Last week, U.K. exports IDLES landed on domestic soil bringing with them their Grammy-nominated, Bristol-bred, bone-crunching post-punk. The mosh pit-inducing, slam dance-starting, cold sweat-producing tour is called the (*checks notes*) Love is the Fing Tour, and on Sunday IDLES brought their unique take on love to Atlanta’s Tabernacle for a sold-out show.
IDLES is a band of apparent contradictions. On the one hand, there’s frontman Joe Talbot shouting in your face, but when you actually listen to the lyrics, he’s shouting about love, acceptance, and a healthy bit of progressive ideals. This aggressive positivity manifests itself from the jump of IDLES’ live performances, as Talbot shouts in the starting gun of “Colossus”, “I’m like Stone Cold Steve Austin / I put homophobes in coffins / I’m like Fred Astaire / I dance like I don’t care.”
The reference to the dancing wonder from the black-and-white film era leads to IDLES’ latest contradiction, TANGK. The band’s fifth album, released earlier this year, is a self-described “dance record.” As Talbot explained at the time, “I needed love. So I made it. I gave love out to the world and it feels like magic. This is our album of gratitude and power. All love songs. All is love.”
Songs like the LCD Soundsystem-assisted lead single “Dancer” support this narrative, while the studio ambition of “Roy” alludes to a band looking to evolve past the typical punk arthritis-inducing 16th note power chords. The band’s new self-image was reflected in the clubby rave music that played over the PA shortly before the show began, an interesting dichotomy among the black and denim-clad fans readying to open up the pit. Some things never change though, as guitarists Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan made sure to visit the circle pit—crowd surfing to and fro the eye of the hurricane.
Whatever IDLES say they are, when Joe Talbot spits the words at you like the impressive loogies he hocks throughout the show, there’s no choice but to believe him. An imposing figure, Talbot was intimidating from the moment he stepped onstage—stalking from side to side amid the low bass rumble of the opening “IDEA 01”. Like waiting for Jaws to finally appear in the 1975 proto-blockbuster, Talbot sent hearts pounding as the audience waited on bated breath to see when the Slim Shady peroxide-dyed blonde singer would finally strike. Joe Talbot is the IDLES contradiction personified: a snarlingly intense, beastly man who is trying with all his brute force to convey a message of love. After all, love is the fing.
Check out a gallery of images from IDLES at the Tabernacle in Atlanta courtesy of photographer Emily Butler. The Love is the Fing Tour continues in October with sold-out shows throughout North America. Try to find tickets on Ticketmaster.
IDLES — “I’m Scum” — 9/15/24
[Video: skidmore6678]
Setlist: IDLES | Tabernacle | Atlanta, GA | 9/15/24
Set: IDEA 01, Colossus, Gift Horse, Mr. Motivator, Mother, Car Crash, I’m Scum, Jungle, The Wheel, 1049 Gotho, When the Lights Come On, Divide and Conquer, War, Wizz, Gratitude, Benzocaine, POP POP POP, Samaritans, Crawl!, The Beachland Ballroom, Never Fight a Man With a Perm, Dancer, Danny Nedelko, All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey), Rottweiler
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