IDLES at Forest Hills Stadium (photo by Kate Hoos)
Sometimes I feel like everyone I know has seen IDLES live except me. They’ve certainly been covered in this blog before – twice at Terminal 5 and once at King’s Theatre. I’ve had real FOMO about it, since they are notoriously amazing live. And on September 27th, I finally got to catch them at Forest Hills Stadium, a venue I’ve also never been to, and had my mind thoroughly blown.
Everything you’ve heard about IDLES live is true, and more. The entire band – singer Joe Talbot, guitarists Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan, bassist Adam Devonshire and drummer Jon Beavis – is absolutely non-stop from the moment they hit the stage right up until the (10pm curfew sharp at Forest Hills) end. Each song explodes into being and never falters in intensity for a single second. It’s not just the pounding rhythms or the piercing guitars or Talbot’s fervent vocals, either: the physical energy of the band never wavers either, although they each go about it in their own way. Devonshire sways nonstop to his bouncing basslines, Talbot stalks the stage, and Kiernan leaves it entirely, following the notes of his guitar out onto the shoulders of the crowd.
The set list stretched across all five of their full length releases, mining from this year’s TANGK and 2023’s Crawler and their 2018 breakthrough album Joy as An Act of Resistance. With their synthesis of relentless sound and creative songwriting, IDLES don’t quite fit into a box, taking post-punk turns here and punk rock turns there, turning in both anthems like “I’m Scum” and more experimental songs like “POP POP POP.” Highlights of the set for me were “Colossus,” “Divide and Conquer,” and “The Beachland Ballroom” (which always makes me feel a lot of things, as the inspiration for the song is one of my hometown venues.)
Well known for their political and confrontational lyrics, IDLES opinions on world affairs were on full display throughout the night. More than once, the crowd cheered and joined in with “Viva Palestina” and at one point Bowen led them in chanting “Cease Fire Now,” in his thick Belfast brogue. (As a Northern Irishman, he’s surely no stranger to Irish-Palestinian solidarity.) The American audience was also happy to get in on a full-throated chant of “FUCK THE KING!” (the “new British anthem”) which the band was unafraid to do earlier this year live on the BBC at Glastonbury. The chant was repeated later by the unlikeliest of heroes, a concertgoer named Ash who met the band earlier in the night and was invited onstage to perform drums on “Samaritans.” In what might have been one of the most exciting nights of his life, he fucking nailed it.
IDLES are very appreciative of their audience, and are a grateful band in general. Throughout the set they thanked their managers, label, touring staff, even venue security. “Danny Ndelko” was dedicated to all the immigrants out there, “Dancer” was dedicated to LCD Soundsystem (James Murphy and Nancy Whang appear on the album track) and “Gratitude” was dedicated to the Walkmen, the legendary band who served as openers for the night.
The Walkmen are a band that means a lot to Talbot (who was spotted in attendance at their Webster Hall shows earlier this year). He said it was truly an honor to share the stage with them, as he was given a copy of their 2004 album Bows + Arrows when he was in a dark place. Talbot spoke on how music can change lives, and how music has changed his own life. Talbot has been open about his personal struggles, and also his triumphs, and it was very clear how much playing such a gig with a band he admired meant to him, and it clearly resonated with many in the audience.
And damn, what an audience! The response to IDLES performance was one of the most rapturous I’ve seen in a while. From holding up Kiernan on his many trips crowd surfing, to circle pits, to singing along with every damn word, the audience was right there with the band from beginning to end. It was impossible to not be swept away by the energy in that Queens auditorium, on a lovely night where the rain that had threatened earlier held off, and it was finally clear to me what my friends had told me before: IDLES are quite simply one of the best live acts of our time. They finished the night by offering two more songs, the first of which was a hilarious acapella rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” before raging through “Rottweiler,” and ending with exactly 55 seconds to spare on the curfew clock. Even after releasing five albums in seven years and relentless touring, this band shows no signs of slowing down.
Setlist: IDEA 01, Colossus, Gift Horse, Mr. Motivator, Mother, Car Crash, I’m Scum, Jungle, 1049 Gotho, The Wheel, When the Lights Come On, Divide and Conquer, War, Wizz, Gratitude, Benzocaine, POP POP POP, Samaritans, Crawl!, The Beachland Ballroom, Never Fight a Man With a Perm, Dancer, Danny Nedelko, All I Want for Christmas Is You, Rottweiler
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
IDLES
