Tonight, the disco is courtesy of Enter Shikari and there isn’t a person in the room who doesn’t want to be there. Whilst Dinosaur Pile Up & The Nova Twins are getting the crowd ready to for what’s in store, there’s an atmosphere in this student union hall that I haven’t felt in a while; this crowd is ready to rumble. The chant of ‘Enter Shikari’ to the tune of ‘Seven Nation Army’ starts and it sounds as though everyone is joining in. We’re treated to a 10 minute party mix and countdown before Rou Reynolds, Chris Batten, Rob Rolfe & Rory Clewlow and whilst the songs are very different to Shikari’s sound, they are all absolute bangers in their own right and certainly get this audience going.
As this eclectic four piece walk on stage, they act up to their audience and start the night on the first track of their latest album ‘Nothing is True & Everything is Possible’, ‘THE GREAT UNKNOWN’. The album was released back in early 2020 giving everyone plenty of time to get to know and love their new sound as much as they do their cult classics. Whilst there may not be as much crowd surfing or beer throwing as expected, there are plenty of things being thrown around the crowd, probably coats as this is the hottest venue we’ve been in for a long time.
As we reach ‘Satellites’, one of the stand out songs of the night, it’s becoming obvious that Rou has an obscene amount of energy; he is not calming down for love nor money. There are a few small breaks between so many songs and it’s lovely to hear Rou interact with the crowd; his messages are just as poignant as the songs but it’s clear he wants everyone to have fun. It’s hard to pin point a genre when it comes to Enter Shikari but that’s why they have such a loyal following. You never know what you’re going to get but you know you’ll have never heard it before.
There is an incredible presence coming from everyone on stage throughout the whole night and it makes for an incredible show. Towards the end of the night comes the track a lot of people have been waiting for ‘Sorry, You’re not a Winner’. Hearing 2,500 people all clap in unison really is an experience of it’s own and is easily the highlight of the song. We’re given a mix of old and even older songs before the guys leave the stage leaving everyone wanting more. It’s not long before we’re chanting ‘Enter Shikari’ a few more times.
‘Constellations’ is the calm before the storm that is the encore. ‘{The Dreamers Hotel}’ is easily the crowd’s favourite from the evening. Anyone who didn’t know much of their discography, know this one and we’re all living for it. Followed by ‘Live Outside’, there was no better way to end the evening. People are using both ‘{The Dreamers Hotel}’ and ‘Live Outside’ to get there crowd surfing in and boy, are they making up for lost time. It’s a fun end to the night to see everyone getting involved and singing until they can’t sing no more. Anyone who didn’t leave the venue with “meanwhile” stuck in their head, didn’t understand the assignment.
