Just plummeted to 35C in minutes. Cool change of joy.

Hey, guess what? 35C is "cool".

30th Jan 2009, the first time ever (in recorded history) that Melbourne has had three days in a row over 43C.

I also read today that we haven't had three days over 40C since 1956.

Hot! Hot hot hot hot, hot hot. HOT!

It was 44C during the day so we expected it to be hot. It was still in the 30s when we went in.

The venue was surprisingly empty for the support, Quan (of Regurgitator).

I really enjoyed Quan's album, a mix of hip-hop and pop... a slightly more pop version of Regurgitator's hip-hop tracks, so I was expecting a lot from this gig. I enjoyed it, but the sound was a bit thin for my liking, Quan's voice not quite there. On the album he has lots of layers on his vocals, none of which were there when sung live.

Katie (who has heard the album quietly in the car) liked him though, and a friend who'd never heard them really liked it, so perhaps I was biased by hearing the well produced version first. It was still fun.

Not long after Quan left the stage the venue started filling up quick. Soon we moved upstairs to stand with a friend looking down on the stage. It was starting to get unbearably hot by the time Prodigy arrived (about 10:30pm).

We couldn't really see but danced anyway, eventually moving downstairs after about five songs. The third song was "Breathe". It surprised me that they played it so early, but every new song they played had be going "oh yeah, that one".

The new songs were all fantastic, really looking forward to the new album (end of Feb).

Downstairs was much hotter, but the view was better. We stayed there the rest of the night.

I'm not 100% sure it was heat as such. It was definitely in the 40s, but the humidity was INSANE. Everyone was soaked to the bone, and it just kept getting hotter.

Everyone was deliriously happy though.

It's easily the most intense gig I've ever been to. The most sustained crowd enjoyment, the hottest, the most humid. The start of Faith No More in 1995 was similar, but that thinned out toward the end, Prodigy just got more intense as the night went on.

YouTube and Flickr have some good images (search "Prodigy, Melbourne, Metro" or "Prodigy, Melbourne, Palace"), but none of them really show you how hot it was.

I don't think I'll be forgetting this gig any time soon.