Walking up to Camden’s Roundhouse on a Sunday evening, you can’t help but notice the crowd. Snaking along the road, past the petrol station, masses of skinny jeans and hoodies.
Apparently security have implemented new rules about mobile phones, meaning that only ten gig goers are being let in at a time. The queue for the cloakroom is growing steadily.
Inside, Cancer Bats are giving it their best, despite a poor soundsytem and fairly minimal crowd (most are still outside).
A recorded message counts down the minutes to Enter Shikari, with thundering applause. The headliners blaze onto the stage and promptly destroy it, frantically clambering onto amps and diving into the crowd.
This outpouring of unbelievable energy lasts the entire performance, the audience meeting it with mosh pits appearing in every corner of the room. New tracks ‘Gandhi mate, Gandhi’ and ‘Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here’ go down as well as old favourite ‘Return To Energiser’.
Before going offstage, the band apologise for the delay on entering, a touching moment that serves as a reminder of how close knit they are to their fans.
After a brief pause, they return for the encore, bringing out a member of their stage crew to propose to his girlfriend. She says yes (obviously) and the entire audience cheers as glitter explodes across the stage.
As the crowd filters out to the sound of classic dance hits, the floor is lost under a sea of cups, glitter and Santa hats. Job well done, guys.
RC x
