After a blazing year in which Idles headlined Glastonbury’s ‘Other Stage’, topped the UK album charts with their fifth studio album ‘TANGK’ and even featured on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, the Bristol five-piece played a sold-out gig at Sussex’s Brighton Centre.
This marked Idles’ first gig in the city since their 2021 performance at Brighton’s Concorde 2 venue.
Who are Idles?
Idles are a 5-piece post-punk band from Bristol that surf between musical themes of toxic masculinity, politics, addiction, gender and love.
They possess a unique ability to convert despair into hope and love, well-illustrated by the title of their second album “Joy as an Act of Resistance”.
The Fans
After sloshing my way through the dark streets of a drizzly Brighton I arrived at the Brighton Centre to be met by a smiling, diverse crowd of punks waiting to enter the venue. When you think of a punk you might picture a heavily tattooed, leather jacket owner with a green mohawk to top it off. And yes, some punks fit that description. But the Idles community circumvents the stereotypes. Idles attract a mixed and diverse crowd and common among almost all of their fans is kindness and community.
I got chatting to a bloke in the crowd who told me about his personal struggle and how the band’s music had helped pull him out of it. His bravery in starting to chat to me, a stranger, in a crowd of thousands of people was striking and proves the sincere spirit of openness and community fostered by Idles.
IDEA 01
As ever, the set opened with the heavy heart-beating drums of IDEA 01. Excitement rippled within the crowd as the band walked out one by one onto the stage, each met by hundreds of cheering fans.
The runaway twinkling of the piano flooded the room whilst frontman Joe Talbot paced up and down the stage like a tormented animal stuck in its cage.
It’s an unsettling song underpinned by themes of vulnerability, uncertainty and troubled family life. There is no moment of convulsion in IDEA 01, the unnerving piano and fragmented lyrics continue to bubble while Talbot sings, averting his gaze from the audience. His non-confrontational body language throughout reinforces the song’s expression of vulnerability and juxtaposes the chaos about to ensue.
As the song ended it seamlessly slid into the drumstick clattering and bass guitar twanging of “Colossus”.
As per Idles tradition, Talbot commanded the crowd to split into two halves from the barrier all the way to the back shouting to fans “Are you ready to collide?”
He then roared ‘Viva Palestina” as the drums crashed into the second half of Colossus.
I’m Scum
Poignant as ever, the raging class war anthem “I’m scum” made for a chaotic yet cathartic three minutes of politically charged mosh pits.
“Are there any scumbags in the building?” Talbot bellowed.
It’s a catchy, bouncy track that slyly suggests being labelled as scum is a symbol of political resistance. As I was pushed and pulled through sprawling sweaty mosh pits it was hard not to feel a satisfying release of mounting political anger.
Despite the rampageous moshing, Idles took the time to pause the song to start a “F*ck the King” chant. Talbot requested the audience “get low”, signifying us to crouch down for the chant.
Samaritans
Amongst the highlights of my evening was hearing “Samaritans” live. It’s a miraculously direct confrontation of toxic masculinity and the consequences to men of patriarchal stereotypes. The song is made up of comments and phrases thrown at men and boys that attempt to cordon individuals into oppressive and harmful gender norms.
After about an hour and 45 minutes of non-stop mosh-pitting I was ready for a sit down and a big glass of water. But as much as I wanted to go off for a quick break, I couldn’t bring myself to miss one of my favourite songs: “Never Fight a Man With a Perm”…
Most of the audience looked pretty worn out. The smell of synthetic smoke, beer and sweat was heavy in the air and all around me were panting red faces exhausted by the relentless mosh pits. But the siren guitar riffs of “Never Fight a Man With a Perm” seemed to inject energy back into people with various crowd- surfers making their way over the heads of the audience.
Described by frontman Joe Talbot as the ‘knife’ of their second album, “Joy as an Act of Resistance”, its sawing guitar riffs and deep-cutting lyrics make for an energic and violent listening. Within seconds the crowd turned into a mega mosh pit of roaring fans.
The track describes a caricature of an angry small-town man who thrives off violent encounters, fulfilling a grim toxic ideal of masculinity.
Whenever I hear it, live or at home, it feels instantly familiar, almost perfectly encapsulating the behaviour of some less palatable young men I’ve come across. Whether it’s in your local pub, at the train station or drinking on the streets at night, there will be a ‘man with a perm’ somewhere near you. Ultimately it isn’t a diss track of permed hair or men who take creatine, it’s a scathing criticism of toxic masculinity amongst young men.
The set ended with “Rottweiler”, an ‘anti-fascist song for anti-fascist folk’ as Talbot puts it, rounding off a perfect evening.
I’ve been to six Idles concerts and their Brighton gig certainly makes it into my top three. There was an exceptionally enthusiastic atmosphere amongst fans and the setlist was diverse in its selection of songs, balancing fan favourites with poignant emotional statements.
As far as punk rock music goes, you really cannot beat Idles.
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