Flashback: The Prodigy Become First Dance Act to Headline Glastonbury

Because we are continuing to celebrate and commemorate the vibrant and pioneering bad-ass that was Kieth Flint!

"Keith Flint, frontman of British techno-punk group the Prodigy, was pronounced dead on Monday morning of apparent suicide. Having previously served as the group’s onstage dancer since 1990, Flint debuted his own sneering nihilist style in their 1996 hit “Firestarter,” a high-octane breakbeat masterpiece which would catapult the band to international fame. Its accompanying album, 1997’s The Fat of the Land, hit Number One that summer and was certified double platinum that same year.

Just days before dropping the album, the Prodigy teased their global star power with an explosive headlining set at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival — making them the first electronic band to receive top billing at the event. Donning a shredded Union Jack flag and his signature inverted mohawk, Flint stalked the stage on the verge of combustion, spitting profanities while Liam Howlett manned the turntables and blue-haired live guitarist Gizz Butt (seriously) frantically bounded off and onstage. The Prodigy’s Glastonbury set helped usher in an increasingly strong EDM presence outside the club scene and into the summer festival circuit for decades — but no act was quite as profoundly incendiary as the ragtag group from Essex.

Following the 2018 release of No Tourists, the Prodigy’s final album featuring Flint, the band was planning a world tour spanning the U.K., Europe and the U.S. According to Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis, the Prodigy were also scheduled to return to the festival in 2019. She described their 1997 show as a “huge, unforgettable moment.”





T in the Park 2015

The Prodigy returned in 2015 to this now-defunct Scottish festival for an impressive seventh time. It takes all of 30 seconds for the group to transform the crowd of all ages into a unified current of electricity. From the moment "Omen" opens with blistering drums and Flint's iconic scream, it's an hour and a half of maddening lights, blood-rushing beats and absolute crowd control.





MTV's Fashionably Loud 1997

In the late '90s, MTV cashed in on the era's supermodel frenzy with an annual broadcast called Fashionably Loud. In 1997, the runway featured looks from punk and fashion icon Vivienne Westwood, soundtracked by The Prodigy, who now had become darlings of the cable music network thanks to insane music videos. Flint and Maxim ran around looking very grunge indeed, sparing the audience none of its rowdiness, inciting lots of moshing and jumping for a show unlike anything New York or Paris have ever seen.





Glastonbury 1995

A full two years before The Prodigy's seminal album Fat of the Land made them international stars, the band was already a huge hit in its native England. The Prodigy made their Glastonbury debut in 1995 with an especially memorable performance that saw Flint enter the stage in a giant hamster ball. The band jumped and screamed and left their whole lives up there on that stage. The Prodigy would return to Glastonbury in 1997 as official headliners. The video above is a high-quality transmission of the opening tune "Break And Enter" from '94s Music for the Jilted Generation. The video below is of lower quality, but it showcases the '95 Glastonbury set in full.

We are so saddened to hear about the passing of Keith Flint. He’s played here so many times with the Prodigy and was booked for 2019. What an incredible frontman. Here’s a clip from ‘97 when they were the first dance band to headline Glastonbury - a huge, unforgettable moment. pic.twitter.com/9fxKBonfVa

— Emily Eavis (@emilyeavis) March 4, 2019