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UK Electro Pioneers The Prodigy To Tour The U.S. For The First Time In A Decade
Simone Joyner / Getty Images – The Prodigy
Keith Flint and Maxim of The Prodigy keep it tight at O2 Academy Brixton in London Dec. 21.
Pioneering Brit-ravers The Prodigy are back to blaze a trail across North America – first with the announcement in November it was releasing a new album, No Tourists, and now with word of its first proper tour in 10 years.
Fans had better be quick to the onsale, though. The outing includes four festival appearances, all produced by Danny Wimmer Presents: Welcome To Rockville (May 3), Epicenter Festival (May 10); Sonic Temple (May 18); and Chicago Open Air (May 19).
The remaining six dates are in Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Tickets for those solo headline shows are on sale through the band’s official website Friday, February 8 at 10am local time.
Danny Wimmer told Pollstar the opportunity to book the legendary band was “a matter of great timing.” He’d been talking to The Prodigy’s new agent, Paul Morris of Paradigm Talent Agency, about artists who would make a good for his hard rock festivals.
“I went to see them at the Dowload festival and they were perfect,” Wimmer said. “The Prodigy broke at the same time as a lot of other alternative rock bands did in the ’90s, bands like Tool and Korn, and mixed in dancing. The Prodigy opened the door for other genres.”
The Prodigy, currently comprised of Keith Flint, Maxim Reality and producer Liam Howlett, also released a new track, “We Live Forever,” from No Tourists, which gave the incendiary group its seventh No. 1 album in the UK – a feat achieved by no less than Paul McCartney and Elton John, but by no other electronic artist.
That’s a remarkable feat for an outfit “who from day one dominated the illegal rave scene, challenged anti-rave legislation and redefined the whole idea of what a band should be like,” according to the group’s announcement. “They brought UK electronic music to the US heartland, turning metal kids on to raving and ravers into metalheads…effectively reaching global audiences without compromise: seven No. 1 albums, 30 million record sales, and multiple honours (two Brits, two Kerrang! awards, five MTV awards, two Grammy nominations).”
The success of No Tourists is something Howlett attributes to a need for escapism.
‘It’s about the want and need to be derailed and not to follow that easy set path,” Howlett says in a statement. “In these times we live in people have become lazier and forgotten how to explore. Too many people are allowing themselves to be force fed, with whatever that may be. ‘No Tourists’ is about reaching out further to find another alternative route where the danger and excitement may be to feel more alive… not accepting that you can just be a tourist. That’s what the title is about for us.”
Mike Van Cleven – The Prodigy
THE PRODIGY NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
Festival Shows
May 3 – Jacksonville, FL – Welcome to Rockville
May 10 – Rockingham, NC – Epicenter Festival
May 18 – Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple
May 19 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Open Air
Solo Dates
May 5 – Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom
May 7 – New Orleans, LA – Orpheum
May 8 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
May 11 – Washington, DC – Echostage
May 13 – Boston, MA – House Of Blues
May 16 – New York, NY – Terminal 5