It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of IDLES here at Buzzkill. Since the release of their latest full-length album TANGK this February, Emily and I have been eagerly waiting for the Bristol punk supergroup to come back stateside to hear the newest tracks live. After their last show in Boston, a midnight pop-up at the Sinclair last summer, IDLES made a strong return to Roadrunner for a sold out show at the end of September.
Newly-crowned 2024 Mercury Prize winners English Teacher opened up the night, bringing their own flavor of English alternative to the stage. The jump from seeing the Leeds-based group earlier this spring at Sonia to opening up at Roadrunner feels like a quick shift, but English Teacher easily adapted to the larger audience and extra space, putting on a stellar performance of some of their standout tracks. Playing hits from critically acclaimed This Could Be Texas, English Teacher puts on a show that’s irresistibly cool. Playful bass lines and lead vocalist Lily Fontaine’s ethereal vocals highlighted their set, and I’m beyond excited to dig into more of their back catalog.
It’s nothing short of spectacular to see IDLES in a live environment. Talbot’s pointed vocals create an anchor amidst chaotic and droning guitars, while Devonshire and Beavis hold down the beat track after track. It’s a well oiled machine at this point in their careers, and really feels like the truest representation of the group you can get. While their recorded work encapsulates some of their chaos, the energy is completely unbridled in a live setting. Band members hopping off the barricade and into the pit, crowdsurfing, or raucously dancing around the stage dot their performance. It really seems like they’re all having fun up there, which shouldn’t seem as novel as it does, but here we are.
Saying this as a full-fledged member of the club, IDLES fans are a different breed. Fully under the group’s control, the mosh pit ebbed and flowed to each beat, with the entire crowd chanting every lyric back to the stage. The pit itself was as gristled and frenetic as the band’s performance, but somehow still incredibly kind and soft around the edges (“love is the fing” really does feels like the most applicable term here). The pit demographic at an IDLES show is almost as hard to pin down as any of the moshers within it - all genders, ages, and races seemed to be represented at one point or another. It's community at it' best: raw, powerful, and almost idyllic in a sweaty, sticky way.
Aside from the music itself, it’s IDLES' openness and dedication to their community that keeps us all coming back for more. The best of each era was represented in their set, from the harshness of Brutalism, Ultra Mono, & Joy As An Act of Resistance, to the more conceptual tracks of TANGK & Crawler. All in all, an IDLES show has something for everyone; it's angry and loud, soft and supporting, and proves that you can have a "fuck you" attitude and still keep your heart on your sleeve.
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