Live

Enter Shikari, yourcodenameis:milo, Madina Lake

Russ Essom 06/03/2007

Wow. Before I babble on and bore you with the nitty gritty nonsense, just hear this. I love this band. You should love this band. Go see this band.

In honesty, not much can be said for support acts Madina Lake and Yourcodenameis:milo: though both of their sets were fast, precise and well presented, even Live Aid would've looked like a bunch of buskers compared to Shikari. Madina Lake were your average hard rock/emo/metal band but with an added funk and a whole lot of charisma, energy and stage presence. Yourcodenameis:milo, too, were exciting to watch, but less lively than recorded material would suggest, the set lacked a certain… je ne sais quoi but, nevertheless, was still a loud and powerful projection over a baying crowd of underage drinkers and me, probably the only person present with a date of birth before the 1990s.

That didn't matter though; I felt like a parent a school disco at first but as soon as Enter Shikari graced the stage before me, what looked like millions of glow-stick-adorning wrists threw themselves in the air and bang, up they jumped, up I jumped into the air that felt like electric, and they hadn't even played a note yet.

At this point, things got better, every song was an absolute treat, the new single “Anything can happen in the next half-hour” was sublimely met, as were demi-classics such as “Sorry you're not a winner” and “Mothership”, both of which, I have to say, came a little bit too late in the set for my liking, but myself and the massive, youthful blanket of bodies filling the Leadmill knew they were coming and we were perfectly willing to wait.

Seriously, I didn't know where to look, who to watch, etc; everything that happened on that stage was fantastic. Each move, jump, bounce, nod or tap of the foot was well-placed and fluid, but clearly not choreographed and every single electro/emo/metal tune that was blasted at me knocked me for six, maybe even seven. Furthermore, the banter was outlandishly funny and undeniably rock 'n' roll, but never clichéd.

Enter Shikari are, as a live outfit, even better than their superb recordings; they are something else, totally amazing. You probably have to see it to believe me but I expected a good show, I got all that and so, so, so much more. Brilliant: top marks, boys.

Enter Shikari MySpace