Messed!Up
Seven years ago, Brutalism smashed IDLES’ manifesto on the broken walls of Britain, spray painting slogans that tore into the fabric of society to create a newfound strength in resistance. It hit a nerve and galvanized people, a grassroots community immediately springing up around their call to arms. And it definitely put the Bristolian rabble-rousers on the map and gave them access to an exclusive part of the music scene already with their debut.
IDLES frontman Joe Talbot treats love like a four-letter word – meant to be shouted, loudly, like a bludgeon to the head. Given that IDLES’ pulverizing first three albums – albums that took Idles into the mosh-pit super league – were fuelled by terse menace and guitar firepower it was expected to be a rowdy night. Well, any IDLES gig is like being punched and getting hugged simultaneously.
I never thought they could fill up Sporthalle in Hamburg. As I’ve been to unusually many Sporthalle gigs this year already, I had lots of gigs to compare with. Neither Nothing But Thieves nor Enter Shikari hauled in such a mass of fans (sorry, Giant Rooks was a bit bigger but it was home turf for them – not a fair comparison). A massive crowd caused riots as Talbot asked people to split up and prep for a wall of death already from the start. Like no other British rock band of their generation, Idles offer a sense of resilient belonging, rendering pain fertile and ugliness majestic. The point is that even if their latest effort, Tangk, may sound a bit different from previous works, and most definitely split the fans into two sides, they have never sounded better live.
IDLES open up with ”IDEA 01”, the first song off Tangk, and an arpeggio piano motif swirling and repeating, out of time with what they layer over the top, and then they got the mosh-pit going with the Joy As An Act Of Resistance album opener ”Colossus”. Talbot belts out, ”Forgive me father, I have sinned” and continues in what you may call the chorus (IDLES’ songs don’t follow a traditional structure), ”Goes and it goes and it goes, goes and it goes and it goes, goes and it goes and it goes, goes and it goes and it goes […] I am my father”s son […] His shadow weighs a tonne”, he moves around the stage, eyes wide with anger, passion, fear, and everything in between. I have braved my fair share of mosh-pits before, but I have never been thrown about, elbowed, and even had someone shout in my ear like this before. But after making a beeline for the side of the venue and catching my breath, I was ready for round two.
The new songs off Tangk showcased a slower side to the band, in particular,”Roy” showcased a different side of the band, with ”Hall and Oates” as an immediate live standout. The band are clearly still figuring out these new songs live and we can only imagine how fully fleshed out and alive they’ll sound after a few more tour shows. They played eights songs from Tangk, but still found plenty of room during the set to work in all the expected live favorites, including “Danny Nedelko” and “Never Fight a Man With a Perm”, but also older cuts like “Divide and Conquer” and “Mother”.
Talbot’s sharper edge translates to the whole band. Lead guitarist Mark Bowen – no dress this evening – unleashing on the strings while Lee Kienan on rhythm and dressed in white spins like a whirling dervish, Jon Beavis on drums epically punctuating it all. And this is often the beauty of an IDLES set and why they are a must-see live band, there is unbridled chaos to shows without them ever missing a beat. Each band member is in a world that seems completely their own and yet cohesive. It is a beautiful thing.
When announcing that the last song (IDLES don’t do encores) the fans vocalized their sorrow. As many times before it was “Rottweiler”, an anti-fascist song for the anti-fascists bringing it home with an extended ending that allowed everyone present to give it their all before the band waved goodbye and exited the stage.
It was a night where their fans got loads of songs and a lot of value for money. It’s rare that bands in this day and age play two-hour long shows (well, The Cure rarely leaves the stage under three hours – but they have an extensive back catalog) but IDLES didn’t leave Sporthalle until 24(!) songs later. If that’s not value for money, I don’t know what it would be.
Or like a friend said, ”Seeing IDLES live is like going to mass, but louder and more political”. For an atheist like me, I’m intrigued and will start exploring if my local church also offers mosh-pits and wall of deaths. Maybe I’ll find the light after all.
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Photos: Julia Schwendner
