Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Mutations Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
Reviews

Idles Review

Sep 4, 2018
-
Posted by Ben Miller

With a tightly-guarded ticket list and a snaking queue onto the street outside, a tangible sense of anticipatory tension, uncertainty and thrill surrounds Idles’ early evening takeover of Komedia’s dark downstairs cavern, expanded from an in-store to accommodate demand.

Put on for fans who have bought new album ‘Joy As An Act Of Resistance’, there’s a whisper the band might have enforced an over-demanding schedule on themselves, having been minded to test the speakers and door hinges at a shop in Portsmouth earlier in the day. Their earlier soundcheck here, though, is said to have comprehensively allayed any concerns, with reports of a clobberingly loud, Swans-style tune-up.

A photo of the band in a packed room in a photo by Sam Sesemann as part of an Idles review

Despite Idles being in the house, a lengthy wait ensues. The delay adds to the feel of this being a fully-fledged show rather than a passing promotional opportunity, and gives the room time to steadily morph from sparse post-work buzz to packed and expectant mob. Sure enough, within the space of half a song, these knowingly brutal Bristolians set a ferocious tone for a measured yet destructive display of near-carnal force.

Looking something like a cross between a Victorian malcontent and a revolutionary pirate, chief Idle Joe Talbot takes his responsibilities seriously and makes no secret of his troubled past – these days, he’s an eloquently persuasive poster boy against internalising and compounding personal problems. ‘1049 Gotho’, introduced by Talbot as a description of depression, sees him worry about possessing a body and mind unfit for life’s trials, but also blindsides with its grisly eroticism (“I pissed in the sink / As she slowly undressed”).

A photo of the band in a packed room in a photo by Sam Sesemann as part of an Idles review

As they batter their guitars and drums, all five members strike a picture of cheery, violent relentlessness. They’re furiously impressive, not least on the unbridled anger of Talbot’s tribute to his mother, on which he decries the trappings of poverty and suggests Tories fear rich and educated enemies. Still, for all his cathartic anger and volcanic philosophising, this is more than an extended therapy session, becoming a generous round of request-taking from the pit, interspersed with the odd gutteral barb.

Like Slaves, their fellow punk snarlers to have played at the invitation of Resident recently, Idles combine a consistent vehemence with a certain inscrutability. As the album title suggests, they want to promote liberal openness, dialogue about social and political divisions and, optimistically, love. But doing that, for Talbot, inevitably entails singing about the things he hates – Brexit, inequality, toxic masculinity, elitism.

A photo of the band in a packed room in a photo by Sam Sesemann as part of an Idles review

By the time they roll out ‘Danny Nedelko’, their single written for the Ukrainian leader of the band Heavy Lungs, providing a personal swerve on the voice lacked by immigrants, the atmosphere is approaching genuine anarchy. It has, says Talbot, made them feel like The Beatles. When he thanks security staff for keeping everyone safe, it’s sincere.

Part of this incendiary mood is down to Idles’ more composed sections, when they show a taste for the haunting and cinematic, tensely building into successive explosions of rage and wit. Without the unexpected illness of someone connected to the band, explains Talbot, their set would have gone on longer. Viewers at the front, where a full-on pile-on seems in motion, might be glad to get their breaths back.

Komedia, Monday 3rd September 2018
Photos by Sam Sesemann

Sep 4, 2018
Email
Ben Miller
Ben Miller is a SOURCE feature writer and reporter.
← PREVIOUS POST
Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi, Fri 5th Oct
NEXT POST →
Brownswood comes to Brighton
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • Jacob Collier, Thursday 16th June
    May 18, 2022

    The multi Grammy-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist brings his worldwide Djesse tour to Brighton.

  • The Great Escape 2022 Review (Fri)
    May 18, 2022

    More bands, more reviews. Friday's festival was a heady mix of Turkish techno, gothic indie, Japanese folk, jazz punk and grime metal.

  • Gregory Porter Review
    May 17, 2022

    Gregory Porter was back in town, ahead of his headline slot at Love Supreme, with an excellent, expanded band and a totally amazing opening act.

  • The Great Escape 2022 Review (Thur)
    May 16, 2022

    The Great Escape made a triumphant return with three days of musical mayhem across the city. Here's a round-up of two dozen acts we caught on Thursday.

  • To Be Men at Brighton Fringe
    May 11, 2022

    Highly rated Fintan Shevlin is back with 'To Be Men': taut physical theatre, original sounds and high tension in Tyrone. Brighton-based writer and performer.

  • When Shall We Three Meet Again
    May 9, 2022

    A cut down up-to-date Macbeth by Brighton's Suitcase Theatre performed by three women with guitar sounds. Exquisite contemporary drama, cosy venue.

  • Brighton Spiegeltent
    Must-see local theatre at the Fringe
    May 8, 2022

    This year's Brighton Fringe is teeming with local talent. Highlights include an ode to Woodstock, a radical history tour and the tale of a Brighton prostitute.

  • Betsy: Wisdom of a Brighton Whore
    Betsy: Wisdom of a Brighton Whore
    May 6, 2022

    A play of sex, seduction and survival in Brighton's 19th century underworld. A great piece of writing and storytelling, back for Brighton Fringe.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2021
Idles Review - Brighton Source