If you are thinking about going to an Enter Shikari show, I have one message for you: be in shape and get ready to jump and go crazy, because last night’s show was beyond anything you could ever expect!
Sure, Club Soda was quite empty at 6:45pm when I made my way in, only fifteen minutes before the first band was supposed to start. I didn’t know exactly what to expect as I didn’t know much about the opening bands nor about how Enter Shikari would be live (It was my first time ever seeing them).
By taking a quick look around me, I could easily tell that the crowd was mainly composed of people in their 20s and 30s, and by 7pm, it was time for I The Mighty to make their entrance on stage. The American alternative band, coming straight from San Francisco, didn’t seem to have many fans in the crowd, and I feel like most people were discovering them for the first time, just like me. I heard their name before and a couple songs but didn’t really take the time to get into them that much, and I must say I regret it now!
Their performance was quite impressive. They played a six-song set, mostly taken from their album, “Satori”, as well as from their “Karma Never Sleeps” EP. They recently released a new single entitled “Playing Catch With .22” that was fantastic to see live. They managed to get the crowd pumped for the upcoming bands, making people clap their hands and jump. Kudos to guitarist Ian Pedigo who hypnotized me with his solos, he was killing it on stage! Brent Walsh (guitar and vocals) and Chris Hinkley (bass and backing vocals) were pretty impressive as well, playing and singing with energy. The rasta drummer Blake Dahlinger was outstanding, playing on a really cool wooden drum set. The band will be releasing “Connector” on June 2nd on Equal Vision Records so I definitely advise you to go check it out, and to go see them live, they’re amazing!
Coming up next was a pretty special American post-hardcore band from Sacramento, California… A Lot Like Birds. What to say about this quite eccentric band? So many things… Where should I start? I definitely wasn’t expecting guitarist Michael Franzino to do his soundcheck without shoes on, and definitely not expecting him to play his set barefoot, like I’ve seen Mayday Parade’s vocalist Derek Sanders do before. Another funny thing would be to talk about all the members having long hair except the drummer. Now that I look back at their performance, he might have lost his hair killing it playing drums, who knows?
Okay, enough with the jokes! I was quite skeptical at first. I felt like the guitar parts were sounding a lot like random and disorganized notes played one after the other, and I wasn’t enjoying the first couple songs. As time passed through the set, I started to get more into it and to actually enjoy the music and overall ambiance of the set, with band members head banging all together along with the crowd or through guitarist Michael Franzino’s crazy tapping solos. During the last song, he even started an impressive solo while vocalist Cory Lockwood was using his pedals set to give him the proper sounds. It was sick! Overall their performance was quite unusual but pretty good and extremely energetic.
After their set, the crowd started to get bigger behind me and people got closer to the stage, we could tell that things were getting serious up there. Stray From The Path was making its entrance and needless to say, people were more than ready for them! The hardcore punk band was already on fire right from the first song of their set and vocalist Drew York invited the crowd to start a circle pit. It started to get really intense after a couple song as fans started to crowdsurf, mosh and to get crazy! Like most punk bands, Stray From The Path has been highly influenced by The Ramones, and like Beartooth last month, they offered us a nice cover of their hit song “Blitzkrieg Bop”. The band played some of their hit songs such as “Negative and Violent”, “Bring It Back To The Streets”, “Damien” and “Badge and a Bullet”.
Midway through the set, vocalist Drew York made a great speech about how it is okay to find yourself and be different, whether it is at school, work and through our relationships. It’s always great to hear people, such as band members that have an influence on people, making positive speeches to the crowd, making them feel they have something to live for, as so many teenagers nowadays only find the strength to go on through music.
Once Stray From the Path was done, it was time for the band we’ve been all expecting all night: the British four-piece rock band Enter Shikari! Obviously, we had to wait a bit before their set started… Good thing for us, a pre-recorded track was announcing that the band will be playing soon and counting down periodically until the beginning of the set. 5 minutes… 3 minutes… 2 minutes… and when the last minute left was announced, the venue was abuzz with excitement and started to shout the band’s name.
The band started off the right way with “The Appeal & The Mindsweep I”, taken from their latest album “The Mindsweep”. They continued with one of my all-time favourites “Destabilize”. This heavy bass song brings back so many memories to me and I couldn’t help but jump and get wild to it, especially during the “We need to f*cking erupt” part of the song! It will definitely be a memorable moment to me. Coming up next was the melodic sing-along “Radiate”, from their EP “Rat Race”.
This set was full of fun, of sing-alongs and of genuine interactions between the band and the fans. The band members didn’t hesitate to foray into the audience during the whole show, whether it is vocalist Rou Reynolds, guitarist Rory Clewlow or bassist Chris Batten.
Throughout the night, we had the pleasure to hear songs such as “Gandhi Mate, Gandhi”, the really catchy “The Last Garrison” (where Rou Reynolds made his way through the crowd to play and sing) but also the great “Juggernauts”. At that time of the night, the band was “crushing all in its path”, as Rou Reynolds would scream from the top of his lungs.
They continued their incredible performance with “Never Let go of the Microscope”, “Myopia” and “Torn Apart”. During “The Paddington Frisk” (if I’m not mistaken), bassist Christ Batten made his way through the crowd and was performing in the middle of a circle pit, which was quite crazy to witness!
After “Mothership”, taken from their 2007 album “Take to the Skies”, and “Anaesthetist” from their last album, the band left the crowd hanging for a couple minutes before the encore. The audience was obviously asking for more and was still there, standing like statues. They then got what they wanted: 3 high paced and high energy songs to sweat to: Solidarity, Slipshod and Sssnakepit. That last song left the crowd more than satisfied and ready to go home to take care of their sore necks and legs. Guitarist Rory Clewlow was still laying on the stage at the end of the song, breathless. He then went down the stage to hang with fans, talk to them and take his pictures taken with them. Most of the bands were hanging by their merch table at the end of the show, ready to meet their fans as well.
Once again, a great night, full of talented musicians and respectful fans. What more could you ask for?
Setlist:
The Appeal & the Mindsweep I
Destabilise
Radiate
Gandhi Mate, Gandhi
The Last Garrison
Juggernauts
Never Let Go of the Microscope
Myopia
Torn Apart
The Paddington Frisk
Mothership
Anaesthetist
Encore:
Solidarity
Slipshod
Sssnakepit
Review – Maxime Le Huidoux
Photos – Johan Boutin
