by Chantal | Oct 7, 2024
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
by Kate Hoos | Feb 5, 2023
There’s so much going on in any given week in the music press/world of pop culture/the world at large that I can’t possibly keep up with it all. That being said, there are definitely things I see that I want to comment on and that being the case, I thought it would be fun to share some thoughts/anecdotes/snarky observations on a few things and get a little cheeky each week on things that I either liked or scoffed at that happened in the world of music/pop culture. I always love a chance to be sassy, sarcastic, and a bit over-the-top-gay, so here we are! Welcome to me serving up my aging punk nerd thoughts—not all of them polite—on some pop culture moments and music news from the preceding week. A little Sunday Brunch if you will.
A pigeon was found earlier this week in Madison Square Park in Manhattan that had been dyed pink and many quickly surmised that it was probably done so for the sake of a gender reveal and then abandoned. To which all I can say is….oh god, the normie cis-hets are at it again!
As the saying goes, there’s a lot to unpack here, what with the animal abuse and— if true that this bird was in fact dyed for the purpose of a gender reveal—the archaic clinging to heteronormative gender roles. I’m of the notion that this bird definitely and unfortunately was violated for this purpose and you know this led to me letting out a very loud scoff.
This is another “are you for fucking real right now?!” moment and I just need a minute to cue the pissed off Leia pics….
I’m also of the notion that oh I don’t know, maybe parents should back the eff off and let their spawn decide for themselves how they want to live their lives and express themselves, something that genitalia has absolutely nothing to do with. For the third week running, I have turned to Matt Bernstein’s excellent and witty takedown to emphasize my point. (Seriously, if you are not following their account already then I just don’t know about you.)
But really, this does beg the question, are straight people okay? Why does it matter what genitalia your baby is being born with? And also why does it warrant telling everyone AND abusing an animal or going to such lengths that you end up starting a fucking wild fire in the process of telling everyone?! This trend has always been cringey to begin with and has only gotten more out of control as time goes on with people keep trying to up the ante for attention/the hope of going viral on social media platforms. If my regular, normal ass, not-exactly-right-wing-but-definitely-not-left-wing-radical middle of the road parents could deal with me prancing around as a child as a miniature proto butch dyke during the Reagan era, then surely these objectively better educated and more worldly prospective parents of 2023 can get a grip.
As for the fate of the bird…it has since been named “Flamingo” and is reportedly struggling to recover as it deals with a myriad of issues including poisoning from the dye, ingested through a bird’s natural preening process. No one is likely to come forward to take responsibility for this cruel and selfish act, with Anthony Genise, a man who owns a bird rental company, being quoted in a Curbed article (that runs down more specifics on wild vs domesticated birds) “You ain’t gonna find where that bird came from.” I certainly feel for this little feathery friend and hope it makes a full recovery, but perhaps the scarier thought for me is that whoever the person who did this is, they are soon to be responsible for the life of a human child and well…that isn’t a comforting thought at all.
And on this day, sapphic screams of joy were heard round the world! Long the object of fantasies of queer women everywhere, Gillian Anderson made us collectively gasp this week when she asked women to send her their sexual fantasies on Instagram which immediately drove us into a gay tizzy. And even more than that, let’s get a hell yeah for some sex positivity for women of all sexualities! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with talking about desire, no matter who you are, but too many of us who aren’t cis men have been socialized that there is and it is somehow “taboo” or “wrong” to discuss what you want in the bedroom. Kudos to Scully…er um GILLIAN ANDERSON…for using her platform to really nail it home that this is normal, healthy and very needed.
Anderson, famed for her role as skeptical FBI agent Dana Scully on 90s cult hit The X Files, and who currently plays sex therapist Jean Milburn on the Netflix show Sex Education (I, among many other queers, choose not to acknowledge her role playing a certain Tory Prime Minister who may or may not have been in office from 1979-1990), says she’s “launching a major exploration of women and sex,” and has requested that women send her letters containing their “most personal desires” for a book she is said to be “curating,” that will feature anonymous tales detailing sexual fantasies of those among us who are not male. “Wherever you come from, whether you’re 18 or 80, you sleep with men or women or non-binary individuals or all or no one at all. I want to know your most personal desires. Let’s open up this conversation together and create something revelatory.”
Watch the video below, I’m just going to go grab my notepad and a pen………..
