“Hello we are IDLES and this is our first show,” a sweaty Joe Talbot told the very enthusiastic crowd at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday night (2/6), “Before we were IDLES, and now we are IDLES.”
Talbot was talking about rebirth, and the band’s new album TANGK marks the transformation of IDLES from the shouty, bruising punks of their first three albums into a kinder, gentler, more melodic (if still menacing) band, a process begun on CRAWLER but now fully realized. While TANGK may show off a kinder, gentler side of IDLES, this surprise, early release show for the album was, as usual, pure exuberant mayhem.
Tuesday’s show started with TANGK‘s atmospheric, twinkly opening song, “IDEA 01,” which made for a gentle start, but it was off to the races from there. Talbot welcomed the crowd, asked if they were comfortable, and then set about upending that, saying, “You’re gonna meet some new people.” He divided the room down the middle, Moses-style, and then with the start of Joy as An Act of Resistance‘s “Colossus” had the two sides collide into one another, which cranked the show up immediately into a rolling boil where it stayed, pretty much, for the next hour and a half.
IDLES played all but two songs from the new album, including the live debut of the soulful “Roy,” which you can tell is going to be a live standout but wasn’t quite there yet on Tuesday. Mark Bowen, the band’s guitarist/keyboards/sonic-architect, told us he’d spent longer trying to figure out how to play TANGK‘s songs live than it took to record them, and the complex dynamics and textures of songs like “Roy” and “Grace” need more plays live to get there. Other songs, though — like “Gift Horse” with it’s “WHOAAAAA” chorus, and sweetly romantic ripper “Hall and Oates” — lit Bowery Ballroom up like a roman candle.
There were plenty of old favorites, too, including “Never Fight a Man with a Perm,” “Mr Motivator,” and “I’m Scum” where Talbot had the the crowd kneel down with chants of “ceasefire now!” and “fuck the king!” before the song erupted again. That was followed by a killer version of CRAWLER‘s “The Wheel,” which was one of the highlights of the show.
Other new songs played: “POP POP POP,” which nods to their hometown of Bristol’s trip hop heritage, also came off fully formed, and folks knew and danced like crazy to “Dancer,” which also sounded fantastic.
The night ended with “Danny Nedelko” and “Rottweiler” and no encore, but at 19 songs across an hour and a half of nonstop movement (onstage and off), it was a full meal.
A few other notes:
- Joe Talbot took a moment to thank their record label, Partisan, for encouraging them to grow and change as a band. He also pulled a kid up from the front row, introducing him as “my best friend.” Joe asked him, “what’s the name of your band?” He replied, “Lip Critic” (who are also signed to Partisan records).
- Joe was wearing an LCD Soundsystem t-shirt and I was surprised that James Murphy and Nancy Whang didn’t come out to sing backing vocals on “Dancer” like they do on the studio version.
- At then end of the show, when letting the crowd know that would be the last song, Talbot said “We’ll see you in September,” and enthused about having The Walkmen on the bill for their big, upcoming Forest Hills Stadium show. “The Walkmen are the reason I’m in a band.”
- They weren’t selling TANGK at the show but it was a full merch table, including t-shirts with a picture of Princess Di that read “The Queen is Dead.”
Check out photos from the show by P Squared, along with the setlist and a few fan-shot videos, below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3CLl2NMrfH/?igsh=MWdnZTM5ZHJzdTZlbA
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3DQZCeOQED/?igsh=MXA0Zjg0N2l3MzVwZQ
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3CCJ5euMz5/?igsh=MXdqdm1sZ2JrZGlhZw
IDLES @ Bowery Ballroom 2/6/2024
IDEA 01
Colossus
Gift Horse
Mr. Motivator
Mother
POP POP POP
Car Crash
I’m Scum
The Wheel
Divide and Conquer
Roy (Live debut)
Never Fight a Man With a Perm
Grace
Hall & Oates
Crawl!
Wizz
Gratitude
A Gospel
Dancer
Danny Nedelko
Rottweiler