Enter Shikari

I don’t even know where to start with this review… Enter Shikari are awesome!!!

I suppose you start with their music… one-part trance, one part metal, and one part vocal rock. It’s brilliant! And while there was a decent turn out, I wish the show had been after BDO down here though, they would’ve got at least another 150 people. (The BDO set the next day set the stage on fire – seriously, they were just as good, even my indie friends liked them!)

Support for tonight was Brisbane’s The Amity Affliction, though I only heard the last two tracks of their set so I can’t offer any great insight into it. However, the keys were up nice and loud and there seemed to be a fairly heavy, tight sound. I wouldn’t expect any less.

Main vocalist and electronics specialist, Rou will have a huge career in musical theatre when he’s finished with the trance-core life. Don’t be surprised if he’s performing as Leisl’s boyfriend Rolf next time you’re in London’s West End watching The Sound of Music.

On with the show though; for a band with one album out (“Take to the Skies” was self-released in the UK in March last year, and out here through Liberation) they managed to pull off a tight hour long set that had the whole crowd wanting more, even though they didn’t encore (they explained why they played straight through – because their new favourite Australian phrase is “harden the f*$k up”).

One of the highlights of the high-energy set was the on stage movement. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band run around so much, at one stage there was an aerobics session involving drummer Rob and Chris- bass and vocals- were in sync with dance moves including the robot, running man, the sprinkler, pepper mill, and a whole heap of moves favoured by guys in circle pits.

The set started with ‘Enter Shikari’ a great excuse to get the crowd to chant your band’s name (did you know they named themselves after a relative’s boat? – oh yeah, I’ve been on Wikipedia). My set highlights were the singles. There’s definitely something about seeing a crowd going nuts that makes a show great. ‘Jonny Sniper’ included choreographed dance moves by all on stage at the beginning and lots of singling out people in the crowd with the spotlights on the end of the bass and lead guitars (yeah, it was totally geeky and cool).

By far the best track of the night was ‘Sorry, You’re Not A Winner’ – there was entire crowd claps, gang vocals completed by 80% of the crowd, and so much energy in the pit. In fact, during the track a number of brave crowd members created a human pyramid. Yeah, you read that right, a HUMAN PYRAMID on the mosh space in Hi Fi. It was a blast to watch.

Share this review on Facebook