I admit I was dubious about the Ushuaïa/Prodigy combo for the This is Hard Rock series closing party. Somehow I just couldn't see the smooth white surfaces and sparkling swimming pools absorbing the brutality of The Prodigy's jagged soundwaves. Or perhaps I was worried that the regular Ushuaïa crowd wouldn't fit with the Prodigy crowd… or that I'd get stuck behind the pool and feel out of the action… well whatever it was, initially it seemed as though my worst fears were to be confirmed. When the band members took the stage instead of an onslaught of clapping hands, they were greeted with a motionless field of raised iphones. From my position at the back (a temporary placement, don't you worry) I saw countless little bright, static rectangles and for a minute it really bummed me out. But I had underestimated the power of The Prodigy to mobilise the masses, and within one song the scene before me changed dramatically.
Breathe was the opener, its heavy drops crashing down on the crowd like a king hit from the heavens, banishing the iphones straight back into the pockets from whence they came. As if a storm had hit, the sea of people in front of me suddenly became incredibly turbulent - I had to get involved. Weaving my way forward I trickled through the crowd-cracks until I found myself right amongst the action towards the front.
Prodigy MC Maxim was big on the trash talk, telling us to effing this and effing that and that everything was effing something. I wasn't a huge fan of the cussing (call me old fashioned) but he won me over with a congratulation to all the VIPs down the front. This got an awkward smattering of applause as everyone wondered why they were supposed to care, then Maxim clarified, bellowing, “ ‘cause anyone who makes it down the front here is a mother fucking VIP to me!” Cue raucous applause, down with the ruling class etc etc.
We got all the hits we could have asked for – Firestarter, Voodoo People, Omen… I think it was during Poison I got my second stitch from jumping about so much. The crowd was sound, jovially banging into each other and high-fiving strangers at the glory of a good old fashioned mosh – something that Ibiza doesn't usually have a lot of time for. You know how we music journalist are always banging on about the DJs whipping the crowd into a frenzy? Pfft. We exaggerate. No gentle tech-house two-stepping here; THIS was a real frenzy.
If I'm nitpicking, I could have taken a bit more oomph in the sound. Although loud and clear, it was a few clicks short of that unbelievable bass that you look for at live concerts, when a song you heard a thousand times before suddenly has grunt and depth that you never thought possible. The Prodigy isn't your classic rock act, playing in the electronic fields as well, but the soul of rock'n'roll was flourishing at the Hard Rock series closing tonight, with drummer Leo Crabtree (what a name by the way) smashing down on the cymbals so hard they fell over at least three times that I could see. One fan popped up above the crowd on shoulders and, at the opening notes to what must have been a favourite track of his, ripped his shirt in pieces and waved it around in the air before diving head first back into the crowd. Later on a death circle opened up down the front, and as I watched a bunch of dudes and the odd brave girl slamming into each other like heating atoms I marvelled that I had lived to see a death circle, not only in Ibiza, but at Ushuaïa no less! Who'da thunk.
The lasers were as manic as everything else that night, becoming particularly fitful for the more recent hit World on Fire. Everything just seemed to keep escalating with every song, so that by the time we got to Smack My Bitch Up me and the strangers around me were pogo-ing higher than a Masai jumping tribe. After this they left the stage for the now-formulaic encore break, unsurprisingly returning to smash out four more songs, wrapping it up by sending us all to Outer Space.
The hysterical cheers at the end of the set compared to the warm, but controlled reception at the beginning said it all. The Prodigy crew are the true Firestarters.
WORDS | Jordan Smith PHOTOGRAPHY | Hard Rock
