Post Punk band Idles were the latest act to grace the magnificent setting of the Piece Hall in Halifax
on Saturday night.

★★★★★ (5/5)

IDLES PERFORMING AT HALIFAX’S PIECE HALL
PHOTOCREDIT: JOHN HAYHURST

Idles clearly believe in giving value for money, with not one, but two support acts. First up Los Angles pop experimentalist Angelica Garcia, followed by Dublin punk rock band Sprints and finished off with a 19 song set from Idles, who, while they are called post punk, are so much more than that label suggests.

Angelica Garcia had clearly drawn on a number of influences for her opening support set. I don’t think many of the reasonably large crowd had even realised she’d started to perform to being with, She came on with a drummer, messed about on the floor for a little while then, as if out of nowhere an ethereal voice started singing, She was still on the floor for pretty much the whole of the first song, crouched down there like she was singing to the underworld. It’s hard to pin down exactly who or what she is, there were clear pop, dance, goth, indie and rock influences in her performance but also a very strong middle eastern feel and at times a bit of the cure. I did struggle to understand what she was signing about at times as many of her songs seemed to be more about the sound of her voice than the words but there is no denying she has stage presence. One to watch, I think.

Sprints, the second support act and penultimate support act before Idles, were in many ways more conventional than the first act in some ways but that didn’t lessen their impact any. The Irish four piece clearly know how to work a crowd and have confidence in their own talent. They had a much greater rapport with the crowd, culminating in the lead singer finishing their set crowd surfing initially then in the middle of the crowd singing. They had some banter, some political thoughts to share and weren’t afraid to say what they thought. More importantly they had the songs, vocals and musical ability to back up their attitude. They got the crowd really going, which by this time had swollen to not far off the full capacity of 5,500. There were a few stragglers but the venues last entry of 8pm encourages people to get there early. Those who were there for Sprints were treated to a full on show from a band clearly going somewhere, Sprints promised to be back, I suspect many who saw them would welcome the chance to do so again.

Idles, fresh from a headline slot on Glastonbury’s Other stage, are a band definitely going places. Their recent album, Tangk, saw them push the boundaries of their sound and introduce some different styles to their repertoire. I was lucky enough to review that album and wondered how it would translate into the live show.

I needed have wondered, as ever Idles provided a visceral, full on, performance. They are not a band who hold back and give it their all, from crowd surfing to starting off with getting the crowd to split into two so they could collide together as one. Their live shows are as much about the performance and the politics as the music and given how good the music is that just means that the whole experience is magnificent. They don’t hold back, if we thought Sprints were clear about their politics and view of the world Idles took that to a whole new level. They did all that while delivering blistering lyrics, fantastic playing and continuous interaction with the crowd. It wasn’t their first visit to Yorkshire, and they thanked the audience for the amount of energy they bring to each show they’ve played. An Idles gig is a total interaction between band and crowd, the crowd are as important to what’s happening as any other part of the show.

There was a touch of a greatest hits to date about this show, Opening the show with Idea 01, and recent single Gift Horse, they delivered a series of fan favourites concluding with the one/two whammy of Danny Nedelko and Rottweiler which sent the capacity crowd off into the night very happy, feeling like they’d partied like there was no tomorrow and seen one of the best live acts in the UK just now.

Having just headlined the other stage it feels like Idles are ready to graduate headlining a festival, which one I’m not sure but they would take any festival crowd to a new level. For those who haven’t yet you really need to go see Idles play live, it’s when they are at their best. If you can go to their shows and not feel your body start to move, not feel the urge to jump about, not want to sing along even if you’re not sure of all of the lyrics then you may have no interest in music at all and should probably be at home watching some vacuous television programme.

Idles are coming for you and they mean serious business!