IDLES’ politically charged lyricism comes to life at the O2 Academy Birmingham
O2 Academy Birmingham, 3 December 2024
I first saw a live IDLES performance when I stumbled across their NPR Tiny Desk concert years ago. Within the first 30 seconds, singer Joe Talbot’s face is a darker shade of pink than the shirt he’s wearing, a shirt that will be drenched in sweat by the end of the set. Members of the NPR office get brought in to play with the band, and guitarist Mark Bowen performs most of the set shirtless stood on top of a desk. The boundless energy emanating from them spills out of their small set. Where most people would see a Tiny Desk as an opportunity to showcase a more stripped-down version of their music, IDLES delivered their high-octane passion throughout, allowing it to pour out of the small space.
Seeing this performance probably made the fact they would be able to give such a stellar performance on tour almost expected. Yet, there is still an exhilaration to watch them perform. There is this buzzing energy that is on the verge of exploding by the time the band take to the stage, everyone in the audience packed tightly together as the smell of sweat and cheap vapes merge with the anticipation. When the band members walk onto stage one by one, basked in stark white light, it feels as though this frenetic energy swells, tipping over as ‘Colossus’ starts and the pit opens up.
Yet, whilst generating this community is important, it’s clear that IDLES’ focus is much broader than that
Throughout the entire two-hour performance, the whole venue is moving and electric. There’s aggression in the pit but it feels more rooted in a form of catharsis than just an excuse for people to punch each other to some really good music. When a man finds a lost phone, he wanders through the pit trying to find who it belongs to, when a group of people fall to the ground they’re helped up before they start moving again. Despite having the face of aggression, there’s a considerate nature behind it all, a consideration that IDLES join in on as they crowd surf multiple times throughout the show and get the person handing out cups of water to people in the crowd to down one himself.
Yet, whilst generating this community is important, it’s clear that IDLES’ focus is much broader than that. There are repeated shouts of “Fuck the King” and “Viva Palestine,” and, before performing the song ‘Rottweiler’, Talbot glibly remarks, “don’t read The Sun, you’ll get cancer”. The band are and always have been deeply politically motivated, with a lot of their songs lashing out at a deeply unjust political system or trying to find the possibility of a better one, such as songs like ‘Danny Nedelko’ which praises the contribution immigrants make to culture. Meanwhile, ‘Never Fight a Man with a Perm’ is an explicit critique of toxic masculinity and the different performances that men are forced to commit to, with this leading to the prevention of the formation of genuine, earnest connections. In the current socioeconomic climate, where right-wing political figures are gaining popularity around the world, it feels almost necessary to have a band like IDLES that are explicitly fostering an opposition to this through their art. Maybe it is not the most direct form of political action to make music that screams at the world around it, but IDLES aren’t pretending to be activists or political figures, they are simply making the music that makes them passionate and rallying a community around them as a result.
Throughout the venue, fans of all generations are lively and dancing around to the music that effortlessly courses through people’s bones at such a fast tempo
However, regardless of the implications of the band in the wider political landscape, they still put on a phenomenal show. Throughout the venue, fans of all generations are lively and dancing around to the music that effortlessly courses through people’s bones at such a fast tempo. Even in the comparatively slower moments in the show, such as the performance of ‘The Beachland Ballroom’ or their impromptu medley that includes, among other things, Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’, there’s this frenetic energy that sweeps throughout the show, an impressive feat considering that IDLES are performing for two hours straight at such a high level of intensity.
The band can attack everything with a passion and underlying earnestness that not only shows their sheer talent as performers, but also the fact that they’ve been able to generate a space that is driven both by their political motivations as well as their ability to craft raw, powerful shows that are brilliant to see live.
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