check. Crackle of the vinyl. Check. "Am I ready?" vocal. Hell yes, check. The transition to a new track is the same as listening to an album, with a 2-second gap in sound. The follow up is the same deliverance of that extreme hybrid beat that any rap artist would beg to be over. Nay they say, we deliver only the beat. Words are not needed.
Prodigy comes on at 10:30 and starts with new music from Invaders Must Die, delivering directly to the youthful, and largest part of the audience. Understandably, it was the best direction for them to take. Coming in knowing the history of Prodigy, you look at the concert from a different perspective. The delivery of the music and tracks were a flood of nostalgia when tracks like “Firestarter” were played. Goosebumps are the feeling I received when vocalist Maxim Reality (Keith Palmer) asked the “warriors” of the crowd to come alive. When the classic tracks were played from Experience, Music for the Jilted Generation, and The Fat of the Land, the entire crowd moved with excitement. Keith Flint was dancing on the stage with such excitement. Following him on stage was one of the best visual parts of the night, jumping from the edge of the stage to speaker top to speaker top. Liam Howlett was in the back on the keyboards playing his abilities that he has been ever-refining since the age of 14. Liam, the originator of Prodigy, has a small presence on stage, but is well known by those who have grown with the group throughout time. For the youthful and unknowing people of the stage, they are intrigued by the emotion that was outpoured from Maxim Reality and Keith Flint. There were moments of interruption for me, as at one point the lyrics were missed, and another point when Keith Flint’s mic went out. Those moments won’t be remembered by the audience, who were entertained by the group rocking over the night into the beginning of the morning. If you’re in doubt to see Prodigy, wherever you are, Q Magazine named them as one of the “50 bands to see before you die.” They were not in the wrong as their show is one to remember forever.
Artists:
www.theprodigy.com
www.theglitchmob.com
www.myspace.com/destructohard
