WARRIORS DON’T DIE: THE PRODIGY GOES HARD IN LEEDS

LIVE REVIEW | THE PRODIGY w/ DJ Carl Cox | LEEDS FIRST DIRECT ARENA | 22nd April 2026 by Isobel O’Mahony

Around the world, the 90s was a trailblazing year for music: dare I say the UK maybe did it best. It feels like music thrived as a whole, in both live performance and the booming of genres. But, as much as we like to celebrate BritPop and Shoegaze, electronic music was building communities throughout the country, with The Prodigy among those powerful trailblazers for the decades potent rave culture. 

But decades on from their 1997 Glasto headline spot and their 2010 Warriors Dance festival in Milton Keynes, as well as seven years since the loss of legendary frontman Keith Flint, are they still setting crowds alight? Despite the time passed and subsequent shifts in clubbing attitudes, their show at Leeds First Direct Arena this week strongly confirmed that the answer is still definitely yes.

DJ Carl Cox put on a strong two hour show prior to the main act, blasting his own mixes and classic club tunes to an already full arena. The crowd was already on their way to losing it, reserving themselves slightly in anticipation but unable to fight the feeling. We were years back, far away from TikTok music and AI slop, now whirling around under bright lights and nostalgia.

The crowd went into roars as the stage went bright red, the band coming out to almost aggressive adoration. Cult classic “Omen” was the starting gun, and it was a brilliantly non-stop, violently loud blur from there. Liam Howlett and Maxim don’t perform like they have a crushing legacy on their shoulders, they’re playing for the moment, delivering with constant energy throughout the set. There were no signs of any slowing down, with security seemingly unable to keep Maxim from ambushing the crowd (much to the audience’s delight, obviously). 

Drums and synths stormed down on the crowd throughout a seamless set, the band blurring the years for hungry fans. The pits were constant, the audience resembling ants from the higher levels. There was hoodies, inflatable bananas and beach balls being slung all around the shop, and the floor from the seats was ridiculously sticky, so god knows what standing was like. 

There were screams for big tunes like “Poison”, “Invaders Must Die” and “Firestarter” (which featured a sweetly-received sketch of Keith Flint on screen), but every track was a hit. “The Day Is My Enemy” saw a band of drummers on stage to perform the intro, the bass reverberating off the arena walls and surging straight to the audience. I can’t stress either the spectacle that was the show. Lasers, projections, spotlights all made you feel, rather pretentiously, like you were in another dimension (where sunglasses are definitely essential). 

After an insane stint of “Smack My Bitch Up”, the group went off stage before returning for not one, but two encores which were probably my highlight of the night. It was an unbelievable trip through “Breathe”, “Take Me to the Hospital”, “Diesel Power”, “We Live Forever” to possibly one of their greatest “Out of Space”, before fully ending the night on “Comanche”. Safe to say we were all knackered, danced out, but all the better for it. 

This wasn’t a party it was a ritual, celebrating good music that never dies despite shifts in culture. Generations of “warriors” turned up and out for the band, with kids, parents, parents of parents all gathered to experience one of the most iconic sounds to come out of 90s Britain. Prodigy gave Leeds the kick up the arse we all need ahead of festival season and reminds us that no matter how catchy that current top charter is, we live for music that leaves a legacy (and attempts to burst our eardrums).