Concert Review: Enter Shikari in Kingston, 9/23/2017, The Spark Release Show

6. October 201711. November 2017 Janine Halcyon

When Enter Shikari announced they will be doing a release show for their new album The Spark, which has been released on September 22nd, it was clear to me, I had to be there.

We arrived at the Rose Theatre in Kingston around 5pm. The queue was already long, but that was not a problem at all. Soon after our arrival we found our friends in the queue and had a nice chat. People around us joined in so we ended up meeting many new people. This has become such a normal and lovely thing, because the Enter Shikari fanbase, also called the “Shikari Family”, is such a great place to find nice people who may even become your closest friends.

So after we got into the venue we were so amazed by the breathtaking look of the Rose Theatre. I’ve rarely been this impressed by a venue before! The venue offered two different areas – upstairs with a view from the balconies and downstairs with the standard standing area in front of the stage. I was lucky enough to get a ticket for the downstairs area.

The Spark was released only a day before the gig, but I was already (and still am and will always be) in love with this album. So, I was expecting an Enter Shikari show with its usual high energy level and some new vibe due to the new songs.

The night started with their amazing support Cronicle.
The band around Scandinavian front woman Melanie Mohlkert, who is known as a member of the band Tantrum to Blind (they split up in 2013), played some of their melancholic pop rock songs. They were really great to watch live. I will definitely go see them again if I get the chance.

As soon as Enter Shikari entered the stage, the atmosphere in the venue changed.
It seemed like Rou Reynolds, Rory Clewlow, Rob Rolfe and Chris Batten have reached a new level with their live shows. You could feel the fresh energy and the great vibes coming from the band.

The setlist was a mix of older and new songs – both will fit perfectly into a setlist for the upcoming tour in the UK and mainland Europe.

Enter Shikari also proved once more that they can handle little live fails easily as the the sound popped away two times during their set, one of them right at the beginning of their show while playing “Redshift”. After a second of silence, Rou Reynolds just raised one hand in the air and screamed „Why God? Why couldn’t you just let us play one single song?!“
The crowd had the most fun and the amazing crew behind Enter Shikari fixed the problem in a heartbeat.

For me personally, this show was one of the best Enter Shikari shows I have ever been to. You can dance like a crazy headless chicken to songs like “Rabble Rouser”, “Undercover Agents” and “Live Outside”; you can get emotional to songs like “Constellations” and, of course, you can almost rip your heart out to songs like “Anaesthetist”, “Labyrinth” and “Hoodwinker”.

Also the lovely folks from Banquet Records, who organized this show, did a great job. They were a huge reason why this night was so special.

It is safe to say that the upcoming winter tour will be a complete new experience on a new energetic level combined with the well known good feeling you always had after attending an Enter Shikari show.

Make sure you get your tickets on www.entershikari.com and I promise you one (or two or even more) fantastic live shows by one of the best live bands existing.