Posted: Tuesday 4th November 2008

Reviewed by James Turley

It's not often that support bands are anticipated more than the main act. Of course there's the occasional group of diehard fans following the bands they love around as much as possible, but the words on absolutely everyone's lips tonight are Maximum the Hormone. The Astoria 2 is a fairly small but decent venue, barring the annoying raised dance floor in front of the stage which seems to be geared towards club nights rather than a rock show.

An Albatross kick things off with their insane brand of music. Heavy, pounding riffs and the occasional shrieking vocal are backed up by prog-leaning keyboards to produce a fantastic sound. The sudden tempo and time signature changes probably go over most heads, but they're a very clever yet enjoyable band and worth checking out. Maximum the Hormone absolutely deserve all the hype from the crowd and put on one hell of a show. The Japanese band can barely speak a word of English, but as they put disjointedly ‘we communicate through music', and my word do they communicate. Stylistically similar to early System of a Down they rock as hard as anything, but then suddenly they'll drop out into a chorus so undeniably poppy that you can't help but think they've got the upper hand on most other bands. Finally, DJ P-Dex warms the crowd up for half an hour with typically bland, boring Drum & Bass and mediocre re-hashes of classic tunes, but at least people are having a good, no-brainer of a time.

Of course the earlier comments concerning the anticipation of Maximum the Hormone aren't to say Shikari aren't good tonight, but they certainly take a while to get going. It's all good fun when everyone knows the songs but nothing really stands out until the second half of the set. New track Hectic (which is about drinking White Lightning with your mates in the park) sounds insanely good already, while We Can Breath In Space and a re-worked Sorry You're Not a Winner also hit the spot. But where songs such as Mothership, Return to Energiser and No Sssweat used to be absolutely terrific, tonight they're weak and much more low-key. "You should all know this one," states frontman Rou before a few of the songs, and yes, most of the crowd do, but there's nothing truly special about them. The encore of Enter Shikari and OK, It's Time For Plan B is great though. Even when everyone's sweaty, dehydrated and knackered, they still get the place rocking from stage to bar.

Still a very enjoyable night though, and everyone seems to have had fun: circle pits, crowd surfers, even the odd rave-up, with the band (particularly drummer Rob) leaping around the stage gurning like madmen - it's the usual smile-on-yer-face good time that you almost come to expect when you see them. It just goes to show that even when Enter Shikari have an 'off' night they still know how to put on one hell of a show.