IDLES REVIEW
Making our way to the M&S Bank Arena on the 82, our excitement is palpable. To see Bristol-hailing Idles perform in Liverpool, a city known for being politically charged and unafraid of critiquing governmental flaws, feels appropriate.
They are preceded by Lambrini Girls, a Brighton punk duo who clamp down on misogyny and class inequality. During the final song titled ‘Craig David’, lead vocalist Phoebe Lunny makes her way into the pit, her mic cable weaving its way between bodies that have been jumping, sweating and moshing for the past hour, urging those who don’t want to join in to move back. There is an air of unity, balanced out by the unapologetic rage in her voice – she looks after the crowd. We are here together, and none of us are impressed with the current state of the world. Before exiting the stage, she shouts: “Trans rights, free Palestine.”
There is not a much of a pause before Idles arrive, and needing no introduction, they bounce straight into ‘IDEA 01’, the lyrics of which portray a tempestuous family-dynamic, through the opening lines: “Upside down house to a broken home, Sister’s waving arms not even grown, There’s a rag in a bucket and your father couldn’t pay his loans.”
Together the band are a force, with the electric Joe Talbot on vocals, Adam Devonshire on bass, Mark Bowen on guitar (sporting a flowy black dress and doing it well,) Lee Kiernan also on guitar and Jon Beavis on drums.
Pauses between each song are scarce, each one seamlessly flowing into the next. Talbot occasionally peppers poignant political statements in as a segway from one one into another, as though punctuating each track. Before ‘Colossus’, he quips, “Viva Palestina!”, inciting roars from the crowd.
“Thank you for coming and seeing us in one of the best cities on the planet,” – he knows his audience well- adding, “Don’t read The Sun, it’ll give you cancer.”
When we get to ‘Car Crash’, by now the singer has the crowd at his fingertips. The song builds slowly as Talbot describes his previous financial struggles, until the refrain, in which he chants, “Smash, I’m a car crash”. It’s loud, punchy and honest, a running theme throughout the band’s discography.
Towards the end of the set, we get to what is perhaps the fan favourite, ‘Never Fight a Man with a Perm’, which plays with the idea of modern masculinity, a stand our line being: “You’re not a man you’re a gland, you’re a great big neck with sausage hands,” followed by, “You look like you’re from Love Island.”
When Talbot says these words, he means them; and it’s apparent how many times he must have performed this song by now, as he seems to thoroughly get a kick out of making a mockery of his crimped counterpart.
Before ‘Danny Nedelko’, the penultimate song in the set, Talbot hoists his leg up onto a step and tells us a story; we listen intently.
“This is a song for the hard work of the immigrants that built our country, that made our country a better place, it’s a slight on the fascist pricks who don’t know how lucky they are. It’s a song for the people of Liverpool, it’s a song for Palestine.”
His bleached hair pops even on the screen behind him, which projects the band in fuzzy black and white. Similar to Massive Attack, their visuals are simple, flashing lights and black and white screens. They have no need for pyrotechnics or the like; their message will get through regardless.
During the final track, ‘Rottweiler,’ Talbot joins Beavis on drums, building up a crescendo for minutes on end, while Kiernan joins the viewers down below as they swarm around him; he gestures folk to push back and give him space before allowing them to descend, everyone going mad for Talbot now, who proceeds to drum faster and harder.
We’re up in the rafters, but we’re tempted to dive down into the chaos, we could pass out from FOMO.
By the end of it everyone, including the band, is reeling, the collection of tales we’ve just been told making us feel united and frankly quite pissed off with the government. It begs the question why more of those in the limelight don’t appear to use their platforms to speak out against injustice.
“We’ve been Idles,” he concludes before thanking us for the night. It is truly a remarkable gig. If you are second guessing getting tickets for Idles, you shouldn’t be. You will not regret it.
