Live Review

Enter Shikari – Camden Underworld

• 27th Jul 2010

Blood, sweat and broken synthesisers… that’s right, it’s Enter Shikari

The first thing that hits you at Camden Underworld in the height of summer is thick sticky heat, the musky smell of sweat… and the taste of vomit in your mouth at paying well over the odds for a warm lager… some might say, the perfect setting for this show! The sweat pouring off some of the half naked pimpled backs here might make you wonder if the sprinkler system’s been playing up… it’s clearly not… but as the anticipation builds and the crowd surges forward, it’s that hot, a small part of you wishes it had.

One thing that’s clear is that this band’s fan base is one of pure dedication – there are no barriers at this show, the traditional separator between the performer and the crowd can’t hold the two apart, as fans storm the stage flinging themselves off it like skinny, dripping wet missiles. The band feed off of this as the intensity and the heat escalate, vocalist Rou Reynolds thrusting the microphone down the throat of anyone who cranes their neck close enough to attempt to wail down it.

If you were anywhere but down the front, the cracks in the show started to appear early on. Equipment started to fail, the microphone crackling, synth playing up & pedal boards crushed. What had once been driving the bands performance was now hindering it as fans repeatedly stormed the stage causing the show to be called to a stand still on several occasions, often mid way through a song. Further back, the fans are fighting, overheated, wound up and drunk… fists flying, girls crying and with security seemingly stretched… the vibe in the back of the room has turned decidedly sour.

Saying this, the band hold their own at the front as they attempt to control the show, knowing when to call a stop and when to regale the crowd with stories of severed fingers and broken bones to try and keep them (all be it temporarily) at bay. It’s a credit to their showmanship and if nothing else it’s clear that although the fans are brutal, the band are professionals (not forgetting their crew, who bravely fought off the fans to keep most of the gear on stage and the band alive)

With key touches like announcing every birthday in the room (even giving a signed drum skin to one lucky kid), encouraging interaction at every point throughout the show and their constant expression of pure gratitude to the crazy sweaty people hurling themselves off the stage (and at each other) meant that the fighting, the failing equipment and the bleeding noses paled into insignificance… even when the finale of the show (all be it predictably ‘OK time for plan B’) was halted halfway through due to another stage invasion.

Perhaps a sign on the underworld door stating “Abandon hope all ye who enter here” would have been fitting, but with all this in mind you can’t help but leave an Enter Shikari show with a grin spread across your face (and your eyes peeled for an ambulance parked ready round the corner)…