Liam Howlett on UW live

[Dirty0900]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/exposed/prodigy234p02.shtml

its only a little parapgrah but still intresting in what he says. See i totally disagree with what he says, i like UW lice becuase they do improvise and fuck around with the track. It makes the shows more intresting and different from one another. Thats why i hated The Prodigy live, he could have just been using a backing track while Keith and Maxim sang over it, it was literally the same as the studio version which kind of bored me a little bit.

[Jason Roth]

Different strokes for different folks.

[holden]

"We're not one of these bands, and no disrespect to Underworld, but if I go and see a band I want to hear their song, not a 10 minute dub version of it. That's why when we play Firestarter, we always play the original version - the best version. - Liam Howlett

First, the "best" version of "Firestarter" is the instrumental (a la Wipeout 2094):p Keith Flint should shut his mouth.

Second, i think this speaks volumes on the audience at Prodigy vs. Underworld concerts. yes, there is a certain amount of people at each that just want to hear the hits. But Underworld always delivers the big singles tracks anyway, and treats their audience to a new, effort-filled show each time. Prodigy panders to the lowest common denominator by changing next-to-nothing. I mean, c'mon! Give your audience some credit...they can figure out what song it is even if it isn't the EXACT SAME VERSION they hear on the LP. Sure, people know what they're gonna get when they go to see the Prodge...and it's surely aggressive, but to be honest, it sounds like what it is....Liam hitting "start" and Keith screaming half the lyrics over himself.

[joethelion]

yea...

I mean, they only add minimal bits to any of their songs live... I mean, I am psyched to finally see them, but even their 'fills' which some people try and say are improvised sound very very much 'premade'

but again, different strokes for different folks. I mean, look at the backlash Bob Dylan got (and still does) when he plays very different 'interpretations' of hits and album tracks live. Like when I saw him, he had this sprawling, very guitar/distortion -heavy, version of "Maggie's Farm" ... and a lot of people HATED it! I was like - wait... this sounds familiar... oh yea! that's soo cool

[the mongoose]

Prodigy do change their songs up quite a bit live!

What he meant was he doesn't do a 12 minute version of Firestarter with new improvs/parts/etc like UW would.....but no disrespect to any other bands who choose to do that. Just not his style of live.:)

[gambit]

Well, if I wanted to hear the studio version of Firestarter, I'd listen to it on my home stereo and not spend the money on the ticket to hear it "live". Sure puts them right up there with Ashlee Simpson, but no disrespect, y'know. ;)

[joethelion]

now now... that's definitely over-simplifying it. The Prodigy don't just hit 'play' on a dat tape (like Ashlee Simpson) and I will give them that they do play live, but it's definitely more of the angle of re-creating the tracks live...

much like other bands - even Nine Inch Nails, which is kinda why I never really made much effort to catch them live. I've had live recordings of theirs from many tours... and pretty much everything sounds only slightly different from their studio -> live incantations

although, I will give you - it's definitely more a trait you find within the 'rock' field than the electronic field


Well, if I wanted to hear the studio version of Firestarter, I'd listen to it on my home stereo and not spend the money on the ticket to hear it "live". Sure puts them right up there with Ashlee Simpson, but no disrespect, y'know. ;)

[patrick]

i'd say both styles work with different types of bands and stuff... i think uw do it really nicely because they don't change some songs very much and some they have freedom, but more it is the transitions that they fuck with. i love gigs where the music can and often does flow for 30 /40 minutes without stopping before any sort of 'break'. in my experience when the songs are played like on the albumn there is less oportunity for transitions...

also, do you think the dead would have had such a crazy live following if their concerts were exactly as the albumns and the same? i doubt it (although i'm not sure it is the case or not, but i bet that they improved and such a ton, what with the long assed concerts and all)

besides, prodigy blow now

[rudydaduck]

you know when playing to a premade backing track doesn't work? when you're the crystal method. worst show i have ever seen of any kind anywhere. made even worse by them jumping around constantly and lifting their keyboards off the stands.... as if that compensated for the shortcoming in their live-lack of live-sound.

[BrotherLovesDub]

prodigy are shit and have been since 92/93.

[holden]

prodigy are shit and have been since 92/93.

Whoa now! Why's that, exactly? This thread concerns Liam's comments about performing live. Can you elaborate on your opinion?

Not that i'm defending the mighty Prodge too much, but i'd go so far as to say they actually improved with age, to a point. back in 1992, they sounded like most every other techno act with cheap drum machines, sirens and vocals by chipmunks on helium. Listening to the entirety of "Experience" will raise your heartrate, but not do much for your musical horizons. But they showed a lot of artistic growth with "Music for the Jilted Generation" and then marketed themselves expertly to ride the electronica (TM) wave in 1996-97. You can't deny that songs like "No Good", "Firestarter" and even "Smack my Bitch Up" made big splashes and changed the musical landscape for a while...

