ENTER SHIKARI PERFORM INTIMATE PACKED-OUT LIVE SHOW AT EDINBURGH’S O2 ACADEMY

★★★★★ (5/5)

ENTER SHIKARI AT EDINBURGH’S O2 ACADEMY
PHOTOCREDIT: CALUM BUCHAN

Bounding out on the stage and opening with "Growing Up On The Internet", NOAHFINNCE's pop punk is an energetic way to kick off proceedings.

We get "I Know Better" from their upcoming album "Growing Up On The Internet" which is due out March 8th.

Other set highlights come in "Lifes a Bit" and closer "Worms (In My Brain)"

Up next we have the mighty Fever 333. Opening their set with a raucous rendition of "Burn It", they have the full venue on side from the very start.

Frontman Jason Aalon Butler's energy is ridiculous - there is not a moment he stands still. This is matched by the rest of the band, particularly bassist April Kae who is also always on the move.

Before "Made an America" we are told that Jason's family are all from Scotland, and during the song the lyrics are changed to 'we made it to Scotland!'

Jason is in amongst the crowd during "Bite Back" and "Hunting Season", at one point even putting a step ladder in the front pit and launching himself off it into the crowd.

Fever 333 are a ridiculously amazing and energetic live outfit, and get the crowd well and truly warmed up for the main act.

"There was a house"... A solo Rou Reynolds takes to the stage and launches in to a spoken word version of "System..." before the full band enter and kick in to "...Meltdown" which sends the sold out venue in to an absolute frenzy.

We get "Live Outside" very early in the set, which is a surprise as it has been the closer for a long time!

The set is littered with tracks from the band's newest album "A Kiss For The Whole World", the first of the night being "Giant Pacific Octopus (I Don't Know You Anymore)" which comes across absolutely huge live.

"Anaesthetist" sees multiple mosh pits start, and with a remix outro on the song it kicks things up a gear again.

Another newbie is played in "Jailbreak", with lights coming down from the ceiling to create a jail cell look - making it seem like the band are all trapped inside.

Fan favourite "Bloodshot" is mega, before we get the onslaught of "Sssnakepit", "goldfish~" and "The Jester", the latter of which you can feel the energy ooze from the room.

Fever 333's Jason Aalon Butler is back on with the band for their new collab single "Losing My Grip" before Rou gives us solo renditions of "The Pressures On", "Juggernauts" and "Gap In The Fence". The full band are back on stage for a remix outro of "Gap In The Fence" before the screens on stage show a museum which glides through a display of each Enter Shikari album cover.

The biggest cheer comes when the bands debut album "Take To The Skies" is shown, they then launch in to "Stand Your Ground; This Is Ancient Land", "Enter Shikari" and "Mothership", all of which are from that album....thus sending the room wild once again! (This is a common theme with Shikari shows!)

Halfway through "Mothership" Rou shouts "SWITCH" before the song changes in to "Solidarity". This switch is one which will genuinely melt your brain and make you ascend to new levels of enjoyment, it is that good.

The main set is then closed with "It Hurts", "Satellites**" and "The Dreamers Hotel". "It Hurts" has a silhouette of a character on the big screen shooting a laser from his hand, with the actual laser coming out and going over the crowd.

An encore of the classic "Sorry, You're Not A Winner" - which is brought in to 2024 with a beauty of a remix, and "A Kiss For The Whole World x" is a perfect way to round things off, leaving everyone suitably sweaty and exhausted from what they have just witnessed.

In writing this review, I have also not mentioned one of the hugest parts of Enter Shikari's show...their production. We have a massive LCD screen at the back of the stage, sparklers which shoot up from the front of the stage, and the amount of lasers used during the performance is something else! The band have always been known for their live shows, and this tour they have stepped it up even more.

I've also been racking my brain to work out how many times I've personally seen Enter Shikari, it's been 3 times on this tour alone so far - with tonight being the 3rd date of the tour. I reckon overall it's about 65 times now and yet every time they still blow me away. Catch them whenever you can!