In February 1991, 35 years ago, The Prodigy's very first gig took place at the Labyrinth Club (previously known as the Four Aces Club) in Dalston, London.
The original lineup of the band — Liam Howlett, Keith Flint, Leeroy Thornhill, Sharky—appeared for the first time, along with Maxim, at the invitation of the band's first manager, nicknamed Ziggy.
Unfortunately, the exact date of the concert couldn't be found, but it's worth remembering. It's been well-documented in various biographies: by Martin Roach, Martin James, and a book by Leeroy Thornhill himself!
Martin Roach - "Electronic Punks. The Early Years 1988–1994"
"The band was very nervous and then, as if things weren’t already tense enough, the band were advised that they were actually only the second act to have played the venue; the first one apparently got bottled off. Liam and the others were terrified. The Prodigy ran through a set that lasted for eigth songs. Liam pushed his primitive keyboards, wrapping circuits around tracks that feature on his demo tape. Cuts like “Android” and “Everybody in the Place” rumbled into The Labyrinth, flowing like smoke through the PA. “The thing I remember most was Joe, the guy who ran it,” Keith recalls. “I said ‘Joe, who else has played here?’. I thought that maybe Zeppelin, the Pistols, all the mighty bands started there. He said ‘well, we don’t have bands. We did have one once but they got dragged off stage so we didn’t have any more!’.
Liam Howlett (The Prodigy)
"I wasn't nervous behind the decks – I knew those tracks inside out. But looking up and seeing Keith, Leeroy, and Sharky just going for it... that's when I knew this was different. A DJ set is one thing, but this felt like a gang. We had something to prove, even if we were just proving it to 250 strangers in a club."
"That night was pure instinct. No setlist, no rehearsal with Maxim – he just jumped in. We were feeding off each other, off the crowd. If it felt good, we kept it rolling. That's what rave was about: energy, not perfection."
Keith Flint (The Prodigy):
"The greatest thing about doing Labyrinth, was we turned up for our first gig, which was the start of the band in my eyes, and I said to Joe who ran it, “Joe who else has played here?” And I’m thinking, grimey old club, Zepplin, The Pistols, it must have all started here, and he said, ‘well we did have a band once, and they got bottled off stage so we stopped having em.’ That was our first gig. That’s why I don’t get nervous. From that moment, he put us on the Friday, then he booked us for the Saturday next week. Then after that Friday and that Saturday we didn’t stop working."
"Liam was up there with these insane breaks, and all I knew was I had to move. I had to be the visual of what his music felt like. Sweat, noise, chaos – perfect."
Maxim (The Prodigy):
"I just remember being put on this stage in the middle of what was a dance scene with four people I had just met, and I just stood at the back with a mic chatting a couple of times. Meanwhile, the rest if the band were doing their shit and everybody was going wild, it just went off. It all happened so quickly it was weird, but really good. I thought it was really wicked but I didn't think anything more of it than I wanted to do it again. " Maxim did do it again - a few days later he was asked to join the band permanently."
Leeroy Thornhill "My Ten Years Getting High In The Prodigy" book.
"I’ll never forget the day of our first gig: arriving at the venue not knowing what to expect, and a very small stage. We dealt with it all fine even though we hadn’t rehearsed, apart from setting up our equipment in the lounge at Keith’s house, playing a few tunes, getting stoned, then packing the gear up. That was the only rehearsal we did. That first show was very nerve-wracking.