[big screen satellite]

thing is the Prodigy are so very different to Underworld in many many ways ...i mean whats the longest released prodigy track (unmixed)? and compare that to Underworld, they make long dubby tracks, thats what they do and thats what they play live, always have done and always will do,

could you imaging listening to a live 15 minute version of any Prodigy track, without wanting to rip your ears off?

people go and see pink floyd and don't expect the edited radio verions of their stuff and we don;t expect it from Underworld, you wanna see some 3 minute greatest hits, fair do's go see the Prodigy, i'm not saying they are shit live either, but we're not comapring like for like here...

and Liam's not being disrepectful either, he's kinda just saying thats what he doesn't enjoy himself and that he give his fans what they want, and to be fair to Underworld they give their fans what they want...i don't see many people queing up at teh end of their gigs asking for money back....

i don't kinda get Liams point really though, has someone moaned about UW live and what they do... or is it just him...

at least they aren't churing out the same tired old versions of their songs every time, at least they've reworked Born Slippy for example...

anyway, i know who i'd rather see live any day of the week...

:)

[beavis14996]

the prodigy was the first band i started to listen, i like them so much especially old skool Music For The Jilted Generation era:) this album introduced me to elecrtonica style and i will always feel respect for them.

[joethelion]

...and the fact that songs like SMBU would probably still have been successful singles - even as instrumentals

I really don't think that anyone should take offence at what Liam said... I mean, did you not know before his comment that some bands 'reinterpret' songs when they play them live, while others try and 'flex their prowess' by being able to recreate the studio versions (although sometimes with added punch or minimal tweaking b/c it's a live show)

and it doesn't mean that one style has more talent than the other...

...and some people simply may not like hearing an 11minute version of 'Push Upstairs' - it's just that we here, generally do

[stimpee]

No matter what mongoose or the other prodigy sycophants say, prodigy arent a patch on Underworld live. Not only that, but they just havent moved with the times and are still pedalling the same shit. It might have been the in thing in 1997 but it just wont cut it almost 10 years later.

[Blueski]

prodigy are not shit... but, i don't agree with mr. howlett, i love to hear different versions of songs when bands play live.

[Leon]

I'm glad I saw Royksopp instead of Prodigy on the Lowlands festival. I later saw an MTV special, where they broadcasted Prodigy performing Their Law. Their Law is my alltime favourite Prodigy song, but it was played EXACTLY, and I mean EXACTLY the same as the studio version. Ok there, he played A SOUND on top of it, but that would mean he would push 2 buttons instead of one. One to play the song, and one to play that "improvised" sound on top of it. Well done Prodigy.
They've really lost my respect to them. I liked everything from The Experience and Music For The Jilted Generation. MFTJG is just fucking amazing. Now it's all apeshit.

Oh and that "Mc'ing" of Keith and the other guy. I can even do that better. They just scream COME ON COME ON YEAH ALLRIGHT WOOH FIRESTARTER FIRESTARTER SUCK MY DICK and that's it.

[stimpee]

I'm glad I saw Royksopp instead of Prodigy on the Lowlands festival.HAHAHAHA ROFL. Royksopp arent exactly a "live" band either. In fact theyve been criticised for not being live at all but just pushing the "play" button. I'm sure there were other worthy things to see at Lowlands...

[BrotherLovesDub]

i've got the new Royksopp live album, Royksopps Night Out and there's plenty of variation to the recorded (album) material.

[Leon]

HAHAHAHA ROFL. Royksopp arent exactly a "live" band either. In fact theyve been criticised for not being live at all but just pushing the "play" button. I'm sure there were other worthy things to see at Lowlands...

Well I wasn't really talking about their way of playing live, just that... I had a fucking great time seeing them, as it was definately not a "hit the play button" performance. Agreed, physically it wasn't the best show, but at least, as BLD says, the songs varied quite much from their studio work. Not like Underworld, but in comparison to Prodigy.

[joethelion]

ok - I am by no means a Prodigy fanatic. I think that on ALL of their albums, there's definitely dodgy stuff... but I still buy them, as the good outweighs the bad.

but about them live -

they just do a different style than Underworld. I will give you, however that Maxim absolutely leaves something to be desired with his MC-ing. It does get annoying when you d/l a couple of boots, and you constantly have him 'howling' over the track... every track

and no - they definitely don't just hit the 'play' button. they just work hard to get a tight, punching rendition of studio tracks. I mean, come on! No one says anything like this when Nine Inch Nails toured, or released that live album... I mean on that one - the only reason why I knew it was live, was b/c of the audience cheers as the songs faded out

-> not that there's a big similarity between bands, or that all dirites like NIN ...it's just the first thing that sprang to my mind

I mean... Primal Scream don't really do radical changes of their tracks either... or Goldfrapp, Gus Gus, Kraftwerk, Moby (depending on which tour it is)...

