17/02/2023 | Enter Shikari – KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton

It’s been three years since Enter Shikari released their last album Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible, and although it’s been a long wait, the band are already teasing a gargantuan comeback with recent releases from their new album A Kiss For The Whole World, and their three-night residency gigs in venues across the UK.

Tonight’s concert was at KK’s Steel Mill; a historical ex-car factory hidden away on the outskirts of Wolverhampton. This was my first visit to the venue, and I was extremely impressed with the layout, lighting and sound quality.

Enter Shikari took to the stage at about 9.20pm, and the audience was already nicely warmed up for the gig following support slots from Blackout Problems and Noahfinnce. As led lighting at the back of the stage pulsated and the audience was blasted by confetti cannons, roars of applause vibrated around the room as each member of the St Albans band appeared on stage and they quickly burst into show opener (pls) set me on fire.

This fire was further stoked by Radiate, and by the time that the band kicked into Juggernauts, the fans were buzzing with energy and crowd-surfing had commenced. The band mirrored this intensity throughout, with frontman Rou Reynolds climbing amps and even going into the audience at times, as he gave fans in the disability viewing area an up close and personal moment.

Sometimes the trouble with having such a vast back catalogue of tracks is fitting in every song that you would want to in a set, but luckily Shikari have a solution for this, which they like to call the quick-fire round. Tonight they blasted through an impressive and speedy medley of 5 songs in less than 10 minutes, including The Last Garrison, Sorry, Your Not A Winner and Live Outside.

Ending the night on a rapturous encore, audience members were treated to four more songs from their back catalogue. Throwbacks Stand Your Ground; This Is Ancient Land and the self-titled Enter Shikari from their Take To The Skies album were well-received, before the venue was promptly lit up in beautiful rainbow lighting for LGBTQ+ anthem Satellites. After a joyful singalong from the audience, the band triumphantly ended the night on another fan-favourite, The Dreamer’s Hotel.

www.entershikari.com