Enter Shikari – Manchester Academy

AFTER listening to their new album, where they effortlessly blend contrasting rock styles, I was expecting something special from Enter Shikari.

And the heavy guys -- who played Keighley’s CJ’s Bar early in their career – certainly didn’t disappoint as they headlined this four-band gig.

They gave a blistering performance that, like the album, veered from the heaviest of metal to the lightest of emotional whispers, with all shades between.

On top of the standard guitars/drums/keyboards combo these guys seem to possess all manner of weird instrumentation, from car horns and jet engines to a Martian’s ray gun.

As you’d expect from a band with clear ambitions for arena status there were moments verging on pretentious, as frontman Roughton Reynolds delivered semi-political sermons, but it all seemed appropriate amidst a performance this big.

“This is music to confront, this is music to attack,” he said – but while Enter Shikari’s assault had raw power it was never at the expense of a good tune or great showmanship.

They began their set like many bands finish them, exhaustingly, and it must have been at least an hour before they let the foot of the accelerator and started getting playful with the audience.

Roughton stood on the bar to sing one of the slower songs, then cleared the area in front of the stage for a good old-fashioned mosh pit melee.

Throughout the gig the lighting designer was as creative as the band, putting on a fantastic show that superbly complemented the mood of each song, using the lamps to create cop cars, slashing claws, ripping cloths, a pumping heart and what appeared to be a convention of Tardises.

On the evidence of this terrific show it’s clear that Enter Shikari are loudly, proudly like no other band.

David Knights