No strangers to Australian shores, British electronic powerhouse Enter Shikari are currently back touring in the land down under. Tonight, they are playing Sydney’s Roundhouse, as hundreds of eager fans line up outside the venue. With support bands along for the ride; fellow Brits Creeper and up-and-coming Aussies Windwaker.
It wasn’t long after doors opened that Windwaker emerged onstage getting the crowd warmed up for the night ahead. With a mix of soaring vocal melodies blended with a thrashing metalcore sound, it’s easy to see why this is a band on the rise. The band even played a heavily intoxicating version of Britney Spears ‘Toxic’ that had even the most hardened metalhead singing along.
After a short break. the time had come for Creeper to take to the stage. The band formed eight years ago and this is their first visit to Australia, so the anticipation in the room is high. As their intro music played, all members of Creeper appear on stage adorned in black attire, kicking things off with ‘VCR’. The band sounded like the lovechild of My Chemical Romance and AFI as frontman Will Gould commanded the crowd. A strong contingency of loyal fans was upfront in full voice. Creeper played an eleven-song set with highlights being fan favourite ‘Annabelle’ and ‘Midnight’ which featured keyboardist Hannah’s sweet vocal harmonies, which had the audience in awe.
The time was now approaching for the headliner of the night to begin as a ten-minute countdown announcement sounded. Then to huge cheers from the crowd, Enter Shikari bounced onto the stage amongst a flood of light. Looking genuinely ecstatic to be there the band took the night up a notch straight away with ‘The Great Unknown’. With the mood of the room instantly transformed from a rock concert to a rave.
What followed was a night of genre-bending high-octane energy that didn’t waver. With the band delving into their full arsenal of six studio albums to give a mix to keep both the band and audience happy. ‘Sorry You’re Not A Winner’ appeased old school fans transporting the room back to 2007. During the set, their were many sweaty crowd surfers which even included guitarist Rory and bass player Chris playing a song while hoisted amongst the crowd. Throughout the night Rou’s energy was infectious with at one point he ended up perched above the crowd on the mezzanine level of the Roundhouse.
The main set closed out with the euphoric ‘Solidarity’ as the band left the stage. Rou then re-emerged solo and without a microphone, as the crowd came to a silence, to thank everybody for being there and sharing the moment as he began to play an acoustic cover of David Bowies’ ‘Heroes’. The rest of the band re-joined him on stage as they finished off the night with ‘Dreamers Hotel’ and lastly the poignant ‘Live Outside’.
(Photos by Christian Ross)
