Idles moment
HOMECOMING GIG A PERFECT ANTIDOTE TO COVID TIMES
BRISTOL post-punk stars Idles returned to the stage in the city on Friday for a triumphant homecoming show.
It had the feeling of a big occasion, as the band performed one of their first live gigs since the coronavirus pandemic and kicked off their latest tour.
And after months and months of lockdown, and the band’s recent success in scoring their first UK number one album with Ultra Mono, it felt like a big occasion.
There were a variety of other acts playing across a couple of different stages, but everywhere you looked people were wearing Idles shirts - it wasn’t hard to guess which band were the main attraction.
From the minute they walked on stage, the band - frontman Joe Talbot, guitarists Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan, bassist Adam Devonshire and drummer Jon Beavis - completely owned the stage.
Idles are a fantastic spectacle at their best, prowling around with barely pent up adrenaline and launching themselves into the crowd.
At this stage in their career they have a failproof catalogue of hard hitting punk tunes guaranteed to make you jump up and down, and they rolled them out to a rapturous reception.
Blistering, aggressive tracks such as Mother and Heel/Heal were designed to be played to a moshpitting audience, and they delivered perfectly.
And album deepcuts which could be seen as slightly more mellow by Idles’ standards, like Samaritans or Television, still kept the energy high in the crowd.
Understandably, the band also played plenty of songs from Ultra Mono, which was released in 2020.
Given the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this gig marked one of the first times these songs have been played to a live audience. But many of them didn’t carry quite the same impact as their older material - in particular, Kill Them With Kindness and Danke were relatively lacklustre.
It may be the case that as they play them more often, the performances will improve, but on this occasion many of the newer songs felt flat by comparison.
That’s not to say that all of their more recent tracks marked a drop in quality - Reigns and Grounds were both fantastic additions to the setlist, far surpassing the experience you get from hearing them through your headphones.
And, regardless, any low points are easy to forget about because Idles’ gigs are just so fun - I don’t know if there’s another punk band in the world that would so willingly give a rendition of Wonderwall.
And it wouldn’t be an Idles gig without a few messages of hope and unity - the NHS workers who received free tickets got several messages of thanks from frontman Talbot, and he showed his gratitude to those in the audience for their support. It made the gig a perfect end to a chaotic time, giving the audience time to reflect on the past while enjoying the music.
In the end, Idles delivered a show to match their status as one of Britain’s finest bands.