The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMusicLive music

Enter Shikari at Alexandra Palace

Enter Shikari at Alexandra Palace | Live review
6 December 2021
Jessica Wall
Avatar
Shot by Virginie Viche
Avatar
Jessica Wall Shot by Virginie Viche
6 December 2021

Music review

Jessica Wall

Enter Shikari at Alexandra Palace

★★★★★

Highlights

The Great Unknown

Links

Twitter Facebook Instagram Website

Enter Shikari came to Alexandra Palace on Saturday night as part of an extensive UK/European tour. It’s the band’s first headline run since the huge Stop the Clocks Tour, which ran from December 2018 until April 2019. Saturday’s concert had been rescheduled twice: initially it was planned for November 2020. So it’s been a long wait for fans.

More than a year late and without bassist Chris Batten, who tested positive for Covid, Enter Shikari took to the grand stage of North London’s biggest venue for this sold-out performance. Samples of Batten’s vocals and bass were used from the previous show on 27th November, which cleverly smoothed over the lack his absence. After such a long wait, nothing was going to keep the rest of the band from giving the fans what they came for.

It was a huge show, with a setlist of nearly 20 songs and a highly sophisticated light display. They started with the opening track from their latest album (2020’s Nothing Is True and Everything Is Impossible), The Great Unknown. The song’s urgently firing synths are like a rock take on the Prodigy’s seminal Out of Space: they give a manic, high-energy feeling that is perfect for starting a long-awaited live show. From there, they continued with the raucous Destabilise and the drum’n’bass inflected Sssnakepit from 2012’s A Flash Flood of Colour.

Naturally, the majority of the set came from the most recent album, which is their most experimental to date, combining their hard vocals and rabble-rousing political mentality, with one track recorded by a full orchestra and generally more sonically adventurous songwriting. Lead singer Rou Reynolds played a blinder, going from raging anarcho-humanist to star-gazing romantic on an acoustic version of Constellations. The crowd loved every second of it. An encore of five songs rounded off the show, with the hard-boiled idealism of Tina and  The Dreamer’s Hotel leading into a love letter to unconventionality, Live Outside. It was definitely worth the wait.

★★★★★

Jessica Wall
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit Enter Shikari’s website here.

Watch the video for the single The Great Unknown here:

Related Itemsalternative rockelectronic rockelectronicorefeaturedlive concertlive giglive musicmetalcorepost hardcorereview

More in Live music

South Facing Festival: Richard Ashcroft and his band were on impressive form from start to finish

★★★★★
Francis Nash
Read More

South Facing Festival: Jungle bring their signature neo-funk to Saturday night

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Patti Smith at the London Palladium

★★★★★
Jennifer Sanin
Read More

The Libertines at Wembley Arena

★★★★★
Sophia Moss
Read More

Kaleidoscope Festival cements its status as a family favourite at Alexandra Palace

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Yola at Koko

★★★★★
Natallia Pearmain
Read More

John Legend at Somerset House

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

Primal Scream at Alexandra Palace Park

★★★★★
Sophia Moss
Read More

Black Midi at Somerset House

★★★★★
Jasper Watkins
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Music review

Jessica Wall

Enter Shikari at Alexandra Palace

★★★★★

Highlights

The Great Unknown

Links

Twitter Facebook Instagram Website

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Eiffel
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Tips for creating a peaceful home
    Feature of the week
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • “Film offers a way of looking at the past, the present and the future simultaneously. That’s its wonder”: Sarah Beddington on Fadia’s Tree
    Cinema & Tv
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • Five Days at Memorial
    ★★★★★
    apple
  • South Facing Festival: Richard Ashcroft and his band were on impressive form from start to finish
    ★★★★★
    Live music
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

James at Wembley Arena | Live review
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City | Movie review