This week, the world lost its mind over just about everything. The Internet came to a Madonna stand-still (or fall over), as clips of her at the Brits Awards saw retweets in the hundreds of thousands. A psychological experiment reminded us that no matter what the colour, âThe Dressâ is always going to be hideous. Tonight, none of this matters though.
Thursday night laid bare to a sea of people losing their minds over a musical movement so crucial. Enter Shikari stood in front of a sold-out crowd as their berserk genre infusion empowered a generation.
The eveningâs penultimate act Feed The Rhino kick off with a bang as Shikariâs lions hold their fists up in arms to the Kent quintet. In usual Rhino style, thereâs a lot of naked chests and ferocity from the outset. Frontman Lee Tobin takes the room by the chords in his throat as a sweaty mess of bodies create carnage. Their set may be a short and sweet seven tracks, but their binary guitars and melodic hooks captivate the crowd like they were the headliners. The five-piece attempt an unconventionally slow section which lights up the room with flames. As expected, this lasts about two seconds. They just can’t resist stirring up trouble with their raucous energy, and we love every second.
As soon as the infamous pre-show Shikari countdown commences, all that happened before doesn’t matter. The atmosphere in the illustrious Roundhouse cranks up tenfold. Lights pulsate like veins around a Shikari triangle centrepiece as âThe Appeal & The Mindsweep Iâ sees the crowd become wild monkeyâs. A sensational opening in visuals and audio sets the tone for a night of thrilling madness.
Frontman Rou Reynolds captures a breathless crowd as he stands declaring his musical manifesto of a movement to touch on societyâs most pressing issues. âThis isnât music to confront, this is music to attack,â he says as triangles from fans echo around the room.
From the blisteringly energetic âRadiateâ to a mash-up frenzy of âThe Last Garrisonâ and âJuggernautsâ, the bandâs set is anything but tame. It’s clear from looking at a crowd who break the speakers with their sweat alone (weâre not kidding), that Enter Shikari arenât just your dub thrills and chills wonder. They’re a frantic masterpiece who are the voice of reason, and a voice of inspiration.
EMMA YOUNGER
