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.

             

MALLORY KNOX WITH SUPPORT FROM MOOSE BLOOD, FORT HOPE AND FRNKIERO ANDTHE CELLABRATION – 11TH NOVEMBER 2014

I had been incredibly excited for this gig from the minute I found out about it. Two of my favourite bands were performing in one gig and if that isn’t something to get excited about then I’m not sure what is.

The first act on, with a strangely short set, was Moose Blood. They are a 4 piece emo/alt rock band who has rocketed to the forefront of alternative music scene with their brand new album “I’ll Keep You in Mind From Time to Time”. Their grungey and original sound has become something that many people, including myself, have found addicting. After seeing them perform live before, I had a reasonable idea of what to expect from the band. All my original expectations were matched and exceeded, they were passionate, dedicated and original as per usual and attracted the interest from the crowd immediately, and sustained this interest to the end.

Frnkiero andthe Cellabration are new on the music scene and have made a startling impact with both positive and negative opinions surrounding the band. The lead singer, Frank Iero, is finding his own musical career after the break up of his previous band, My Chemical Romance. This break up came as quite a shock and this new music has also been the same. It’s different, quirky and definitely original and is something every individual who is interested should check out for themselves. I originally formed a negative opinion after hearing about it, but went to the gig with an open mind and I was actually proved wrong. However different this music and style may seem, it still has that raw and poignant sound that I associated so well with MCR. He has developed it and harnessed it as his own and executed it with such precision that I was incredibly impressed and it was evident in the crowd response that they were equally as impressed.

Last but certainly not least, Mallory Knox. After already creating quite a stir and impact within the current music scene, they did it again by releasing their brand new album “Asymmetry”. The album is a further developed version of their previous music, showing positive progression and consistency. Sometimes consistency can be seen as boring or predictable, but in this case, it’s neither. It’s their style that people adore so fondly and I found, purely from the crowd response, that they were adored by the audience who were raring to see them perform. The set list was a variety of older popular songs of theirs and some clear favourites from the new album creating a great response from new and old fans throughout. Their performance was energetic, confidence and electrifying from a band who were clearly experts in their field of performance with bags of experience and self confidence. All in all, I thought they were amazing and I’m sure many critics would agree that Mallory Knox are a permanent feature of the alternative music scene and will be for many years to come.  

Make a Scene Fest – Middlesbrough – Sunday 5th October 2014

Make a Scene, acclaimed as the North East’s greatest alternative music festival, returns for it’s 5^th year. The festival has welcomed bands such as Lower Than Atlantis, Neck Deep, Blitz Kids, Mallory Knox and Young Guns to their stage year after year to perform for a consistently passionate and enthusiastic crowd. With a combination of the local music scene, for example Across All Oceans and more popular bands, such as Decade, Moose Blood and Roam, the festival truly catered for all. The festival boasts 4 stages, Uprawr Stage which is the equivalent to main stage, Sumo Stage which was a smaller stage opposite main stage, Knee Deep Clothing Stage which was a smaller stage in a room just off of main area and finally, Seaside Studio Stage which was downstairs near the bar area.

 Oh Pioneer. It has to be tough being first up on Uprawr Stage (main stage) when the majority of the crowd are milling between stages not really paying a great deal of attention. But this did not phase them in the slightest, performing a confident, passionate and slick performance, the band were genuine, chatty and talented and were the perfect act to open the festival.
Upon arriving, I was incredibly excited. I was a fan of some bands on the line up and incredibly excited to experiment with some newer local acts. First up was local band,

The next act on Uprawr Stage was another local band, Across All Oceans, a 6 piece pop punk band from Middlesbrough. My favourite genre of music happens to be pop punk, and I am massively aware that the North East is not the most popular place for up and coming pop punk bands. So discovering them is fresh and exciting, and I am certain they have a huge amount of potential. Their set was incredibly personal, lively, exciting and spontaneous. I found their energy electrifying and the most enjoyable part was seeing how visibly thrilled they were to be performing. They performed some of their more well known originals and even touched upon some new material. As a whole, they are fresh, incredibly talented and are oozing potential on a huge scale. I am unbelievably excited to see where the next few months take this band.

 

Funnily enough, my friend ended up chatting to a guy in the crowd after a photo being taken by a band on Sumo Stage. This guy happened to be the lead singer of Lost in the Crowd; he invited us to see his band downstairs on the Seaside Studio Stage.We were definitely not disappointed. They are an alt rock/alternative/experimental 4 piece from the North East and have an incredibly raw, original sound. They played all originals from their EPs and even some new material from an upcoming EP. We were even lucky enough to receive a free sample CD from the band after the performance. They were original, sophisticated and incredibly confident in their style and delivery.

Whilst waiting for one of my favourite bands, I stumbled upon the end of Roam’s performance which I had unfortunately missed due to the overlapping of bands. The crowd responded incredibly well to them, their confidence and atmosphere was contagious and their material was executed passionately. They responded well to the crowd’s enthusiasm and played a range of material including new and old songs.

I was incredibly disappointed to realise I was only able to see a select few songs and look forward to seeing them perform alongside Man Overboard next year.

Next up, was one of my most favourite bands, Moose Blood. Moose Blood are a 4 piece emo/pop rock band that are increasing in popularity with every passing day.

They were another band up on Uprawr Stage, however unfortunately not local. Their performance was as electric and atmospheric as I hoped, if not even better. I was even luckily enough to have Stay Here dedicated to me and my friend, it was one of many gestures that helped cement the idea that this band were one of the most genuine and kind bands I had ever had the pleasure of coming across. Their set was passionate, original and confident. With a range of material, including songs from their upcoming album ‘I’ll Keep You in Mind, From Time to Time’ and even some songs from their earliest EP. I was incredibly proud to notice that the crowd responded incredibly well to them and had livened up a significant amount as their set continued. I was incredibly impressed by their performance and I look forward to seeing them perform again very soon.

My final act of the night was Decade. Decade are a pop punk band from Bath who have recently created a very popular name for themselves touring with bands such Tonight Alive, Mayday Parade and Lower Than Atlantis. I have been a fan of theirs for a while and believe they are an incredibly talented band with heaps and heaps of potential. It is truly amazing to see them begin to receive the recognition they trult deserve. Their set began and it was electrifying from the start. They began with Fool’s Gold, a track from their newest album and it was an excellent choice. The majority of the set was from their newest album and the crowd response was incredible. They were incredibly stoked for this performance and the band did not let the audience down. They carried off one of the best and strongest performances of the whole festival and I was incredibly proud with the confidence and passion they executed so effortlessly through their performance.

All in all, I found Make a Scene one of the most enjoyable gigs of my life and found the bands were incredibly friendly and eagerly interacted with fans. I was lucky enough to meet Moose Blood, Alex Sears from Decade, members of Across All Oceans and Lost in the Crowd. Each and everyone was incredibly genuine, friendly and had no hesitation with communicating and were eager to take photos.