All I Want For Christmas (is a circle pit)
Idles have a reputation for their explosive and energetic live sets, raw and honest lyrics, passionate vocals and loud and chaotic guitars. Their live shows are a cathartic experience; the band and audience connecting on a deeper level while moshing, dancing, singing and sweating. We were privileged to experience the revelry of an Idles show at Festival Hall on a cold, quiet winter night in Melbourne.
Opening for Idles were Australian alt-rock band The Buoys. The aptly-named all-female Sydney group brought a different, but equally exciting energy to the night. The band, fronted by Zoe Catterall, brought garage rock to the forefront with their high-energy, fun and captivating tunes. For fans of The Beths and Beach Bunny, their set had everything from their latest release I Want You, some sad boy music with Lie to Me Again, and the hilariously named BDSM (Bring Down Scott Morrison), as well as some unreleased songs destined for their debut album. In addition to some of our favourites with Red Flag and closing song Linda, we were thankful to see The Buoys in fine form.
Before long, it was time for the Bristol lads to join Melbourne audiences for a night to remember. The band, consisting of frontman Joe Talbot, as well as band mates Mark Bowen, Lee Kiernan, Adam Devonshire and Jon Beavis were here for their third time in our city, and the crowd was out in full force knowing exactly what to expect. From the slow building of opening track Colossus, to the wall of death shortly after in Car Crash, things escalated quickly as Talbot shouts, ‘Are you ready to collide?’. Avid crowd surfers are out by Mr. Motivator, and the band take things up a notch with Mother – dedicated to Talbot’s mother (and no one else). Taking time to express how at home they feel in Melbourne, the band tells the audience ‘It’s an honour and a privilege to be back, you’re one of the best cities on planet Earth’.
The set contains a great mix of latest album CRAWLER and throwbacks to Joy as an Act of Resistance and Brutalism. From the raw energy of Meds, to the chanting of ‘fuck the king!’ during I’m Scum, Idles’ showmanship continues through past Crawl! and into Divide and Conquer. Skipping around stage and screaming into the mic, things only start to slow down during The Beachland Ballroom – a beautiful song about recovery, dedicated to the audience for showing love and carrying the band over the past few years. Time is taken during The Wheel to properly address previous addictions, newfound realisations and the honesty from Talbot that these audiences have saved his life many times.
From high-energy bangers and crowd sing-a-longs with 1049 Gotho, the show even goes to full-blown karaoke – singing everything from Nothing Compares 2 U, My Heart Will Go On, and even All I Want For Christmas. A Hymn, War and Wizz are all welcome additions to the set, much to the crowd’s delight, as we close out the evening with biggest tracks Never Fight a Man With a Perm, Danny Nedelko and closing track Rottweiler. With everything from Jon doing a shoey, to welcoming love and empathy with a humanist approach, we finish on an anti-fascist song for anti-fascist folk. Closing sentiments of ‘We’ve been Idles, you’ve been Melbourne, and you’ve been fucking magic’ leave us feeling confident that we gave as good as we got. We will be counting down the days to see the lads again.