I also couldn’t miss the opportunity to filter this through the lens of punk (and no, I’m not talking about Anderson’s punk phase in the 80s), because I will always take any and all opportunities for that, so I would be remiss if I didn’t direct your attention to F. Emasculata, the world’s premier X Files themed hardcore band. They are one of my personal favorite bands and are based in Cornwall, UK where the band members are active in the DIY scene in this project and several others. It is unfortunate for me that they are so far away, because I rarely get to see them play live, BUT they will soon be heading to the hellfire shores of Murica for a West Coast tour in March and I may or may not be currently contemplating the purchase of a plane ticket to meet up with the tour.
Their latest release, Hail Mulder, came out in early 2022 (and made my favorites of 2022 list) and I had this to say about it at the time of release: “My favorite track is the closer, “Foxglove,” which is about one of the all time best X Files episodes ever aka also the one where Eve 6 got their name from. The riffs are heavy, the screams are severe, and the truth is out there.” Take a listen below.
I probably won’t comment all that much on the Grammy’s overall which are taking place right now as I write this. They are definitely cool, and a great honor, but just this other stratosphere of the world that is beyond me and I’m happy in my punk rock side of the world, so I generally don’t even tend to pay them much mind. But hey you never know, let’s see how the ceremony goes and perhaps I’ll have something to weigh in on this year (though surely every much more prominent music outlet will have done it before me). But sincerely, congrats to IDLES on their nomination! I love Crawler (and everything else they’ve done) and as I said in my coverage of their most recent NYC show in Sept, 2022 (see pics) “I have laughed, I have raged, and yes, I have cried” to their music. They are as deserving a group of artists to receive this honor as any.
Today I mainly stopped in here to say I love guitarist Mark Bowen’s style and the dress he is wearing to the event! I really am not up on any kind of fashion in terms of designers, so I have no clue who designed it or what label it is, it’s more the fact that I love each and every smashing of heteronormativity that ever occurs in this world in general, and love to see him owning his style in particular. Be it in his underwear or a suit and cowboy hat as I’ve seen him wear at shows to a flowery dress for press photos or a fancy, bright magenta frock at a major awards ceremony, he has a unique “fuck you this is who I am” approach to clothes that I very much admire.
I for sure can’t rock a dress that hard and I’m living for his destruction of traditional notions of hard edged masculinity throughout his work in the band, be it through his fashion choices or taking a paternity leave and having a woman fill-in for him during a major US tour. Neither thing something any male rock star of yore would have ever had the grace or confidence in themselves to do.
Suffice it to say, we need more ex-dentist rock star role models like Mark Bowen. (Yes, he is in fact a dentist and was practicing in the UK before the band blew up. Something I have spoken to him about and that he took great delight in sharing.)
by Kate Hoos | Sep 21, 2022
IDLES at King’s Theater (photo by Kate Hoos)
When IDLES comes to town, it’s always an explosive event and it’s always a highly emotional experience for me. They are one of my favorite bands and easily one of the ones that has meant the very most to me over the last ten years—I have laughed, I have raged, and yes, I have cried when listening to their music or seeing them play live. And even having seen them four times before, it’s always something I anticipate with immense excitement and I go in like it’s my first time every time. They’re a band that even while I’m shooting, I’m yelling along to as I go; it’s just too hard not to in the moment, camera in hand or not.
King’s Theater was the biggest venue I’ve seen them play yet and at first I wondered what the night would even look like. Seeing them at Brooklyn Steel or Terminal 5 is one thing, but King’s Theater is a resplendent, opulent setting and not the first thing I think of when I think of a band like IDLES. So exactly how would it go with these five brash blokes from the UK with their wildly intense show and bold (and true) leftist opinions, along with the rowdy crowds that accompany them, taking over the venue?
Joe Talbot of IDLES
The answer, as it turns out, was swimmingly. While King’s itself may be elegant, the same could never be said of IDLES and their fans. We are not elegant people and we make no apologies for it. But that didn’t matter in the slightest because it was a night full of joy and rage, beauty and pain, inspiration and emotion all rolled into one. Because scumbags unite and we have to stick together, be it inside of fancy venues or out in the streets. (I sadly passed on the “scumbags unite” jacket at the merch stand but it was very tempting indeed.) They were supported by opening act Injury Reserve, a glitchy experimental dark wave hip hop group that set a nice tone for the evening and eased the crowd into the chaos that was to come.
Musically speaking, and from a performance perspective, IDLES is not a band that has never held back in the slightest and are hands down one of the best live bands you will ever see, regardless of genre. As time has gone on they have only honed their craft more and more, now reaching a level of live prowess that I can only imagine would match the height of 1970s arena rock bands, they are just that good and just that massive of a presence. Indeed, they filled every single inch and atom of space in the cavernous reaches of King’s, the air practically crackling with electricity.
