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Energetic Enthusiasm To Excite

A drummer that looks like he’s escaped from a mental ward, chants of “beans and toast” and a mid section break for a dance off, it can only be Enter Shikari.

With some much needed energy begging to be injected into the performances, St Albans’ Enter Shikari are not simply a breath of fresh air but a tornado spiralling avalanche.

Bounding on stage like a group of kids bursting out the school gates, Enter Shikari promptly start chatting to the crowd, instantly engaging them in their performance as their blend of post-hardcore meets dance thrashes and thumps enthusiastically. Constantly making an escape from behind his drum kit, Rob Rolfe is relentlessly animated, jumping up to the front of the stage before resuming his position behind his kit and continuing with his cheeky facial expressions that verge on the slightly unnerving. With tracks like ‘Mothership’ and ‘OK! Time For Plan B’ encouraging the eruption of circle pits in pockets of the crowd, Enter Shikari insistently incite the crowd to go mad, radiating an infectious excitement that immediately sends out tidal waves packed with fun.

Eagerly telling all that this is the biggest crowd they’ve played to, the St Albans’ lads are clearly overwhelmed at how far they have come, endearing them even more to the crowd before Rolfe and guitarist Chris Batten beak out in an impromptu bout of dancing, teasingly poking fun at the dance styles. With a call for all to salute a friend of theirs, all four members of the band strike military poses as ‘Johnny Sniper’ makes its entrance, buzzingly vibrating through the crowd and receiving a hearty welcome that’s only equalled by the catchy hand claps of ‘Sorry, You’re Not A Winner’ as the quartet bring their brilliant set to a close.

Enter Shikari’s set wasn’t faultless, some technical glitches, persistent problems with synths that Rou decides can only be rectified by throwing them across the stage does stop them from being perfect, but strangely it doesn’t effect their performance. From the instructions to shout out anything from “fish and chips” to “beans and toast” being keenly carried out to the sheer youthful vivacious zest that pulsated throughout, Enter Shikari brought everything to their set. Bouncing with more energy than toddler on a caffeine buzz, Enter Shikari took some much needed vibrancy to Milton Keynes Bowl with an extra helping of fun for good measure.