Review: Jack Price
The year is 2006. A much, much, MUCH younger me, eye lined and scene haired, sat staring down the old glass screen computer monitor in my high school pc lab. A friend comes over to my computer and highjacks my YouTube. What happened next echoes through my mind every time I hear those three iconic claps of Sorry, You’re Not a Winner. Fast forward to 2023, my second time interviewing over Zoom, and this time is with Rou Reynolds for the album A Kiss for the Whole World. I had never been so nervous in my life or ever since. The follow up interview at Good Things 2024, there were zero nerves. But why am I starting off a live review with this? Because despite Enter Shikari’s plethora of tour dates down under, festivals that I have been at, and my following them since 2006, I have never had a chance to experience them live.
Until tonight!
Brisbane’s The Tivoli has opened its doors to welcome the mass of punters for not only UK juggernauts (see what I did there?) Enter Shikari, but also Grandson from the states, and Indi alt Aussies Friends of Friends to round out the lineup.
With the east coast locals up first, bass rumbles throughout the Tivoli ballroom. As people began to flood the bottom mosh pit, a cheer rose for Friends of Friends as they made their way to the stage.
The three piece are fun and have a devout bunch of fans in the crowd, despite their stage presence being a little bit green in comparison to the more veteran acts to follow. Having said that, their spot of the bill is well earned, with a tight, crisp indi-pop-punk sound. Their songs are catchy and groovy, yet simplistic while still being affective.
Although they may be less matured as a band, their set was polished and a great opening act for this evening. Friends Of Friends are definitely an act to keep an eye out for!
It’s been a couple of years since Grandson graced us with his awesomeness. His wild mix of genres heavily laced with hip hop, rock and a touch of metal, ensures he delivers an eclectically powerful set.
Without any warning, no lights dimming, Grandson and his band take to the stage! And boy do they come out swinging, opening their set with the AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY ROBOT, an activistic observation of the age of autonomy, the world’s systematic landscape and AI. Following up with BURY YOU, an absolute statement track that is delivered with such force you can feel how personal its message is.
As aggressive as he is eloquent, Grandson is the new Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Anti-Flag, The Clash. Not to say that he is better than any of the aforementioned bands, but his passion for the world’s political and social geography earns him a seat amongst those that came before him. And he is using his platform to engage with a younger crowd, throwing out massive tracks whilst enriching the doomscrolling, brain-rotted, content abused youth of today.
The majority of Grandson’s set is made up of tracks from his recent album Inertia, with some legacy songs sprinkled throughout such as We Did It!!!, Oh No!!!, and Stigmata, all of which are crowd favourites. At one point, Grandson asked who had seen him before and a wave of hands shot up from the crowd. When he followed it by asking who hadn’t and had no idea what was going on, a less hands were raised. However, his drummer comically raised his hand, genuinely looking confused. Despite his confusion, fuck his band was good! They held just as much energy as Grandson himself, bouncing around on stage and absofuckinglutely owning the crowd’s attention.
Bleeding energy from start to finish, Grandson not only performs at a million miles a minute, but his passion for social justice is also infectious. Grandson doesn’t just point the finger at American politics and social constructs, as he introduces Pull the Trigger, Grandson shares his views on the recent Bondi shootings, making it painfully obvious that his messages spread globally.
The set closed with fan fav Blood//Water. If you walked in as the track started, you would have thought they’d literally just walked on stage. How Grandson and his mates manage to keep up the crispy performance after genuinely giving their all for the crowd is a sight to behold. Grandson gave the crowd the connection they wanted, finally diving in to crowd surf before wrapping up the set.
As the house speakers blare The Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up, tensions are getting higher and higher as the usual tempo of the track distorts and swells into a dubstep remix.
The crowd almost explodes with cheers as the house lights dim, bathing them in shadow, while the stage illuminates to show the UK lads, as they open with the title track of their new album, Lose Your Self.
Rou greeted the crowd with a very British “Hello Darlings!” before melting their faces off with Labyrinth, (Pls) Set Me on Fire, and Undercover Agents. Now, I like my music big and atmospheric, but Enter Shikari’s performance made every speaker, headphones or earbuds I’ve ever used to listen to their records sound like they’d been face down in mud. The sound was phenomenally big! And the crowd, they amplified it back at the boys. Void Stares Back, Flick of A Switch 1, and the classic Sorry You’re Not a Winner had every single person singing along, moving and moshing in whatever fashion they felt. Rou also became more energetic, dancing and jumping around stage, mic stand swinging around.
An unexpected half mash up of Bloodshot and Rabble Rouser was a huge treat and once again sounded bigger than any studio version ever could. The party was definitely kicked up to 11 with the later track, but the vibe was quickly chilled with The Pressure’s On. Despite its minimalist studio version, the boys make it just as big as their more aggressive and big songs, with everyone jiving with the somber melody.
“So ah, you may not have noticed because it was a big surprise, but we released a new album a few months ago. Were you fooled?” Chris (bass) jested before jumping into Find Out the Hard Way with another fun treat of experiencing Rou on guitar, which created an even more complex depth to the song. Now, despite this being a new record tour, of the 17 tracks Enter Shikari performed, only 5 were from Lose Your Self. The set list felt more like a “Best Of” list than a showcase of new material. That is by no means a complaint though, just an observation.
{The Dreamer’s Hotel} captivated the audience and was a perfect way to end the set. Obviously, they boys weren’t done though, as they quickly answered the call of the mass of fans asking for an encore, with Rou stating “Oh, go on then.” entering Spaceship Earth (1. Avec Abandon) and following it up with another classic track, Juggernauts.
Enter Shikari holds a particularly special place in my heart, from growing and maturing through the awkward teen age years, to break ups and new beginnings, sharing and awakening different perspectives through their art, to sharing their music with my dad as he did with so much music when I was a kid. And tonight’s performance made was the cherry on top. You best believe I will be front and center next time they visit our shores. If you missed out on tonight, you need to join me next time.
