I'm searching far and wide to find a planet to orbit: Enter Shikari, London, 25/11/17

Five albums down, Enter Shikari show no signs of stopping. Since the 2005 release of their post hardcore, punky first album, Take to the Skies, the four piece have constantly evolved.

Their latest album, The Spark, showcases another change for Shikari. While still heavily politically charged, certain singles are much 'poppier' than previous releases. 'Live Outside' has been played regularly on Radio 1, whereas 'Mothership' probably wouldn't have made the cut.

The four piece headed to London's beautiful Alexandra Palace to promote the The Spark, and it was certainly an explosive evening. Support came from Astroid Boys and Lower Than Atlantis.

Proceedings kicked off with 'The Sights' from the new album, followed by 'Solidarity' and 'Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour...' from Common Dreads and Take To The Skies, respectively.

Rou everywhere!

After an intense mix of songs from all albums, lead vocalist Rou Reynolds and bassist Rob Rolfe seemingly disappeared. They were found standing on the lighting rig, however, and a beautiful rendition of 'Adieu' ensued.

Moments of respite are brief at a Shikari gig, however, and soon enough Rou announced a 'power round', where they were going to play four songs in eight minutes. BPM sky-rocketed with an intense mix of 'Sorry, You're Not a Winner', 'Sssnakepit', '...Meltdown' and 'Antwerpen'.

If that wasn't enough moshing for anyone, Shikari then went straight into 'Zzzonked' and the crowd went wild. (My glasses fell off!) True to form, the crowd was energetic but kind, stopping to pick up anyone who fell down or felt uncomfortable.

Just as the gig started with a track from The Spark, the final song was 'Live Outside'. In today's awful political climate, we need lyrics that voice both our disappointment and our desire to change. 'I'm going to live outside of all of this now'.

Do you want it all? No, but a little more atmosphere would've been nice: Two Door Cinema Club, London, 09/02/17

Last Thursday, I saw Two Door Cinema Club for the second time at Alexandra Palace. While it was an enjoyable experience, I can't say it was the most inspiring concert I've ever attended. 

First things first, however, I was very impressed with the logistics of getting to Ally Pally. The bus from Wood Green dropped us off directly outside the venue, so we didn't have to mission up the hill in the cold. It was also such a beautiful building and I wasn't expecting to be greeted by some huge trees as we entered... Also, before arriving at the main stage there was a big area full of bars and food stalls which added to the relaxed vibes.

Alexandra Palace's 'atrium'

We missed Sundara Karma, the first support act, thanks to a combination of an earlier pull of sushi and the time required to actually get from central London to Alexandra Park. When we arrived Circa Waves were seemingly mid set and the crowd was beginning to warm up. 

Around 8:30pm, Circa Waves appeared to finish and we expected Two Door to start, but it turned out that they had simply taken an exetnded break and they returned 20 minutes later. I found this a bit strange, and it also made me less excited for the main act who didn't get on stage until 9:30pm. I would have appreciated knowing this in advance so I could have planned accordingly, but hey.

THE classic gig photo, no?

Set-list wise, it was evident that Two Door know their fan base well. The majority came from earlier albums, with classics such as 'Undercover Martyn' and 'Something Good Can Work' going down a storm. I wasn't blown away by the acoustics at Ally Pally, granted we were standing quite far back but it wasn't always the most engaging experience. 

I don't want to come across too negative, because I did enjoy my evening. I'm just conscious that things could have been slightly better. Overall I'm glad I got to test out Alexandra Palace as a venue and now I'm looking forward to seeing Modern Baseball on Saturday.