THE PRODIGY tribute act Jilted Generation are preparing to celebrate a decade impersonating their heroes with a sold out concert at Leamington’s Pump Rooms.
The tenth anniversary gig on Friday February 6 will in many ways bring the five-strong group – all who hail from the area – full circle as Leamington was where they started out back in 2005.
The band – Royle ‘Eddy’ Fitzwilliam, Mark Hall, Jason Shorthouse, Kris Farrell, and Sean McCann – have enjoyed considerable success and have established themselves as one of the country’s top tribute acts, and have performed in Dubai, The Netherlands, Malta, and headlined Glastonbudget – the UK’s biggest tribute band festival.
Jilted’s own Keith Flint frontman Eddy said: “When we started the group, we were just a group of Prodigy super-fans and we didn’t really expect to get such a great reception after performing at small venues like pubs and clubs across the midlands.
“Thinking about how we’re now headlining the top tribute band festivals and touring across Europe, we really owe a lot to our humble beginnings in Leamington.
“We were just young people who had a real passion for the music the Prodigy released and their style. It takes a lot of work to follow the group, their trends and their releases and we have keep our ears near to the ground to stay in the know with what the original band are doing.
“A new album from them means more practice time for us. We have to catch up with what they release and change our sound and style if they make drastic changes. They’re actually preparing a new album as we speak and we’re excited to see what they, and eventually we, will be doing.”
But while on stage Jilted Generation take on the alter-ego of The Prodigy – whose hits during a 25 year career include Firestarter, Out Of Space and Breathe – they find no difficulty in being themselves off-stage.
Eddy explained: “We sport the full stage gear and we really try to adopt their look, style and stage presence, as its really what people are expecting from a tribute band.
“If we can channel the same energy as The Prodigy, then we’re truly a good tribute to them.
“But off-stage, we are really just our own personalities and leave it all on stage. We’re all involved in music but we’re only truly like the prodigy when we’re performing.
“Everyone has a favourite band but you don’t expect to be following their every move trying to replicate their work.
“We didn’t really imagine things would happen this way. You start off just performing the songs of your favourite group for a bit of fun but then it becomes so much more and next thing you know you’re performing across the world.”
Jilted Generation have however never been able to get first hand advice or feedback as they have never actually met the real band.
The group – named after The Prodigy’s second album – are all involved in the music business full time in one way or another.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/theprodigytributeband for more information on Jilted Generation and forthcoming gigs.
Jilted frontman ‘Eddy’ on stage as Keith Flint. (s)
The Prodigy – the real thing. (s)
