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Perpetually unable to be pigeonholed and revered for their scintillating blend of rock, electronica and metal, UK party-starters Enter Shikari are a breath of fresh air in the heavy universe – and their gaze is now fixed firmly on Australia to close out the end of 2023.
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Appearing at the 2023 edition of Good Things Festival this December, alongside the likes of Fall Out Boy, Limp Bizkit, Devo, I Prevail, Behemoth and many more, the St Albans-hailing quartet are set to bring not only their infamously explosive live performance to Australian stages, and two cheeky headline sideshows for Brisbane and Sydney for good measure – the group will also be armed with their latest release, the #1 charting A Kiss For the Whole World. And it’s certainly been a busy couple of months for the band as they start to wind 2023 down in typically lively Enter Shikari fashion, as vocalist Rou Reynolds recently shared with HysteriaMag.com.
“We’ve just come back from our North American tour,” says Reynolds, “so we just kind of got over that and we’re now feeling a bit more revitalised. We did Mexico not quite for the first time, but it was our first own shows in Mexico, which is how it just ended. That was a lot of fun!”
“The audiences out there are super enthused and energetic, and I think extremely patient considering we’re 15 years, or maybe more than that now, into our career and finally got to Mexico. But yeah, we had a great time.”
No strangers to ending out a year down under, Enter Shikari also closed out 2022 with a visit to our shores in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide alongside Creeper and Windwaker; and it appears that the Aussie love for Enter Shikari is returned with gusto by the band themselves.
“We are so keen,” says Reynolds of the band’s excitement to return to Australia for another Good Things Festival appearance. “When we did Good Things in 2019, it was one of the best festival experiences we’ve had for years. There was such an energy there and this was why we were adamant that we needed to get to Australia more often, really, because it was just so much fun. And I don’t think we realised the sizes of the audiences we had there. I don’t think we realised that we could pull that many people in Australia. But from then onwards, it’s very much forked away from America.”
“America feels like it’s always a struggle,” Reynolds continues. “We have a really solid passionate audience out there, but it’s so hard to grow it. I think America struggles, perhaps this is a massive generalisation, but it struggles slightly with our sound. It’s so varied and obviously the scene over there is very saturated. There’s so many incredible bands, it’s such a big place and a big industry. But in Australia – I think people seem to get us more and I think we feel a little more at home.”
“Rory [Clewlow], our guitarist, actually grew up there. He lived in Australia for most of his childhood, so he has loads of connections there and always enjoys going back. And we have increasingly more connections in Australia, not just from the people that we meet when we play there, but so many of my friends are moving there!”
Our focus now is that we’ve only played the singles from the new album at the moment, so I think at some point over the next month or two, we need to start learning how to play the other tracks. It’ll be great to bust one of them out. But yeah, they’ll be super varied sets. They’ll have a bit of everything in them!
[ Rou Reynolds – Enter Shikari ]
With a festival slot and some headline sideshows to play with, the possibilities are endless about what fans can expect from the upcoming Enter Shikari shows down under. But, as Reynolds reveals, the setlist discussion is still yet to be officially had, with the upcoming shows also offering a chance for the band to explore some of their less-travelled new material.
“My first reaction was: oh yeah, shit, we haven’t thought about that yet!” Reynolds says of the upcoming Aussie setlists. “But yeah, we will be mixing it up. I mean obviously the festival sets won’t be as long as the sideshow, so we will certainly be playing more songs at the sideshows. But I imagine there’ll be different sets.”
“We’ve got a lot of songs on rotation at the moment, which is good,” Reynolds continues. “And our focus now is that we’ve only played the singles from the new album at the moment, so I think at some point over the next month or two, we need to start learning how to play the other tracks. It’ll be great to bust one of them out. But yeah, they’ll be super varied sets. They’ll have a bit of everything in them!”
Currently kissing the whole world with their live performances in celebration of A Kiss For The Whole World, which released back in April, there have been plenty of opportunities for Enter Shikari to bust out some brand new material for their ravenous fans; and a few potential fan-favourites have begun to emerge along the way.
