IDLES LIVE at O2 Academy, Birmingham / Showcase

Antagonising choruses, chants of Tory discontent and an ever-growing diverse fanbase pulled by the bleakness of modern Britain; IDLES lace their throttling sound with a sweetness that feels like the tough hug of a wiser older brother.  

“We are very fucking grateful that you have brought us here tonight” frontman Joe Talbot exclaims. It comes after a successful spell in the US, the release of two albums over a frivolous couple of years and a statement-making four-night sell-out run at the iconic Brixton Academy.  

Talbot guides his Birmingham audience through the racket, encouraging the mosh pit but also that we must look out for one another. Tunes like ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’ and ‘I’m Scum’ see the atmosphere at its expectedly most riled whilst new additions such as the soulful ‘The Beachland Ballroom’ begin to add further depth to their catalogue.   

‘Mother’ taken from 2017’s Brutalism is rough and ready thumping punk which sees Talbot and Birmingham’s O2 alike chant lyrics, ‘the best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich’. ‘Crawl’ which comes next in their set but years apart in terms of their journey, continues to carry the battering ram in kind.  

Idles have developed a recipe for rowdy and it’s true that when people say, there’s nothing quite like their live experience. 2021’s Crawler has seen the band dip their toe into new ponds and is begging to add waves to their shows allowing the atmosphere to crest amongst the carnage.