Enter Shikari stopped off at Lincoln’s Engine Shed on Monday, April 22nd as part of a fresh set of UK tour dates.
Baby Godzilla and Hactivist kicked off the night as support, before Enter Shikari bounded onstage to huge cheers from the audience. They wasted no time in jumping straight into the heavy dub sounds and hard beats of “System Meltdown”, following it straight up with “Sssnakepit”.
The foursome played tribute to their cult hardcore roots and the sticky-floored alternative rock clubs of their earlier days, breaking into the clap-clap-claps of “Sorry You’re Not a Winner” early into the set.
The band’s Return to Energiser 2013 tour makes a point of featuring the smaller UK venues that are often missed out from larger stadium dates. For all the boundless energy and pure testosterone emanating from the band, they may as well have been headlining an outdoor festival.
Throughout the show neither frontman Rou Reynolds, guitarist Rory Clewlow or bassist Chris Batten could keep still, becoming a blur of jostling movement during each song.
The set was an unusual mix of old classics and new material, as lead Reynolds told the crowd: “We’re gonna yank some songs out of the cupboard…” before breaking into “The Feast” with its nineties rave music feel.
The kooky jazz opening of “The Jester” followed, the crowd becoming full of movement as it broke into the band’s usual heavy hardcore sounds and raucous feel.
It was clear Reynolds wasn’t afraid of stirring up some excitement either, telling the crowd: “I’ve heard Lincoln does the best human pyramids!” and later climbing to the top of the speaker stacks to carry on belting out lines.
A small keyboard took the brunt of his energy as he smashed it onstage and held the pieces up to the audience, before a crew-member hurriedly taped it back together.
Guitarist Clewlow and bassist Batten could barely keep in the same unbridled energy, climbing speakers, and at one point, sitting on the other’s shoulders whilst performing.
The set moved away from Enter Shikari’s better known material to showcase new song “The Paddington Frisk”, announced by Reynolds as: “Fresh out of the proverbial oven”.
However it wasn’t long before the band brought it back with the heavy dub sounds of “Destabilise” and “Havoc B”, prompting small moshpits in the crowd.
Throughout the set there was no dip in energy or pace from the band, until last song “Mothership” built the set up into a massive crescendo with its mx of classic Enter Shikari keys, heavy guitar riffs and hardcore sounds.
Depite the on-stage antics and endless energy of Reynolds and the rest of the band, it was clear the audience hadn’t yet had enough. Chanting the lyrics from “Solidarity”, the crowd repeated “And still we will be here, standing like statues” until the band returned to the stage to end on the rip-roaring “Zzzonked”.
If Enter Shikari continue to play smaller cities the same way, with the same effort, energy and enthusiasm as you would see on a festival main stage, they can expect to keep their cult following for many years to come.