If I had known what I was getting into before I went to the Enter Shikari show at the Paradise Rock Club on April 3rd ahead of time, I still would have been amazed at what I saw. I’ve been to a few other hardcore shows, but none at a venue that served so well to be a jungle gym for the acts that performed. At shows like this one, it is fair to say that just about anything goes, but I never thought that the bands would have actually done everything.
letlive. and Enter Shikari used every corner of Paradise as their playground. Jason Aalon Butler, the lead singer for letlive., started the show by running full speed across the stage, crowd surfing, and climbing on the amps. He even decided to run up to the second floor, swing down over the side, and jump into the crowd. When he got back on stage, he thanked the fans for supporting them, and thanked the people who had never seen them before for watching their insane performance.
His presence on stage was powerful and emotional. When he wasn’t sliding down the banister of the staircase, he was writhing on the floor and screaming very personal lyrics that the crowd screamed right back.
Enter Shikari kept that energy going. The crowd started chanting lyrics before the band even came on stage. They opened the show with “System…” and “…Meltdown” off of their new album A Flash Flood of Colour. Their combination of post-hardcore and trancecore isn’t enough to describe their sound, because as Rou Reynolds, the lead singer said, they’ve been “abusing genres since 2003.”
They all got in on the fun the crowd seemed to be having, by driving off the stage and surfing around the mosh pit. The crowd even formed a human pyramid and I was scared someone was going to get crushed when they started moshing again, but everything seemed fine.
The bands really were having as much fun as the audience, and that’s what these shows are about. Unfortunately, their drummer,Rob Rolfe couldn’t be at the show because the U.S. didn’t allow him a visa, but their drum tech filled in and did a great job.
Enter Shikari slowed down for one song, “Stalemate,” and even brought out an acoustic guitar. It gave everyone a moment to catch their breath before bringing up the show’s energy again. Reynolds followed Butler’s lead and ventured to the second floor to hop around on the ledge for a while.
The pit looked like a monsoon at some points, but that was the point. Enter Shikari said to me in an interview before the show that they strive to make their audience feel included in the entertainment. It isn’t just a spectacle on stage—it’s a group effort by the performers and the crowd to put on a good show. I was mesmerized watching them all behave the way they did, and got to enjoy some great music at the same time.
Interview:
Enter Shikari can be found at http://www.entershikari.com/
letlive can be found at http://www.thisisletlive.com
By: Deanna Archetto