Like a war drum for a generation, we need IDLES more than ever right now.
Update 12/20: Idles 101
IDLES are definitely not a punk band. They’re happy at the good things while being angry at the bad things. They remind me of record store shows. Of being mad about the ugly brutal things it holds while getting drunk on the promises of the future & making it happen. Which actually sounds punk AF. But we’re past that,
So when I saw they were releasing a live concert video on May 1st 2020, I set my calendar just like I would if I had a ticket.
Let me back up a second though, because I need to tell you why I love this band so much.
When I saw their show, a year after this video was recorded, at Barracuda in Austin Texas, I had listened, but I hadn’t really LISTENED if you know what I mean. My boyfriend ATM had bought us tickets months ago before it quickly sold out & I dressed in a sheer leopard print dress with some clunky heels, reliving the days I used to hang around downtown Austin & wander into shows 20 years ago with boys that had rattails. As I was smoking the secret cigarette I stashed for this very moment, I reflected on the lyrics being sung:
Hey, hey
I’m council house and violent
I’m laughing at the tyrants
I’m sleeping under sirens
Whilst wondering where the time went
I’m scum, I’m scum, yeah
Hey, hey
I looked around & felt the words. I moved closer to the middle away from the wall to get a better look.
Joe Talbot isn’t singing about you, he sings about the injustices in the world. They’re channeling their anger, & bringing you up with constant reminders they love you. I’m pretty sure every single memberof the band will fight for you, & inspire you, & you know if you actually listen to what they’re saying.
Before the show, I went to buy a record & had a chat about dogs with this guy in line at the merch booth. As I emerged from the shadowy back corner of the outdoor venue, I saw my new friend from the merch line on stage. Joe, the lead singer of the band that calls himself a feminist, and has the cutest accent ever when he talks shit about fascism had failed to tell me who he was; but in all fairness I didnt ask. I had no face to the voice at that point. & I think he got a kick out of my ignorance.
It’s also why I kove this band.
There’s a moment at the end of this video during Exeter where they just walk through the audience letting people sing along, helping people on stage, including a woman in a wheelchair, handing the mic over to the crowd. Joe says: “Absolutely no one, fucking absolutely, fucking no one is in the bar for a bar fight tonight” in reference to the lyrics about starting fights in bars. And then when it’s over everyone just goes back to their places. There’s no throwing of cups, there’s no being mean. There was no bar fight because Joe told us not to. & because wholesome chaos is good trouble.
& because they’re still not punk.
What it is:
Full performance of IDLES live at Le Bataclan in Paris, Dec 2018 (~2 Hours)
0:07 Colossus 7:49 Never Fight A Man With A Perm 12:37 Mother 16:00 Faith In The City 20:01 I’m Scum 25:25 Danny Nedelko 31:00 Divide & Conquer 35:29 1049 Gotho 40:23 Samaritans 45:01 Television 48:18 Great 53:00 Love Song 57:17 White Privilege 1:04:17 Gram Rock 1:07:33 Benzocaine 1:13:48 Exeter 1:21:05 Cry To Me 1:24:33 Well Done 1:30:16 Rottweiler
“WARNING: Strobe lights are used during this performance”
