Enter Shikari are no strangers to South Africa. In fact, this will be their second time (and third and fourth show respectively) in the country when they headline for the much anticipated RAMfest 2023 on 1 September in Stellenbosch and 2 September in Pretoria.
The four-piece British rock band have been performing for just over two decades and have received acclaim over the years for their music, solidifying their post-hardcore and electricore influence, and I got to sit-down chat with lead vocalist, Rou Reynolds, to find out what SA audiences can expect.
“It was a decade ago since we played. I remember that being surprisingly good because it was our first time ever being in South Africa. We had no idea if anyone had even heard of us,” starts Rou.
Well, South African audiences had heard of Enter Shikari and showed up to watch their fav band take to the stage back in 2012. As Rou tells, ”I was just watching the YouTube recap of our time at OppiKoppi [in 2012]. It brought back some good memories! There was just so much energy, crowd surfing and everyone was singing back the lyrics with such passion. It was great!”
With all the music festivals resurrecting around the globe, it’s great to see audiences excited again. RAMFest saw the opportunity to bring back an alternative music festival like no other and catered for all types of musical genres as well as a superb mix of local and international artists.
That wasn’t the case about a year and a half ago for most artists and festival runners. Rou details what the pandemic really was like for the band, “We had that enforced rest during Covid which was an entirely different experience. It was a year and half of no shows and no writing new music. It was a really disorientating and disturbing time. A lot has happened since then; we’ve brought out our new album (A Kiss For The Whole World) and we released our biography (Standing Like Statues) which was looking back at our journey. In many ways, it feels like we’ve sort of started all over again and in a way you can say we are now Enter Shikari 2.0.”
With Covid (hopefully) in the past, the band are gearing up for a world tour to promote their latest release ‘A Kiss For The Whole World’ and they are truly excited. Rou explains, “There’s a million things that go into our live performances and what influences it. The crowd’s reaction and energy is kind of the main fuel. Sometimes, you can come out all-guns-blazing and the crowd’s not really into it. However, if we’re playing to a crowd that’s engaged and enthused then it can only become more exciting. For us when the performance becomes communal, cyclical – that’s the magic because it’s all about human connection. That’s what music is for. It’s about communicating and opening up the channels of communication; experiencing human emotions, experiencing human vulnerability and building a human connection.”
Speaking of experience, Rou gives a sneaky peek of what South African audiences can expect to see and hear at RAMFest, “With the live show, we do actually consider the audience and what the audience would want, which is completely opposite to how we work in a studio. We do want to play a bit of everything from every era of the band and really show the breadth of Enter Shikari. After all, the band does pride itself in music agility.”
Of course no band’s tour is complete without revelling in a few of South Africa’s finest delights. “Chris (Batten, Bass Guitar) can’t stop talking about the wine. So, wineries are definitely on the list. We did a small safari the last time and that was incredible. I mean, it’s not everyday that you get to stroke a baby lion. So I’d love to do something like that again. It would be nice to see more of the countryside if possible and the natural geographies would be fab,” exclaims Rou.
Overall though, Enter Shikari are thoroughly overjoyed to be coming back as Rou ends off, “Can’t wait to see the excitement in your eyes, South Africa! Stay hydrated, eat more beans and pulses. See you soon.”
There are limited tickets available so be sure to get yours now for Stellenbosch 1 September and Pretoria 2 September.
