Prodigy - Han River Nanji Park, Seoul, Korea – 9/18/09

Posted by Jesse Coy on 10.11.2009

Invaders Must Die, so techno pioneers, the Prodigy, slay them live as one of the headliners of the Global Gathering electronica extravaganza.

FROM A MUSIC WRITER’S JOURNAL

I knew the whole weekend would leave me tired. Ah, the other thing was that Jung finally got back to me at about 10:10pm the night before the concert to tell me what the procedure was for check-in (lovely). And the kicker? My name turned out not even to be on the damn list they had there, although I got in for free (more on that later). The batteries in my two battery chargers… well, one in each got fucked because of leaving them in for too long. They may be shot. I don’t know. I was going to film the whole festival to do a review of it, but then my plan changed.

I had MJ’s number, and would call her when I arrived. The transfer was at Hapjong Station. I’d downloaded a bunch of Prodigy songs, and also threw some of those Love and Rockets tracks into the mix, too. But mainly I wanted the ipod for recording some audio, a test that failed, the sound fuzzed out and distorted. I need to find a recorder for sounds. The next day, MJ would make recordings on her cell phone, and they seemed to sound decent.






But back to actually getting there, she told me which exit to take, and that there would be a sign for shuttle buses. I saw other folks, two guys and a gal, who had the same destination in mind. So I trailed them and then merged with them. It was a major cluster fuck. I had it in mind to call MJ, so I borrowed one of their phones. “I’m here. I’m on my way.” We couldn’t find the shuttle bus. Finally, we opted on a taxi. It took us a while to flag one down, but we finally did.

Okay, come on… either this guy knew where to go, or he was an idiot. I’m sure he knew where to go, because I called MJ again, and she told him where it was in Korean. After going in a bit of a circle, we finally bailed on him, and the dude got no money from us. The other guy knew instantly where we were going. 10,000 won… okay, maybe it was a bit high, but really, it was only about $2 each. And I found out that there was no way I could’ve walked there. It was a bit of a ways away.

Next, we have our Run Lola Run moment. MJ was waiting for me as soon as I stepped out of the taxi. The band had started their first song. You could actually sort of see them. Run, run… we ran to the press tent. She knew where that was. “I’m here with Jung.” Apparently not. I had my ID ready. My name wasn’t anywhere. I told MJ, “don’t miss the show. Go on in.” but she waited for me. even though my name wasn’t on the list, the press gal asked, “only you for press ticket?” “Yes.” “Okay, go ahead.” I had my purple press bracelet. And then run we did. There was no check of my green satchel bag. I should’ve brought soju with me.





I recognized the song as one of the kicking tracks off the new album. I knew that I might have some trouble with some of these songs. I only have the newest release, but I have all those songs down quite well, having listened to that one many times for review purposes, and then just in general. But their older stuff? Besides “Smack My Bitch Up” (which they did play, MJ asking, “are they saying take my picture?”), I don’t know any of their other stuff, aside from what I just netted on the net before I left. They actually played quite a few tracks from Invaders Must Die.

On Sunday, I threw that CD on the player to figure out what songs they played. I had no time to jot song titles down while I was in the thick of things. MJ had me by the hand, pulling my forward. I thought she was going forward to meet up with her friends, but she just wanted to get closer and closer. Sometimes we’d have to stop. We’d take a break from the forward motion, dancing to this song or that one. I was in half techno, half old pit mode, trying to protect my small bubble or circle of space. I had sandals on. Early on, I saw one thing that I’d have to avoid. On two different occasions, I saw folks bent over, apparently hurling. I preferred not to step in vomit.






How about the band? There was a big Take Me to the Hospital sign in front of the drum set, which is the name of their label, plus a track off the new album, which they played as an encore along with the older track, “Out of Space.” Fans were psyched for “Warrior’s Dance,” and I also particularly liked the title track and “Omen,” all off their new one. These tracks sounded quite tailored for a live performance, while a few of their older tracks, while good, weren’t as charged. This one was being recorded, too. At one point, a camera swung down and swiveled overhead recording the crowd. But then MJ grabbed my hand to pull me closer to the front. “I don’t know if we wanna go all the way to the front,” I told her. “You usually get a bit squashed there.”

We did make it quite close to the barrier, but I was right. The press of people was a bit much there. Spotted two of the three of my taxi mates, by the way, or rather they spotted me. It’s great, too, to have a cool girl next to me to dance with for a show like this.





So the Prodigy played for about two hours, and then what? It was time for the wait. I took the tissue (cheap earplugs) out of my ears. I thought that they were the last band, but apparently there was one more playing from 2 to 4. We met MJ’s friends first. The gal was 28, and I guess it was her boyfriend, and there was another guy who MJ said was a bit mad because someone had tried to pick a fight with him. The deal was, I thought we’d be staying in the tent, but apparently the tents were rather small, so we’d just stay awake until the trains ran again.

Instead of booze tents or booze areas (though I saw those), sectioned off cigarette areas were more prominent. Pendulum was playing on the other stage. I was tired (both lack of sleep and also the charged dancing for Prodigy). I didn’t recognize this other act. Pendulum seemed less a band and more of an electronica mash-up act.

At various points, I heard them mixing in bits of Prodigy, Mindless Self Indulgence, and Rage Against the Machine with their mechanized beats. MJ and her friends did go up front after we all had a beer. I stayed behind. But I couldn’t sleep on the grass, so I sought some light so as to write, leaving a note beneath a rock. I’m By the Blue Light. Met MJ when I returned. It was maybe 3:40. She was okay with heading out. It’s lucky that I didn’t wait for that small shuttle bus when I first got there. I think I would’ve had a long wait. It was a long wait on the return. Granted, many people were leaving. First, we went to the tent area to get her stuff. I couldn’t even walk in with her because I had no wristband for the tents.

We were the last two passengers the second time the bus came around. At the World Cup Stadium, one big store was open, so we got makole. It was new flavors of apple and cherry. We both like the apple flavor better. So we played rock, paper, scissors to see who sipped which one. We had maybe a forty-minute wait.

The Prodigy’s SEOUL SetLiSt

worlds on fire
breathe
omen
their law
poison
warrior’s dance
firestarter
(action riff)
run
voodoo
omen reprise
invaders must die
diesel power
smack my bitch up
------------------
take me to hospital
out of space

[photos courtesy of: YANO SHIN2CHI]

The 411: I take them when i can get them here in Korea. I quite liked the band's new album when I heard and reviewed it, and they don't disappoint translating the tunes into a live format. The band's performance was super-charged. Not sure how older, more dance oriented fans will take it, but it's worth checking out.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]