IDLES Get To Work With Powerful Rock Show

2024-06-13

Orlando, FL – It’s OK to meet these IDLES.

Orlando’s House of Blues hosted the English rockers on June 11 for more than two hours of raucous, defiant and unflinchingly honest music that left the sold out crowd screaming for more. Touring in support of February’s Tangk, the Love is the Fing tour boasted a setlist stretching more than 20 songs pulled from all of their major releases.

That, in of itself, was a reward for longtime IDLES fans (including yours truly) who have waited years for them to come across the pond on a widespread tour. They’ve been accumulating fans since 2017 with a unique brand of unadorned, straightforward rock threaded throughout with a danceable groove.

What really shines through in a live show though is the intimate and personal nature of the songs. It’s one thing to sing along to “The Beachland Ballroom” through your car speakers, quite another to hear it live and the pain of frontman Joe Talbot screaming “Damage, damage, damage.”

Most songs were introduced by Talbot candidly sharing the stories behind them, from losing his daughter, his struggles with drug addiction and watching his mother drink herself to death. That’s when you gain deeper understanding behind album titles like “Joy as an act of Resistance.” An IDLES show is not a slick, prepackaged rock concert but a therapy session on stage with an audience.

The talent of the band backing Talbot also reveals itself in fresh ways during a live performance. The drums and bass of Jon Beavis and Adam Devonshire, respectively, are truly the lifeblood of IDLES, relentlessly shoving the songs forward, especially on tracks like “Car Crash” and “I’m Scum.”

Talbot has publicly pushed back on the “punk” label to describe their music, insisting it’s deeper than that. I’d have to agree. Even though it’s handy and applicable, it’s the songs with room to breathe where IDLES creates a space you’ll never find Pennywise, NOFX, or Bad Religion.

I got goosebumps as guitar parts from Lee Kiernan and Mark Bowen usually buried in the mix transformed into huge, haunting riffs. Just two examples are “Mother” and “When the Lights Come On.” Longtime fan favorites like “Never Fight a Man with a Perm” also got a special live reboot, with a drawn out tease at the end to the signature line.

This tour is likely your last time to see IDLES in a smaller venue. Tangk debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums chart — the second consecutive album to do so after 2020’s Ultra Mono. I get the feeling an arena tour would somehow be just as intimate, but something will still get lost without Talbot inviting fans on stage or guitarist Kiernan performing in the pit.

Bottom line: now is the time to meet your IDLES.