Live
IDLES
Komedia, Brighton (Resident Records instore)
September 3 2018
Words/Pictures: Steve Willcox
With new second album 'Joy As An Act Of Resistance' out last Friday (August 31), Bristolian outfit IDLES are spending a week around the release on the instore trail. Such has been their live popularity, their Resident Records appearance in Brighton has been upgraded to the 400 capacity Komedia venue due to high demand. The queue outside the entrance is already growing and snaking along to the end of the road well before the band are ready to go. Once inside, even though this is more a mini-gig, the anticipation amongst the eager crowd is palpable.
The band come on and straight away rip into album opener ‘Colossus’ and it's not long before the mayhem ensues, with vocalist Joe Talbot slowly whipping the crowd into a frenzied mosh. Whereas most bands will tend to have a setlist or at least know their rough set plan, with IDLES there's an ethos of letting the audience choose the songs, knowing we’ve got the perfect playlist for the day.
Last year's visceral single ‘Mother’ gets shouted out and the band use punk chords with steady beat of drums to bring on a healthy dose of testosterone into this crowd, as one and all jump and bash into each other over the politically charged song. People are crowd surfing - with even Joe launching in for a small tour around the heads of fans - literally kissing the top of the roof as of the low ceilinged room, as the barbed refrain "the best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich" echoes to the rafters.
Joe's hometown is the reference point of ‘Exeter', a track on the boredom of small town living, taken from their acclaimed debut 'Brutalism' LP. It starts with big drums and flaying guitars, augmented by scathing vocals that spit out: "I dropped onto my knees / And prayed to Jesus please / Will something fucking happen."
The group on the whole are a tight collective unit knowing what buttons to press to get the right results. Your reviewer here is not your normal moshing type, but with these guys it's hard not to get carried away on the atmosphere, hence yours truly got stuck in with the mob.
They end on their pro-immigration statement, ‘Danny Nedelko’, the song which takes its name from one of the band’s friends, a Ukrainian immigrant. The highlight of the set, with its infectious guitar riffs and chorus type lyrics that has everyone getting involved to the point of happy exhaustion. We all manage to get that last bit of energy out of our human tubes, left stinking of sweat but invigorated by the sheer force of one of the most vital and relevant bands around.
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