Live performances, on the whole, are a difficult little animal to tame, especially while trying to cage them as audio or video recordings. Dodgy sound levels and instruments randomly dropping out of the mix are de rigueur, but the biggest problem with live albums/videos is that they prove to be inadequate when it comes to bringing the same energy and vibe of the live performance into your living room.
But this is The Prodigy we’re talking about. And this is the band’s first ever live home video on Blu-ray Disc and DVD, World’s on Fire (WoF) that was recorded live at their own Warrior’s Dance Festival in front of over 65,000 screaming fans in July 2009. Incidentally, WoF was screened at cinema halls across Europe for one night only on March 31 this year and was met with rave reviews (pun unintended).
Having been a victim of the live visual and aural assault of The Prodigy just over four months ago in Bengaluru, I was extremely eager to examine just how the live recording would stand up to an in-the-flesh performance. The first thing that caught my attention is that the 17-track set list clocks in at only 70 minutes, which in retrospect, isn’t so bad when you consider the hour or so worth of extras.
And the good news continues because from the time the persistent feedback and slow build up of smoke on stage kicks off proceedings, to the final bars of mega fan favourite Out of Space, WoF is a thrill-a-minute ride that exhilarates and at times even nauseates the viewer.
The set is an Invaders Must Die heavy list, comprising eight songs from the band’s latest album, and a smattering of old favourites including Smack My Bitch Up, Firestarter and Voodoo People. There’s also a couple of pleasant surprises in the form of slices from The Prodigy’s rave past (Everybody in the Place and Weather Experience) complete with green lasers, that I rather enjoyed.
In terms of the actual performance of said tracks, the show is a quintessential Prodigy show. Liam (Howlett, producer/synthesiser/songwriter) looks out into the crowd every so often and raises his fist in the air, Rob (Holliday, live guitarist) seems hell-bent on destroying all his gear while Leo (Crabtree, live drummer) is energetic and tight with the rhythms, but ultimately, forgettable.
However, Maxim (Reality, MC) and Keith (Flint, MC) are the real stars of the show. The former stalks the stage with all the menace of a tribal warrior and the serpentine grace of a king cobra, while Keith is equal parts rabid Rottweiler and hyperactive child with too much sugar in his bloodstream. There were more than a handful of instances during the performance when I got goosebumps watching the pair of them tearing it up. A case in point is the intense bunch of seconds before Firestarter kicks off and Keith glowers intensely at no one in particular, while the 65,000-strong audience surges completely aware of what is to follow.
Delving into the negatives now and some of the sound post-production killed the feel of the live show. There are a number of tracks where the guitars and drums are turned down very low and get lost in the mix. In terms of the video, it’s an undeniable fact that the red and blue emergency lights and the flashing strobes are almost as effective onscreen as they are live. However, what begins to get tiring after a while are the schizophrenic camera angle changes. I understand that there were a lot of cameras set up across the arena and they’d like to show every angle, but at times these transitions are far too sudden and motion sickness-inducing. While the entire show is available on DVD, I got hold of the Blu-ray to see how the makers would utilise HD technology to showcase The Prodigy and to be honest, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Sonically brilliant and rendered in 5.1 Surround Sound though WoF most certainly is, it’s the visuals that leave a lot to be desired.
The film is supposed to be in 1080p HD and whenever footage from any of the HD cameras in the arena is used, it’s a crisp, colourful and vivid experience. But with the constant camera angle cuts, I often found myself going from visuals of a red-hued Keith with each droplet of his sweat visible in high resolution, to a grainy non-HD image seconds later. The extra features include live performances of a few tracks at different shows and tiny little compilation videos of the band’s UK arena tour, US tour, Brazil trek and Japan jaunt.
To sum it all up, WoF certainly has its fair share of flaws. But the overall package is well worth owning and preserving. The Warrior’s Dance Festival show left me breathless and was worth the price of the disc alone.
Even more so if you happen to be a fan of The Prodigy and missed them on their India tour in January. Just make sure you remove all breakable items from your vicinity before you pop the disc into your drive. They wo-n’t survive.