Review
Live Review - Enter Shikari
- Author:
- Review Date:
- 12/10/2007
December 6th, 2007 Chain Reaction Anaheim, CA -
I’ll admit, walking through the sticker-laden doors at Chain Reaction this past Thursday had me feeling apprehensive. It was a result of what I commonly refer to as “pastXcore re-visitation syndrome”—that sense of ill-laced nostalgia whereby the accumulation of age and wisdom sets one’s judgment biased towards anything BUT loud, rambunctious noise. In other words, I was becoming a geezer. I thought the hardcore scene was long past gone but after what I was about to encounter, I would find myself terribly, terribly mistaken. And, as a mere non-fanatic audience member, even more terribly put into place.
At their very introductory moments, the members of Enter Shikari establish their intentions well with fans and newcomers alike. The first 30 seconds of performance resonates forcefully with the audience, their technique of capturing a severe hybrid of sounds. The informal meeting of eclectic genres—Trance? Hardcore? Rave-rock?—is enough alone to pique any listener’s interest; a curiosity that inevitably concludes to, ’Where will they go with this?’. From my own perspective, I constantly found myself transported into a Super Mario Bros. Nintendo game tweaked on acid, thrown up against an anime bystander, only to be delved back into a spastic English hymnal sonic slashing.
These four gentlemen from London Town put on such a high-energy, frenetic performance that I was beside myself wondering how it was possible to have missed singer Rou Reynolds’ strategic wardrobe change by a mere five foot distance. This attention-deficit stance seemed to only be a mere component to the band’s formula. Between the non-epileptic friendly flashes of fingerlights, to the well use of using the front row as a cushion of support, the members of Enter Shikari clearly know how to carve their space through an aggressive outlet. It became quite obvious to me how this band had set their record as being the second band in history to sell out the 2,000 capacity London Astoria while still being unsigned (first place honors go to The Darkness).
Within this radioactive live action, Enter Shikari provide a firm basis in which to launch hits from their self-produced debut LP, Take To The Skies. The single “Sorry You’re Not A Winner” called for the most Team Clap cooperation, while “No Sssweat” acted in precession for the most crowd surfing plus in-sync vocalization with brutal chants of “YOU DO THIS EVERY FUCKING TIME!”. And, of course, how can a review of this show be made without mentioning the support for sex protection by the band’s generous giveaway of condoms? Bassist Chris Batten saved a special last one for his hypothetical someone, commenting “I’m keeping this one…I’m feeling lucky tonight”.
To convert the opinion of an initially reluctant audience member (with a strong aversion to hardcore music, mind you), into one that garners high respect for the music as well as its performers, I’d say Enter Shikari knows what they’re doing and do it well. Besides, who can resist the great appeal of those fingerlights? Put that on my Christmas wish list.
At their very introductory moments, the members of Enter Shikari establish their intentions well with fans and newcomers alike. The first 30 seconds of performance resonates forcefully with the audience, their technique of capturing a severe hybrid of sounds. The informal meeting of eclectic genres—Trance? Hardcore? Rave-rock?—is enough alone to pique any listener’s interest; a curiosity that inevitably concludes to, ’Where will they go with this?’. From my own perspective, I constantly found myself transported into a Super Mario Bros. Nintendo game tweaked on acid, thrown up against an anime bystander, only to be delved back into a spastic English hymnal sonic slashing.
These four gentlemen from London Town put on such a high-energy, frenetic performance that I was beside myself wondering how it was possible to have missed singer Rou Reynolds’ strategic wardrobe change by a mere five foot distance. This attention-deficit stance seemed to only be a mere component to the band’s formula. Between the non-epileptic friendly flashes of fingerlights, to the well use of using the front row as a cushion of support, the members of Enter Shikari clearly know how to carve their space through an aggressive outlet. It became quite obvious to me how this band had set their record as being the second band in history to sell out the 2,000 capacity London Astoria while still being unsigned (first place honors go to The Darkness).
Within this radioactive live action, Enter Shikari provide a firm basis in which to launch hits from their self-produced debut LP, Take To The Skies. The single “Sorry You’re Not A Winner” called for the most Team Clap cooperation, while “No Sssweat” acted in precession for the most crowd surfing plus in-sync vocalization with brutal chants of “YOU DO THIS EVERY FUCKING TIME!”. And, of course, how can a review of this show be made without mentioning the support for sex protection by the band’s generous giveaway of condoms? Bassist Chris Batten saved a special last one for his hypothetical someone, commenting “I’m keeping this one…I’m feeling lucky tonight”.
To convert the opinion of an initially reluctant audience member (with a strong aversion to hardcore music, mind you), into one that garners high respect for the music as well as its performers, I’d say Enter Shikari knows what they’re doing and do it well. Besides, who can resist the great appeal of those fingerlights? Put that on my Christmas wish list.