“Of the ones we played live, it’s interesting,” says Reynolds of what new songs have been resonating the most in a live setting. “Sometimes it really depends. We’ve been opening with (Pls) Set Me on Fire, which is just such a glorious moment to open with. It’s so grand and bombastic. It always sets the tone and so that’s been great just seeing people sing along to it at the moment.
“Also with a song like Bloodshot; I love playing that. I mean, I love playing all the new stuff, but I just get lost in that one, especially in the dancey bits. It’s so easy to lose yourself. I don’t even know if the crowd’s enjoying it, I’m too busy in my own world!”
“In terms of stuff that we haven’t played yet, there seems to be a lot of love for a few of them, but maybe Jailbreak is the one I’m really looking forward to playing live at some point. But yeah, they’ve all been a real joy to add to the set.”
A band capable of blending unforgettable sonic moments with messages of hope, positivity , and commentaries on politics, it’s little wonder why Enter Shikari continue to strike a chord with Australian fans, as well as the rest of the world. And while plenty of new memories undeniably lie in wait later this year, Reynolds has a couple of core Aussie memories that still stand out after multiple visits up his sleeve.
“There’s so many, I’m not going to lie,” says Reynolds when traipsing down Australian memory lane. “The last time we played Good Things was definitely up there as some of the best festivals we’ve ever played. So that’ll be with me forever.”
“And I suppose with some of the early times, the first time we came to Australia was amazing for someone who never really had been abroad. Before that, the furthest I’d travelled before we made this band was the little island of Guernsey, which is just up the south coast of England. Then Suddenly finding yourself in Australia…I just remember being bewildered and just ticking off all the tick boxes of the classic things like holding a koala.”
“I just remember it being a bit of a dream I think as well because I can’t sleep on planes, I never got over the jet lag of it. I was just sleep deprived on another planet really. So, the whole memory of those early trips has just a weird dreamy sheen to it. A hyper-real, sometimes weird experience. But memorable nonetheless.”
And it wasn’t just the wildlife that captured Reynolds heart on a previous Aussie adventure, with the hinterland and coastlines of the South East Queensland stamping out a special place in his heart.
“The last time we came in November,” says Reynolds, “me and Rob [Rolfe], our drummer, came out a few days early and spent a lot of time on the Gold Coast. That was beautiful. My thing is that I love seeing the cities that we get to see and stuff, but nature is really my pull. I’m almost magnetised to wherever the nearest state park or country park is.
“Getting to see some of the coastlines that are a little more off the beaten track, some of the forests…that’s what I’m always wanting to see. I’m not sure whether we’re going to have much time on this run. But yeah, any kind of nature is a bonus!”
And just which band on the amazing Good Things Festival lineup is Reynolds most excited to catch live?
“I mean: Devo, that’s just wild,” says Reynold. “I remember listening to them, my dad was a DJ, so he has a massive, massive vinyl collection. I can remember listening to them as a kid and just being blown away by the madness of it all. So to see that live’s going to be pretty legendary.”
“I’m also looking forward to seeing Taking Back Sunday again, it’s been a very long time. And I’ve actually never seen PVRIS live, I’m really looking forward to that.”
“I think it’s going to be one of those festivals where I just might try and stick on a hat or some kind of disguise and just go out there and just have a good time. It is a proper stacked lineup. Obviously our boys, While She Sleeps, it’s going to be good to hang out with them. I’m really looking forward to it, but there’s quite a few bands that I don’t even know. So I’m going to try and do the proper festival thing and yeah, see some new stuff as well.”
Who knows, you may very well accidentally be standing next to Rou Reynolds himself this December in the pit!
GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL 2023:
Friday, December 1 // Flemington Racecourse // Melbourne
Saturday, December 2 // Centennial Park // Sydney
Sunday, December 3 // Showgrounds // Brisbane
ENTER SHIKARI GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL SIDESHOWS:
Monday, 4 December // The Triffid // Brisbane
Wednesday, 6 December // Liberty Music Hall // Sydney
