After two long years, the mighty Idles finally made their appearance at the Warfield Thursday night as part of their “Beauty From Ashes” tour. While mainly a celebration of being able to tour again, it’s now also a de facto album tour for their upcoming album Crawler, which drops this Friday, November 12. Arriving at the Warfield with singer Joe Tablot proclaiming his foot to be “fucked,” how would the band and crowd celebrate being together after such a long break?
The Brooklyn band Gustaf opened the show. They walked on stage and began to play a cover of “Gimme Some Lovin,” but then it wasn’t that at all; it was just the old riff with the new song. I’ve seen this band described as art-punk, and I think that’s reasonable. They’re a band that is heavily influenced by bands that Talking Heads influenced. The rhythm section, which in this case includes the guitarist, plays an extremely infectious groove while the charismatic singer yelps out a melody that interacts with it perfectly. Like I said, Talking Heads. The addition here is a singer-percussionist who dances like Jamie Pressnall of Tilly & the Wall (no tap shoes) while playing creative percussion instruments like cans and dog toys. It’s a fun twist. This band was a complete joy.
Idles, Bristol’s finest punk band, the self-proclaimed “Nickelback of Noise Rock,” came out on stage and jumped right into “Colossus,” the opener to what will likely be their all-time masterpiece, Joy as an Act of Resistance., giving the crowd a slow, quiet stomper to build anticipation for the riot to come. Talbot asked the crowd to split in half to start the pit going strong and made fun of the higher tiers for refusing to do so. (Hey, man, it’s hard to get a good spot on the second-tier rail, I ain’t giving that up!) Finally, the song kicked into high gear, and the pit followed. We were all having fun again.
A criticism often lobbed at Idles is that their lyrics are too obvious, too matter of fact. Well, I am here to tell you that’s a feature, not a bug. Idles refuse to bring ironic detachment to anything they do, and this is what makes them unique in a world chock full of people afraid to say what they really mean. When they sing: “the best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich,” you don’t need to wonder what they’re talking about. When Joe Talbot stops between songs to talk about how much being able to tour means to them, and how they were able to get through this time off the road due to the fans, you know he means it. Ultra Mono being the number one album in the UK based on physical sales alone surely got them through financially, and now it’s time to pay it back. The love feels real.
So what does it mean to Joe Talbot, the Freddie Mercury of punk rock, when his “foot is fucked?” It means rather than a lot of butt shaking and dancing, we only get a little. Rather, he stands with his foot upon the monitor, conducting the crowd and grinning like a happy baby the whole time he’s grunting out his angry lyrics. The physical manifestations of chaos are instead taken on by guitarists Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan, who both toss themselves around the stage and the audience like the Muppets that used to flop around the stage in excitement on the Muppet Show — you know the ones I mean. Meanwhile, bass player Adam Devonshire and drummer Jon Beavis are firmly in the pocket, even when the pocket is flying at 100 miles per hour. I don’t know how they do it sometimes.
To say this show was a cathartic experience and felt like a trip back to a different time would be an understatement. This felt as far away from the divided and angry Internet world we’ve all been living in for the past couple of years. Like Joe Talbot told us as the show came to a close, “this is real. There is love and understanding all around you; all you have to do is open your mind.”
Idles Setlist from 11/6/2021 at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco
Thanks to Anna Garcia for the photos
