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Anyone who has spent a decent enough time in the UK alt scene will be familiar with Enter Shikari. The band are famed for being outspoken in their beliefs of right and wrong, in their music and their message.
Enter Shikari are just ‘that’ band, their icons in the scene and are contents completing side quests, from Rou joining War of The Worlds to the band’s involvement with St. Albans football team (their hometown), they’re never ones to stay in their lane.
In this tour specifically, they had a charity drive to help with homelessness in Liverpool and have played a variety of smaller venues since the venue levy fund was introduced during their arena tour. Rou Reynolds (singer) is specifically outspoken in wanting to clean the waterways alongside his disdain for the worldwide system of control.
Alongside this, the band always try to uplift other musicians and tend to bring along new supports to each tour to give more opportunities to uplift new music, for this tour it was Teenage Wrist who they chose to spotlight.
Whilst Shikari are phenomenally talented musicians, their core message of openly fighting against the system with honesty and integrity is a huge draw for their fans. They believe in people power and that message is needed now more than ever in the current climate, thousands of fans screaming every word in Birmingham proved just how much so, between empowered speeches and the audience singing their hearts out, the passion and the frustration was palpable. No one can amp up a crowd like a strong message and killer breakdowns.
Even people who don’t like their music often say they support Enter Shikari because of their message and what they stand for, the question is, will this be sustainable?
Their popularity continues to grow with every album and every tour pretty much completely telling out, the demand is high, but with ticket prices continuing to rise, and with their popularity growing, will they inevitably succumb to the arena shows with arena prices?
Going out on a limb, Shikari is one of the few bands that are worth it, they always put on a hell of a show.
They are one of the best live bands out there, you can tell that they live and breathe their music with every fibre of their being, the passion and love for their craft exudes from them as they’re thrashing about onstage or interacting with fans.
Enter Shikari is also one of the few bands that sound just as good live, but even better than them just sounding great, their lighting is always stellar, helping to create that overall experience and really make it a memorable concert for the ages. Experiencing ‘Bloodshot (Coda)/Bloodshot’ with an insane light display and even an added remix section is as close to a religious experience as you can get, really.
They know what the fans want, their set is a perfect balance between new music and the classics that everyone wants to hear. The moment they take ‘Sorry, You’re Not A Winner’ off the setlist I fear there is something gravely wrong.
If you missed this tour, you can catch them on the Main Stage (!!) at Reading and Leeds next year, and I don’t think it’ll be long before they’re even higher up the bill.
Words and Photos: Ely King
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