The atmosphere outside the venue before doors have even opened is electric. With chants of Aqua's infamous "Barbie Girl" and the theme tune from Family Guy and Spongebob Squarepants being sung up and down the que, everyone is in high spirits for tonight's performance. When doors finally open, people scramble to get their place at front barrier. Security guards wait at the wings, more than likely knowing that after the two support acts, all hell will break loose on their part.
First to the stage is punk mob Tyler Mae. Their unique blend of synth/dub beats with sheer punk rock aggression sets the crowd off with the first circle pits of the night. Vocalist Matt Lafferty spends more time at crowd level than on the stage. The band are certainly a great choice to open for the likes of Shikari, and when the audience start chanting back the chorus of "Socialite", the band know that they've done their job well.
The King Blues are next up, and although their ever growing fame means they could probably headline the 53 Degrees themselves, they remain close friends with Enter Shikari, and look more than happy to be opening for them at the 1,500 capacity club. New song "Holiday" and fast growing hit "Headbutt" go down a storm with the crowd, and the cemented hits such as "My Boulder" and "I Got Love" ring around the club, and Johnny Fox dives into the crowd without a second thought. Again, The King Blues have not only the hits, but the potential to headline this venue by themselves. Almost every member of the audience knows each and every song like the back of their hand, one crowd member even declares his love for Johnny at one point, but The King Blues know that this isn't their show, and in about 45 minutes, the headline act will tear through 53 Degrees like it's just another day in the office.
The sound man for Shikari sparks a bit of excitement when he starts playing the intro to mammoth hit "Juggernauts" on Rou Reynold's equipment. Other than that, the crowd waits eagerly for the British mentalists to step to the stage. To give some representation on how big Enter Shikari are, the backdrop for the show was too big for the stage, and as Chris Batten declares later that night, for one night only, Enter Shikari are known simply as "Enter". The lights dim on the smoky stage and the screams of a sold out crowd echo across the room. Opening track "Common Dreads" plays out. All goes silent, and the man of the hour takes to the stage. Rou screams the first lyrics of the night like they're his last. And the words are enough to give everyone in the room goosebumps. Opening synth to "Solidarity" bounce around the walls, and the rest of the band dive onto the stage and blast into the main beat. Enter Shikari have a live energy that simply cannot be matched. Rory C's guitar trickery wow's the audience, Chris' stage antics are insane, and at one point he trips and face plants the wooden stage, resulting in a sympathetic cry of "awww" from the audience. Drummer Rob plays like there's no tomorrow, and songs like "Zzzonked" and "Return to Energizer" sound incredible thanks to the sticksman. Rou is, as per usual, on full form tonight, diving into the audience five minutes into the set and screaming the lyrics to firm fan favourites such as "Kickin' Back On the Surface of Your Cheek" and "The Feast". Crowd participation is incredible tonight, and the crowd surfers don''t stop all night. The sheer insanity of Shikari's live show is beyond brutal, and when the band pauses for breath with acoustic jam "Gap in the Fence", the audience calms down. But this really is just the eye of the storm, and new song "Destabilise" follows. The song showcases Shikari's dubstep hearts, and the breakdown is, simply put, incredible. The encore tonight comes in the form of Enter Shikari's two biggest hits, namely "Sorry You're Not A Winner" and "Juggernauts". The infamous "clap clap clap" in Sorry You're Not... runs around the room, and sounds incredible when this sheer amount of people do it in unison. "Juggernauts" main synth riff shows an almost pop genre to Enter Shikari, but still remains a firm fan favourite. The dubstep remix halfway through maybe doesn't work as well as intended, but as a set closer, it's still absolutely incredible. All in all, everything from the setlist to the bands energy astound the audience tonight. And when a ticket leaves you only £10 out of pocket, you really cannot go wrong. Here's to the next album, and above all, the next tour
Sweet review! No criticism needed
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