With the new album Common Dreads keeping the fans thoroughly satisfied, Enter Shikari had to produce a preformance that lived up to expectation. Starting their set with Common Dreads, the crowd was wanting a party and Enter Shikari knew they had to deliver just that. The Academy room was packed with jumping bodies and screaming fans. Their trance-screamo sound is somewhat unique and ES provided a mixed set from oldest to newest albums.

After Common Dreads came the likes of Solidarity, Step Up and Mothership. The band then moved into No Sleep Tonight, their next single. Although it does contain a drop of ‘pop’ in its sound, it’s probably one of the best from their new album. The crowd was chaotic at this point – the atmosphere amazing. Havoc A and B along with Gap In The Fence and Zzzonked were only a few of the tracks that followed. The set was packed full, there was something for everyone. Even with all the songs to play the band still managed to find time to engage with the crowd. Hectic restarted the set after a lengthy chat, it sparked a ‘shout’-a-long. The anthem/chant track turned out to be one of the night’s best. Enter Shikari and Fanfare rounded off the set before the band left the stage for the most obvious encore – of course they were going to return. Some of the crowd took part in a sit-down protest until the band inevitably returned.

Sorry You’re Not A Winner began – and as the claps lead into the verse the crowd went berserk, with everyone coming together to shout “scratchcard glory” and “sorry you’re not a winner”. It started off brilliantly and would have finished in the same way had the band not stopped the song to chat for an unnecessary amount of time. The night was brought to an end with Juggernauts – the room filled with a mix of jumping bodies, mosh-pits and chants – a beautiful sight.

With most of the set taken from the brilliant new album, it was inevitable it was going to be a brilliant night. A lively and wild party was expected and Enter Shikari did not disappoint – they delivered what everyone wanted.

Picture by Andrew Nielsen

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