The Firestarters

The Prodigy perform at the Eristoff Invasion Festival in Bengaluru; to take stage in New Delhi tonight, where the band will be opened by Midival Punditz and Jalebee Cartel.

At the expansive Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, the crowd seemed sparse during the build-up to one of the most highly anticipated gigs this season. Opened by city acts such as Bay Beat Collective and Pentagram as well as Australian drum and bass act Pendulum, the Eristoff Invasion Festival acquired its concert bonhomie once headlining British trio The Prodigy took to stage.

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It’s one thing for India to have heard international rock acts headbanged in the past. But it’s a different story for the Indian audience to be sledge-hammered by an international dance electro-rock group. And that’s what The Prodigy delivered with their high-octane, adrenaline-rushing gig on Thursday. The band comprising of Liam Howlet, Keith Flint and Maxim Realty bludgeoned the 6,000 odd fans, from around the world, sipping their cocktails to a party of sumptuous beats spewed out of shrewd samples, chainsaw grooves and thunderous electronic rhythms synched with an insane strobe light shows.

The group kicked off with the gut-wrenching track

The world’s on fire

from latest album,

Invaders Must Die

. What followed was a concoction of old classics comprising swashbuckling hits like

Breathe

,

Poison

,

Warrior’s Dance

and

Firestarter

, that belted out monstrous proportions of raw energy and produced an almost rave-like experience. Add to that a padding of onstage antics like flinging guitars, vocal tradeoffs and Maxim’s interaction with audience (the line “To all my Indian people, to all the Prodigy people,” thrown in at frequent intervals), the debut show in India had all the ingredients to make EDM fans get up and groove.

The maddening assaults continued with a mix of old and new tracks that reached its pinnacle with their cult anthems

Diesel power

and

Smack my bitch up

. The routine that goes with most international acts continued here as the trio with their backing band signed off from the stage only to be back with an encore of tracks from their last album followed by the melodious grooves on

Out of space

and the cracking

Their Law

. The 90-minute headbanger’s ball too came to an end with the 10 pm deadline.

The British trio hopes to spread their infectious energy in Delhi tonight, where the band will be opened by Midival Punditz and Jalebee Cartel.