[Blueski]

Gus Gus actually do radical changes on their songs when they play live.

[joethelion]

Gus Gus actually do radical changes on their songs when they play live.


weird... when I saw them play in DC (on their Attention tour - it's actually the vid that was available to d/l at one time on their webiste)

...pretty much all the songs sounded exactly like they did on that album. They actually didn't even play stuff from their back catalogue at all... if memory serves me. They might've played Purple or Anthem, but not sure

[botkiller]

I think not changing your songs a little live when you're an electro group is just sad. you might as well be like BT and go out and just spin records of your songs and get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so, rather than actually making the concert and experience for your listeners. When I play my shit live, I change it, tweak it and do different versions because then people can see that I actually CARE about my audience rather than just going up and saying, "yeah, well here's some tracks you sogs, thanks for your money".

[jose m]

gus gus need to change their material live !;)

[Leon]

I think not changing your songs a little live when you're an electro group is just sad. you might as well be like BT and go out and just spin records of your songs and get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so, rather than actually making the concert and experience for your listeners. When I play my shit live, I change it, tweak it and do different versions because then people can see that I actually CARE about my audience rather than just going up and saying, "yeah, well here's some tracks you sogs, thanks for your money".

word.

A rockband has to deal with performing with eachother and that needs lots of practice. An electronic band doesn't really have to do that, so I expect them to do a little more effort by creating a real "concert", and not just press play or spin your own records.

[botkiller]

Yeah, totally. I mean, I spend a lot of time getting this shit together... and when I do it live there is a lot of work singing/mixing/doing sequencing, but not enough to make me go out and just spin a record. I remember getting really mad when I heard the Hybrid had changed their live tour a couple years ago from being them playing live to just spinning records, but the same amount of money was being charged to see them live. If you're not going to do something live, and you ARE an electronic band by nature, then go out and play live, don't just drop your records, it's not worth my money.

I mean, if a rock band did that, people would flip out!

"Hi, we're oasis, and here's our records, cya."

ha! But seriously though, I want so badly to see UW live. :P

[mmm skyscraper]

My take is that the live versions of the songs are the "real" versions and the studio releases are just edits for purposes of fitting on the cd, sort of like how the riverrun releases are shorter versions of the tracks put together.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Yeah, totally. I mean, I spend a lot of time getting this shit together... and when I do it live there is a lot of work singing/mixing/doing sequencing, but not enough to make me go out and just spin a record. I remember getting really mad when I heard the Hybrid had changed their live tour a couple years ago from being them playing live to just spinning records, but the same amount of money was being charged to see them live. If you're not going to do something live, and you ARE an electronic band by nature, then go out and play live, don't just drop your records, it's not worth my money.

I mean, if a rock band did that, people would flip out!

"Hi, we're oasis, and here's our records, cya."

ha! But seriously though, I want so badly to see UW live. :P

I was a little disappointed in the Chems last year - I had got hold of their Santiago gig from the end of 2004 and really enjoyed listening to it. Went to see them in May 05 and, although the live set was by no means just "playing the CDs" it was the exact blooming set as Santiago - I knew every note by heart by then.

That is the beauty of UW. In November I saw three gigs three nights in a row and each was different and beautiful, each with its own special energy, different versions of the some of the same tunes. Awesomeness.

[holden]

My take is that the live versions of the songs are the "real" versions and the studio releases are just edits for purposes of fitting on the cd, sort of like how the riverrun releases are shorter versions of the tracks put together.

That's a new one!;)

[beh]

... I remember getting really mad when I heard the Hybrid had changed their live tour a couple years ago from being them playing live to just spinning records, but the same amount of money was being charged to see them live. ...


Hybrid's website is saying that they're perfoming live at Coachella this year. I can hardly wait!

http://www.hybrid-group.com/livedjdates.asp

bh

[botkiller]

that's cool, I wonder what Liam's sour ass would say about Hybrid live...

"strings in electronic music? sounds like shat man... "

wank ;P

I'd love to hear hybrid live... Coachella is shaping up to be amazing as always, someday I'll have to go.

[Icke]

that's cool, I wonder what Liam's sour ass would say about Hybrid live...

"strings in electronic music? sounds like shat man... "

The Prodigy's "Osaka Fill" has nice strings :) .