Enter Shikari / 22.02.2015 / Middlesbrough Town Hall

After reviewing Enter Shikari's new album 'The Mindsweep' back in January, I was expecting great things post release. And on February 22nd, I was given the opportunity to see whether my expectations were correct. And not only were my expectations matched, they were topped.

 

In my last review of their album, I identified how strong they were and how they'd really harnessed the best version of the band and made it even better (despite it seeming impossible to many). I was incredibly impressed to see that they had not only harnessed this version of themselves for the record, but were able to put this across in their live shows and give a performance the band and every single fan should be passionately proud of.

 

Enter Shikari exploded onto the stage at Middlesbrough Town Hall to show the small North Eastern town what they were made of, and I can assure you; the crowd were impressed. A band who carries a strong fan base and impressive repertoire of combining rock, heavier elements of alternative/metal and drum & bass certainly attracts a very varied and diverse crowd. But nevertheless, the atmosphere was electrifying. I was previously aware of Shikari's epic reputation of putting on a spectacular, consistently impressive show, and I was definitely not disappointed.

 

I was noticeably impressed with the set list. A 17 song set with the combination of 5 of the band's top releases including 'Common Dreads', 'Rat Race', 'Take to the Skies', 'A Flash Flood of Colour' and their newest release, 'The Mindsweep'. This combination of older songs was seamless. This is something I do search for in live performances of established bands. I find a performance very rigid if the transition between earlier music is obviously contrasted to their newer material. But with Shikari, this was not the case at all. They had control and confidence and originality in the execution of both their older and new material. I also felt that they executed songs from 'The Mindsweep' with incredible confidence and felt that the performance was established as though they had been familiar with performing this material for much longer than they had.

 

Finally, not only was the musical performance one to be remembered, the visual show was impeccable. The light show was something else and was visually attractive and genuinely captivated your attention for the majority of the show. However, I do not think it was off putting from the show at hand. In sync with the drum and bass parts of their music that the fans admire so much, it was an impressive addition to an already electrifying set from Enter Shikari.