Page 54 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine - Issue 100

BV100 pg54_BV100 pg54 12/03/2019 00:35 Page 1

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ENTER SHIKARI / PALAYE ROYALE / BLACK PEAKS – BIRMINGHAM O2 ACADEMY, 01.02.19
January is usually a quiet time for gigs, so kudos to Enter Shikari for setting out on a lengthy UK tour which kicked off in Sheffield on January 10th
and ran all the way through to February 4th in Newcastle. The tour included some lesser-played towns such as Llandudno, Inverness, Preston and
Southend. It was also a privilege to see the band back in clubs after previously playing much larger arenas.
January is usually a quiet time for gigs, so
kudos to Enter Shikari for setting out on a
length UK tour which kicked off in Sheffield on
January 10th and ran all the way through to
February 4th in Newcastle. The tour included
some lesser-played towns such as Llandudno,
Inverness, Preston and Southend. It was also
a privilege to see the band back in clubs after
previously playing much larger arenas.
Rise Records signing Black Peaks open
the show with a hefty dose of heaviness; they
are an intense concoction of math and progres-
sive rock. The dark lighting fits well with songs
such as ‘Glass Built Castles’ and ‘Can’t Sleep’,
ominous and aggressive brooding. In contrast,
Palaye Royale from LA have their own glitzy
‘PALAYE ROYALE’ lighting at the back of the
stage and bring a lighter, brighter, flashier rock
‘n’ roll vibe to the night. It had been reported
that the Kropp brothers had a tough time on the
tour and you can feel the dejected air when the
band come on stage looking very glum, as if
they’re almost dreading what could happen.
They don’t look very happy at all during their
set. Birmingham’s crowd, though, are open-
minded and don’t give the band a hard time at
all. ‘Don’t Feel Quite Right’, ‘You’ll Be Fine’ and
‘Wasted’ are sultry, 70’s-inspired, glamorous
rock ‘n’ roll bites. Frontman Remington Leith
gets the crowd to put their hands up and goes
into the crowd towards the end of the set. While
Enter Shikari obviously weren’t the best choice
of bands for them to support, they put on a
good show, and you can imagine how well
they’d do with a bigger band of a more similar
genre.
One of the best things about Enter Shikari
is that they defy genres. There’s some metal,
electronics, trance, pop, and rock all rolled up
into one. And Rou Reynolds is the perfect front-
man, throwing out quirky shapes along to
songs such as the futuristic ‘The Sights’ from
their latest album, ‘The Spark’, and ‘Labyrinth’
from the band’s debut album released back in
2007. ‘Rabble Rouser’ is one of the more
trance, techno-based songs, while continuing
the rap-and-rave-like theme, the four-piece
cover Faithless’s ‘Insomnia’ later in the set after
snippets of ‘Ghandi Mate, Ghandi’ and ‘Moth-
ership’ really do rouse the rabble. A highlight of
the set, though, is when Rou goes up into the
balcony to perform a couple of songs up there.
He plays both an acoustic guitar (‘Gap In The
Fence’) and a trumpet (‘Shinrin-yoku’), showing
his multi-instrumental talent. Amazingly, those
in the seats around him stay seated and com-
posed!
The band’s quickfire round sees Rou in-
forming us “We’re now running at 174,” as the
techno-hardcore mix of ‘Sorry, You’re Not A
Winner’, ‘The Last Garrison’, ‘Meltdown’ and
‘Anaesthetist’ incite the moshpit to bounce up
and down. With an encore that includes ‘Take
My Country Back’, which sees Rou playing gui-
tar on his own before the band return for ‘Jug-
gernauts’, it’s ‘Live Outside’ that wraps up the
night in a fun and buoyant way. Confetti can-
nons spray the audience at the end as they did
early on in the set. Yes, Enter Shikari have def-
initely helped kickstart our gig year off to a fine
start.
YYYYY
Shari Black Velvet
Rou Reynolds (Enter Shikari) Photo By Shari Black Velvet

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