Ironworks, Inverness, 19 &22 October 2008

Enter Shikari (Picture - Peter Hall)

FIRST OFF Enter Shikari. Having booked the tickets online, I was cursing for not having picked them up during the week. The queue outside the Ironworks was long, and the corner we were stood at attracted a stiff wind for the two hours we were there. But then again, that’s part of the craic.

We missed the first support band, no one could remember what they were called, but we all agreed that they didn’t sound too good from outside. Nuff said. But, once inside we caught the next guy, DJ PDX, who got a nearly-full hoose dancing to his mix of bog-standard dance music (not popular with some of us) spliced with some hardcore.

The crowd were happy, youthful and energetic. The atmosphere was good. Around nine pm Enter Shikari came onto the stage to join PDX in his last mix – the fans’ excitement electrified the floor and arms in the air and gesticulations indicated tribal resonance if you know what I mean!

We’re not sure if readers of Northings will know who ES are – so here’s a synopsis: By their own words they are four standard guys from St Albans who got together in 2003 to form a band that would reignite unity into the music scene and ultimately into people’s lives. The names means Enter the Hunter in Indian, which is a metaphor for positive aggression. Shikari is the inner fire that burns in the belly which gets you through the lows in life – it is life-force.

The guys spent three years just gigging – no promo work, no CDs. Their breakthrough came at Download (Rock Mecca) when the media were attracted to their blend of hardcore (a type of dance music) and punk (a type of Rock music), so I’ve been informed. They’ve released two albums – Take To the Skies and Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour. A couple of singles too, but they’re not that bothered about the singles chart.

I was apprehensive about going to a hardcore gig, having been raised among Shipley Satan Slaves and Mancunian Hells Angels who would all gather in the local town square on a Saturday morning. I preferred a more sedate indie and punk scene in the 70s, although bikes and leather were always attractive.

But the young folk I was with at Ironworks said ES was the stuff of today, not much sign of leather apart from the Satan Slaves look-alike sound man (bald head and big beard) and it was no meaner than anything from the 20th century. I moved to the back of the venue away from the Mosh Pit which Rory, guitarman, asked the crowd to form.

PDX left and ES got stuck in like some crazy hive of bees on acid. They were awesome. If I asked for one word to describe them – that was it. Awesome! The energy they threw out into the venue had a magic which only a few can claim to create. I was spell-bound and lost sight of the folk I went with.

Rou the lead singer dived all over the stage, with lungs any opera singer would cut him open for, and the lanky Rory on guitar postured at the front, mounted on anything that would elevate him way over the heads of fans who cheered ecstatically. ES bounded through their two albums, avoiding the hit single ‘Jonny Sniper’, which was maybe a tad unfair, but we did get ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’ – roof-raising rhythm, guitar and electrics.

But they promised a new song for the night. The mosh pit was at its height of frenzy during ‘No Sssweat’, with push-fighting reaching an extreme – the temperature rose and everyone finally warmed up after the cold wait outside. Air-splits, diving, water-spraying continued for a full hour and-a-half, with just a small break in the middle.

Fans danced constantly, moshing when told to, otherwise posturing a la hardcore. The new release ‘We Can Breathe In Space’, suitably pleased fans, it was of the calibre expected from this charismatic gang of four. Favourite song of the night apart from ‘No Sssweat’? ‘Labyrinth’ – “You do this every f***ing time. No sweat, no tears, no guilt. There’s no respect”. Loved it. And the chant to get the band on for an encore?

“One last song before we f***ing go” got ES back on with Rory exclaiming how much he loved that f***ing chant. If you like positive aggression, these are the guys for you. If you don’t know what it is, do go along next time they come to Inverness, which they will cos they loved us. The fans were just great and the band really appreciated it. And as is tradition, the drummer threw his sticks out to the crowd, the rest of the band launched bottles of water and towels at their fans.

We slid out of the arena and were shunted through the corridor back into the cool night. Awesome. All of it, songs, guitars, fans. You would pledge your loyalty to these guys with their name tattooed across your shoulder blades.

Next, Elliot Minor. This time it was raining and windy. But we were in after an hour, due to a very small crowd. Couldn’t have been more that two hundred. I felt my heart sink for them, but apparently they play mainly in small halls. EM are a cross between rock, pop and classical. known previously as The Academy, they were spotted by a record company rep when supporting McFly (cheesy pop band) in 2006 to a crowd of thirteen thousand people.

The band are classically trained, which gives them an interesting slant in the sound they create, especially on those guitars. Their support, Hot Melts, didn’t get the small group of fans bouncing. They managed to produce an uncanny mixture of music, heavily influenced by the 70s. I couldn’t figure out where they were coming from, nobody else wanted to know.

Lead man wasn’t very charismatic, and sung a wee bit like Marc Bolan – one song was similar to T Rex. Another like the Dead Kennedys, then the The Chords, after that, Stiff Little Fingers. Just irritating – was there an Ulster sound in there or what? Off they went. On came the boys.

With just one album released, well-known tracks were played out – ‘Parallel Worlds’, ‘Time After Time’, ‘Jessica’, ‘The White One is Evil’, ‘Still Figuring Out’. Heavy on the minor chords, but a wicked way with the guitar, lead man Alex was a real treat to watch – venting his melodic spleen all over the strings. The other two joined in, leaning back, instruments hung low, giving it some wellie.

You had to smile. I grinned at them, they reciprocated. There was no break, they played straight through. Dan on the drums was also impressive. Bassman was chatty, and for one song, Alex sat on the stage, girls all delighted, to have him so close. They gave us one new song, no one can remember what it was called, sorry! But their lyrics are great, their songs filled with melody, and dead easy to sing along to.

There was an attempt at a mosh pit, but as Alex said, “It’s a bit hard when there’s only twenty or so”, and it died off fast. The crowd though were fully appreciative of the band, a mixed bunch this night, and more older folk there. Verdict – very good. Excellent musicianship, it will be interesting to see how they go as they get older. Drumsticks to the crowd after the encore, and off they went.

Preferred gig by all? Enter Shikari.

© Hi-Arts, 2008

Links

• Enter Shikari

• Elliot Minor