They played a set that spanned their four albums and packed in plenty of fan favorites like “I’m Scum,” “1049 Gotho,” “Mother,” and “Danny Nedelko” along with newer songs like “Car Crash” and “Crawl!” and even a few surprises in the mix, namely “Wizz,” the 30 second chaotic frenzy of a hardcore song that I was not expecting to hear. Not one person stayed still inside that venue from the instant they took the stage to the ominous thunder of “Colossus,” until the final chaos of “Rottweiler” had reached the ceiling far above the audiences’ head.
Playing “Rottweiler”
This show also saw the return of guitarist Mark Bowen to the fold who had missed the early leg of the tour on paternity leave. Dressed in a flowery frock special for the occasion and fiery and bombastic as ever, it was as if he hadn’t missed a beat being off the road. His trademark crowd surfing karaoke session was a huge hit with the fans and a highlight of the show, this time regaling the crowd with the Peaches & Herb’s classic “Reunited,” among snippets of other popular songs. Singer Joe Talbot and the band have always been open with expressing their immense gratitude to the fans and venue workers (as a venue worker myself, thanks for that kind sirs) and he made sure to thank everyone for coming more than once, saying “you saved my life so thank you very much” before sending “The Wheel” out to “my mother and yours.”
We live in very challenging and infinitely complicated times, “shit is always fucked up,” doesn’t even begin to cover it and sometimes it truly feels like there is absolutely nothing left to hold on to. But then I put on an IDLES album, or I go see them live, and I am instantly reminded that the truest act of resistance we have is joy. Pure and unbridled unapologetic joy, no matter how sweaty or “ugly” it might get and no matter who or what is trying to stomp the life out of us.
As Talbot said at one point in the show “you may well be lonely but you are never alone,” and one can really feel that on a deep level through their music, particularly when you see them perform it in person. I thanked them a year ago at the conclusion of my coverage of their double header at Terminal 5 (see night one and night two) for being a healing salve to my heart and I thank them again now, for continuing to be that guiding light and helping hand even when it seems there isn’t anything else I can grasp hold of. I and all of their fans owe them a debt of gratitude not only for the great tunes but for giving us a glimmer of hope in hard times.
Scroll down for setlist, fan shot videos and pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Setlist: Colossus, Car Crash, Mr. Motivator, Grounds, Mother, Divide and Conquer, The Beachland Ballroom, Never Fight A Man With A Perm, Crawl!, 1049 Gotho, The Wheel, Television, A Hymn, War, Wizz, I’m Scum, Danny Nedelko, Rottweiler
INJURY RESERVE
IDLES
by Ellen Qbertplaya | Sep 19, 2022
Kenny Beats at SummerStage (photo by Ellen Qbertplaya)
Producer Kenny Beats returned to Central Park for a show to benefit SummerStage. He brought a varied lineup of friends for D.O.T.S. (“Don’t Overthink Shit”) live.
First up was Vicky Nguyen aka Vicky Farewell, a classically-trained pianist who now writes R&B and soul-tinged pop songs that she sings and plays on keys.
Next was the young trio julie, whose grungy, shoegazy, art rock reminded me a little of early Sonic Youth.
Charismatic British rapper slowthai then performed, even jumping down into the crowd for a song.
Another big draw, rapper Isaiah Rashad followed with an electrifying set.
Finally, Kenny Beats himself took to the stage with a fun DJ set that the crowd ate up. Two special unannounced guests also joined in on the fun. Mark Bowen of IDLES (whose album Crawler Beats produced) sang his take on Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” and rapper Smino did a song as well. Lastly, Beats thanked the crowd for supporting his work and ended with a track off his own album LOUIE.
