IDLES brings all the sweat and love to the 9:30 Club

There are bands who write songs and record albums and then there are bands who create movements. If you’ve never experienced an IDLES gig it’s a little hard to explain. It’s hard to be a passive observer at an IDLES show. Even if you can’t move around, these songs – played loud and with a fever – bury themselves in your head, and there are times when, like I do, when you get a bit choked up too. I know, it sounds weird getting choked up witnessing a song like “Danny Nedelko” as Mark Bowen (guitar) is hoisted up over the crowd and is shouting “the D, the A, the N, the N, the Y…” but you can’t help it! The songs are powerful, but the experience is even more so.

The first time I witnessed IDLES was back at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore (see a recap of that show here). It was a small club, but the band made it feel like you were surrounded by family. On Sunday night at the 9:30 Club, it was no different… Well, that’s not entirely true. It was like a family, but a huge, maybe extended family – you know, the one where all your relatives are there and over there in the corner is your cousin you haven’t seen since you were maybe 10 (but in all honestly it was probably just before things shut down due to Covid-19).

Since mid-2020, the band has released one LP, Ultramono, and has performed a couple nights of live “Lock-In Sessions” via the web, and recorded a new LP that’s due out next month, but it’s that in-your-face, front-of-the-stage experience that we all missed.

Originally set for one night on Sunday, IDLES expanded their schedule to include both Sunday and Monday nights – both of which were sold out in minutes. Opening both nights were the NYC band, Gustaf, who just released their debut LP, Audio Drag for Ego Slobs, and put on an amazing, fun performance – pulling the audience in with its manic exuberance.

As IDLES hit the stage, the band started off with “Colossus” from Joy as an Act of Resistance, one that starts off deceptively slow but then bursts out as Lee Kiernan (guitar) jumps the stage and into the crowd for the final bit. And as an introduction, Joe Talbot (vocals) called out in between breaths, “Are you ready to mingle? Well, let’s take care of each other, yes?” And that set the mood. If there’s one thing this band does in abundance is make you care – care about music, care about life, care about each other.

The new songs on the set sounded great too! “Car Crash,” from the soon-to-be-released Crawler, sounded perfectly at home amidst that sweet cacophony. Joe, stopping for a moment acknowledged the tough two years it’s been, saying, “We are very fucking grateful to come back. This is supposed to be a unifying pandemic and instead… it’s divided people even more. We all need love” before the poignant “Kill Them With Kindness,” probably the clearest representation of the IDLES philosophy of showing your neighbor love no matter how tough it might feel to do so.

As the night went on, the entire dance floor physically moved and swayed and none more powerfully than when Joe held his arms out and called to the crowd to divide right down the middle of the floor and then in the next moment “now come together!” as both sides came together in a rush, bodies flying toward each other in a celebration of life as Jon Beavis (one hell of a drummer) tirelessly hammered out those staccato beats while Adam Devonshire’s rumbling bass formed the foundation.

As things started to get closer to the end, Joe announced “I can’t sing this song without seeing my friends one last time,” as the house lights came up for a bit, “I wasn’t expecting to feel as at home as I do in your country. This song is for every fucking one of you,” as the band started on “Love Song.” But the pinnacle of the night was one of my favorite songs, “Danny Nedelko” and closer, “Rottweiler” with the members of Gustaf coming back out on-stage to cap off an amazing, sweaty, and life-affirming show.

Still a force to witness, IDLES continues their tour through the US. Definitely catch them here!

The set list included:

Colossus
Car Crash
Mr. Motivator
Grounds
Mother
Kill Them With Kindness
Never Fight a Man With a Perm
Anxiety
Samaritans
Divide and Conquer
War
1049 Gotho
The Wheel
I’m Scum
Reigns
Love Song
Danny Nedelko
Rottweiler