Enter Shikari

support Lower Than Atlantis + Astroid Boys
author LL date 06/12/17 venue Amager Bio, Copenhagen, DEN

When the British electro-core band Enter Shikari last visited this country, it was all the way back in 2011. Tonight it seems that they have a dedicated fan base here, who have been wanting nothing else since then but to see them perform again, resulting in an unusually lit show despite the poor Wednesday timing. With their new album "The Spark" recently released, we're in for a mixed setlist presenting very varied styles of music but as you can read below, this provides no problems at all. First, however, we have the two very different support bands of the evening to contend with who sadly both turn out to give underwhelming performances tonight for different reasons.

All pictures by Lykke Nielsen

Astroid Boys

Since I know that I often have a hard time with rap, tonight I try my best to arrive with an open mind for the support set of Cardiff's grime/hardcore group that consists of three rappers backed by live guitar and drums. While they provide us with a relaxed and good-humored performance of songs from their debut full-length "Broke", the show becomes kind of bland because the actual words they spit are rarely clear enough in the mix to be understood. Instead, we are left to focus on the beats, that are very similar across the first bunch of songs, and the distorted guitar riffs that attempt to spice up most of them with varying success. Late in the set, they give a shoutout to their DJ who appears to be hiding far out to the side of the stage behind some equipment because he is ill but still performing with them. After that revelation, the very dominating backtrack they rap to makes a lot more sense to me although I'm still not convinced by their somewhat simple utilization of rock guitar riffs in their sound. Still, the sparse audience they are performing for seem ready to dance already and they get a fairly good response, probably because their blending of elements understandably appeals to fans who have followed the eclectic output of the evening's headliner through the years.

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Lower Than Atlantis

For the next name on the bill tonight, the room has filled up quite a lot more but it proves more than a little difficult for the poppy hard rock band to get any kind of enthusiastic response from the majority of the audience. They play only songs from their two latest records, "Safe In Sound" and "Lower Than Atlantis", that all roll off the stage smoothly with the main critical problem being that vocalist/guitarist Mike Duce's vocals are too low in the mix. This doesn't do any favors for the big hooks and general arena-style sound of tracks like "Had Enough", "English Kids in America", or "Here We Go" that all fall short as a generic bunch of songs instead of standing out through his otherwise impressive vocal abilities. It seems to be only the first rows of people that are getting carried away by the groovy music, making even a song like "Dumb" with its otherwise seductive R'n'B qualities fall flat. Duce is just convincing enough to succeed in getting a five-man circle pit going for a short while during "Work For It", later on commending us for the "valiant effort". Despite their best efforts then, the finer details in their songwriting and guitar riffs disappear behind a glossy facade that doesn't catch on with the Danish fans gathered here tonight. And yet, their songs are more carefully performed and put together than that of the evening's opener, so the overall impression remains slightly better.

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Enter Shikari

As the main Brits finally take to the stage and burst into the opener "The Sights" from their new album "The Spark", it's great to find that most people in the audience are already singing along despite the new material's softer character. In general, the entire show is filled with goodwill and dancing among the happy people in the room, resulting in a more or less constant rave-like moshpit present in the middle. Especially as we quickly arrive at a heavy performance of the older song "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour..." from their debut, spirits are high all around. The whole band seem to be generally smitten with the energy from the room and especially vocalist Rou Reynolds and bassist/vocalist Chris Batten send us wide smiles and get down from the stage to mix with the crowd during the set.

The setlist is in general very mixed with six songs from the new album as well as a couple of songs appearing from every of their older albums. Knowing the variety of their material, you might not think that could work, but the way they have structured their setlist tonight, it gives a really good progression to the set. The setup they have with them on this tour is great as well, with the relatively simple circular backdrop providing a steady flow of images that support the energy of the songs really well. Furthermore, they have built a synth out of the instrument appearing on their latest album cover, further solidifying their coherent visual expression. Reynolds migrates around the stage, mostly manning the microphone in the middle of the stage but otherwise covering the specially-built synth as well as a trumpet for "Take My Country Back", and later on a piano for the ballad "Airfield" followed by a techno version of the older "Adieu". In addition to these things that make their show vibrant, the mix is on point throughout and Reynolds wins our collective hearts immediately with his energetic dancing and precise, dynamic singing.

So what's not to love? My high points from the evening are hard to keep to just a few mentions but the groovy moshing sessions during the amazing "The Last Garrison", "Arguing With Thermometers", "Rabble Rouser", and "Anaesthetist" are definitely up there. The ferocious single "Radiate" makes a great impression as well just as their four-song medley towards the end really gets the audience going. The encore of the stand-alone single "Redshift" and the insanely catchy "Live Outside" appropriately lift the evening with their very atmospheric, open sounds and while we are tired from all the dancing after, it would have been great with a final energetic outburst in the shape of "Mothership" which the crowd has been sporadically alluding to in the breaks of the set. Overall Enter Shikari show great form tonight and the great sound, progression and energy of their performance seems to have every single person here convinced, even a curious newcomer to their music like me.

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Setlist:

  • 1. The Sights
  • 2. Solidarity
  • 3. Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...
  • 4. Take My Country Back
  • 5. The Last Garrison
  • 6. Radiate
  • 7. Undercover Agents
  • 8. Arguing with Thermometers
  • 9. Rabble Rouser
  • 10. Airfield
  • 11. Adieu
  • 12. Anaesthetist
  • 13. Sorry, You're Not a Winner/Sssnakepit/...Meltdown/Antwerpen (Medley)
  • 14. Zzzonked

- Encore

  • 15. Redshift
  • 16. Live Outside

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