St Albans band No 4 in official UK Albums Chart

HUNDREDS of Enter Shikari fans queued outside HMV in St Albans for up to three hours on Friday to meet the local band several days after the successful launch of their third album.

The band was in a celebratory mood as new album, “A Flash Flood of Colour,” released on January 16, quickly became the mid-week chart topper in the UK.

By the weekend they had dropped to No 4 in the official UK Albums Chart, with Enter Shikari tweeting that there were just 1,500 sales between them and songstress Adele, No 1 with “21”.

The band tweeted: “What an achievement for a band like us to be even in the top 5! Thank you all so much.”

A spokesman for Enter Shikari, which consists of Rou Reynolds, Rory Clewlow, Chris Batten and Rob Rolfe, said: “We are absolutely humbled. We have massive respect for our fans.”

Some of their supporters had come to St Albans from as far as Oxford to have various paraphernalia, including a maths book, signed by the band.

One local fan said: “I like them because they are local and inspirational and it’s great music.”

The in-store signing follows similar successful turn-outs elsewhere in the UK early last week.

Max Gibbons, supervisor at HMV St Albans, said there had been several hundred people queuing to see Enter Shikari in the store on January 20.

He said: “It’s been manic; people were queuing up from midday. They clearly have a devout following.

“It’s good to see a big band doing this. People have brought in ties, guitars, drum skins and there was one boy who had his maths book to sign. It would be nice to see more bands doing this.”

All four band members live in St Albans. Chris (bass/vocals) and Rou (vocals/electronics), both 25, are former Verulam School pupils while Rob (drums), 26, and Rory (guitar/backing vocals), once attended Sandringham School.