Scroll down for fan shot videos and pics of the show (photos by Ellen Qbertplaya)
VICKY FAREWELL
julie
slow thai
ISAIAH RASHAD
KENNY BEATS
by Kate Hoos | Oct 20, 2021
IDLES at Terminal 5, Saturday 10/16/21 (photo by Kate Hoos)
What is better than seeing IDLES deliver an insane set at a packed venue? Getting to do it two nights in a row of course! After the show on Friday night, I was on such a high and would have been satisfied with just that, but I definitely was not going to say no to seeing/shooting them again the next night. It’s a special band that floors you with a performance and doesn’t make you feel like “oh I saw that already, I can wait til next tour to do it again.” Not only was that the case for IDLES, but also openers Gustaf, who I had stuck in my head all the next day as I was shooting a private event, anxious to get back to the gig to see them again. I can say I was just as hyped when I walked into the venue on Night Two as I was on Night One. (See pics/write up from Night One here)
Both bands again absolutely dominated in their sets, not even showing the slightest bit of fatigue from having done it just 24 hours earlier. The crowd was again in fairly early so many people got to see and experience Gustaf (presumably) for the first time and if the line at their merch table after the show was any indication, they absolutely made a slew of new fans. When IDLES took to the stage, the crowd was already buzzing excitedly and as the opening bass chords of “Colossus” hit, things began to build in increasing intensity until the break in the song. As the “ONE! TWO!” was yelled and the fast portion of it set in, the energy in the room just absolutely shattered and exploded into a brilliant burst of jubilation that did not abate the entire time the band was on stage.
They kept the setlist close to what they played the first night, though re-arranged the order slightly and omitted “Danke.” And for those lucky enough to be there on Saturday, in addition to getting a taste of new single “The Beachland Ballroom,” and the song they debuted live the night before, “Car Crash,” fans also got to hear “The Wheel,” another as-of-yet unreleased song from the upcoming album, Crawler (due out 11/12). “Car Crash” has a definite hip hop flair to it while “The Wheel” has a lot of that early IDLES feel to it, the pounding presence of drummer Jon Beavis and bassist Adam “Dev” Devonshire on full display (AKA one of the best rhythm sections in the game, period).
Listen to the new songs below:
I often wax on and on about DIY in this blog a lot and how important it is to me, as regular readers are well aware. IDLES are for sure well beyond that stage of things, but they did indeed emerge from this world in the UK. I unfortunately was unaware of them until 2018 so I completely missed that stage of their career including some of their earlier smaller shows in NYC which were in 200 cap rooms. (Our webmistress, Jenifun, lives in the UK and was very lucky to have experienced much more of the early shows in and around Bristol.) And yet even with the band now regularly selling out larger venues in major markets, including back to back nights at Terminal 5 (which is a 2800 cap venue so hardly small or intimate), they make you FEEL like you are in a small and intimate setting. If you just read things based on the energy in the room and the very tangible mutual love from artist to audience, you could close your eyes and be fooled into thinking you are in a 100 cap room or even someone’s basement for a true DIY show experience.
That really is such a rare feat for a band to be able to play on bigger stages, yet still engage so strongly with their fans as they move up through the industry. It always means a lot to me as a fan and as someone so deeply invested in DIY/punk/independent rock culture (whatever words you want to ascribe to it really) to see bands still trying and making these connections a part of their regular practices. It can’t be easy as you are playing to bigger and bigger crowds — which of course comes with bigger and bigger expectations — but it can be felt and seen by those who know what to look for.
So yes, IDLES may be playing huge shows now, but it is crystal clear they haven’t turned their back on their roots and care very deeply about the people who come to see them play. They again invited a fan up to sing on “I’m Scum,” and while this fan didn’t nail every lyric like the person on night one did, it was no matter, singer Joe Talbot jumped in to help and the enthusiasm was for sure felt. Talbot again thanked the fans (this is something he does multiple times per show in my experience and it really feels genuine and not at all like lip service) and said that being in New York felt like home, continuing “We dance like idiots because it makes us feel free and beautiful” and thanked the fans for allowing them to have that, “This is the best job in the world. I feel like a prick calling it a job to be honest.”
IDLES at Terminal 5
In keeping with their closing tradition, they finished the night again with “Rottweiler,” Talbot saying “THIS IS AN ANTI FASCIST SONG!” as the members of Gustaf came back to the stage and an all out frenzy ensued. Strobes flashed, instruments pounded, fans screamed, and the roof almost seemed like it would shoot right off the building, barely able to contain the beautiful mayhem below it. I didn’t just want to be at these shows because I love seeing/shooting live bands and love the particular bands that were playing these shows, which I surely do. No, after a tough year and a half for us all and a hard month for me on a personal level, I needed these shows for my soul. Thank you IDLES and Gustaf for that healing salve to my heart.
See photos from Night One
Scroll down to see pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Setlist:
Colossus
Car Crash
Mr. Motivator
Grounds
Mother
Beachland Ballroom
Never Fight A Man With Perm
Anxiety
Samaritans
Divide & Conquer
War
1049 Gotho
The Wheel
I’m Scum
Reigns
Love Song
Danny Nedelko
Rottweiler (with Gustaf)
GUSTAF
IDLES
