Like a lion stalking its prey, The Prodigy had the audience in its grasp within seconds.

“Brighton’s on fire”, Maxim yelled and, despite a distinct lack of flames, it truly was.

Dizzee Rascal had already drawn a far bigger crowd than most support acts manage, warming up with tracks that included sampling M I A’s Paper Planes and popular hit Dance Wiv Me.

But the reaction to The Prodigy taking centre stage was something else.

There wasn’t an inch of space to be had as bodies jumped, writhed and slid against one another in the hot and sweaty pit the Brighton Centre became.

Heavy beats introduced Worlds On Fire and, as Maxim riled up the crowd, Keith Flint bounded across the stage in a wild frenzy.

Their Law was next up and those who had remained seated in the balconies were almost all up on their feet.

But it wasn’t until the pulsing intro of Breathe kicked in that a massive roar erupted from the room and everyone’s feet left the floor.

Harsh red and white lighting doused the stage and flashed like thunderbolts over the crowd, which was awash with glowsticks.

Maxim prowled the stage during Warriors Dance and Keith’s blood-curdling screams made Firestarter even more frenetic than usual.

Classics Voodoo People and Poison were crowd-pleasers, followed by Comanche, another new track.

Charly was sadly missing from the set list but Smack My B**** Up and Out Of Space took the euphoria in the room to a new level with the audience chanting the lyrics like a mantra.

No words were needed as the mass of sweaty but deliriously happy people left the building – just the buzz of the atmosphere and a ringing in the ears in the aftermath of a mind-blowing gig.