Enter Shikari have had an official number 4 album in the UK, if that's not something, i don't know what is. A band signed to an independent label, anything but mainstream, singing about real things with the killer force of hugely powerful music behind it (yes- a real band!) beating the likes of Adele and Bruno Mars in the UK charts.
And to top that all off, I saw them live last week, and it was hands down the best gig I have ever been to in my life.
Then came Shikari, fresh from the release of the album just a day prior, they were up for a party, and so were the crowd. The album played a huge part of the set, they started off with the euphoric System... just to keep the anticipation to full level then thundered straight into the massive Meltdown, literally a face melter, following it all up with Gandhi, Mate Gandhi, politically anthemic with a "open their minds" bass worthy of destroying any speaker stack sending the crowd into one huge moving mess. After this they returning to the ancient, crowd pleaser Sorry You're Not A Winner, ventured in to single Destabilise including the tasty Rout VIP mix ending causing a stir, following up with Motherstep/Mothership that is the most stepfilled dance screamo version of a song in existence. Second single Quelle Surprise, well it was hardly surprising with the chant "if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything", turned the crowd into a unity of screaming voices against the system Rou Reynolds seems so lyrically keen on fighting.
Next came a breather straight from the new album in the form of Stalemate, as close to pop as Enter Shikari are going to get, complete with "Woooooaaaahs" worthy of a power ballad over a reserved synth backing before transcending in to the latest Adieu, Constellations,with glockenspiel and a guitar riff worthy of a lullaby while the lyrics sound something like that of Mike Skinner and a chorus and breakdown with longing whines of "we can explore space together forever/ I am lost, so lost/ you are the constellations/that guide me"
They then blasted out Juggernauts, causing madness, and returned to their might with Arguing With Thermometers, the latest single filled with the perfect mixture of Faithless-esque breakdowns and heavy guitars before uniting the crowd once again with Fanfare For The Concious Man, yet another political rant. Next they briefly fled the stage with a lack of conviction before returning amidst the chants to the incredible and aptly named
Hello Tyrannasaurus, Meet Tyrannicide and closing the set with a dubbed up version of most recent single Sssnakepit before spiralling into the real thing causing the crowd to descend into a pit of shoving and screaming people having the best time in the world.
Ending the concert on the words "Just push right back" seemed appropriate and fitting to end a crazy live experience filled with outrage at the world.
Enter Shikari are back, and this time, they've got even more to say.
[FACEBOOK][OFFICIAL SITE]Written by - Daisy Edwards
