A reverend has defended the decision to have a devil-horned bench placed in a churchyard as a tribute to The Prodigy’s Keith Flint.
The bench is located at the St Mary Church in Bocking, Essex – close to where the rave icon grew up and went on to found the band.
The design of the memorial has both sides of the back panel longer than the middle in a nod to the distinctive devil-horn hairstyle he famously wore. However, given the setting of the bench, some questioned if the Satanic detailing was appropriate.
Now, a vicar in the area has defended the design and the location of the bench, and said that both Flint’s family and bandmates have been “very respectful” in their requests.
“The band and the family wanted something fitting for the churchyard. They were very respectful and very aware of the setting,” Reverend Rod Reid told BBC News.
The reverend presided over Flint’s funeral, after the singer was found dead in his home in March 2019. Over 5,000 attended the service and, in light of that huge turnout, Reid explained to the outlet why he thinks it is important to have the memorial bench.
“For local people here in Braintree and around, this means an awful lot. They remember seeing [Flint and Howlett] on the dance floors in Braintree. They have followed them all the way through and they are proud.”
He also said that people have been left “amazed” to see the bench, and acknowledged “what it means to have it here”.
A company called Free Range Designs shared a video of the making-of the bench, and said that they got involved after being “contacted by The Prodigy’s manager to create a memorial bench for the band’s legendary frontman”.
“Working with the band and Keith’s family, we designed a striking oak bench inspired by his unmistakable ‘Flinty Fins’ silhouette. The piece was scorched jet black, with fire becoming part of the creative process,” the description added.
The video showed the moment they burned the oak in the workshop to add finishing touches, before it was relocated to St Mary’s Church in Bocking.
It marked the second tribute for Flint to be installed in Braintree after his death, following on from a spray-painted portrait of him on a water tank at Braintree Town FC’s ground.
Last year, the band’s Liam Howlett spoke to NME about the decision to return to playing live without Flint: “After losing Keith we couldn’t even think or talk about the band,” he said. “I think it was two years after his death that me and Maxim started bringing it up. ‘Could we play live again? Did we even want to? Why? How?’ All that shit”.
“We realised the only possible real way to know how we would feel was to do it: get back on stage and do a bunch of gigs. It was so hard to walk onto that stage without our brother, but we really felt the crowd with us. Those gigs were highly emotionally-charged but we came out the other end with our answer”.
The band then dedicated their Other Stage headline set at Glastonbury 2025 to the late vocalist, and the festival also featured an artistic tribute to Flint in the Carhenge area.
Next month the band kick off their UK and Ireland arena dates – a 12-date tour that sold out in record time and included two dates at Wembley Arena.
The rave pioneers will then be playing some massive ‘Warrior’s Dance’ outdoor gigs in the summer – some of their biggest shows since Flint’s death. Visit here for tickets.
“Every time we go out for a new tour or big shows like this, we spend a lot of time talking about what is possible – how can we make it better,” Howlett told NME in an interview in November, also promising new music on the way. “We always try to make sure things are different and moving forward , but always delivering the punch, which it will.”
