Idles, Coventry Library Apr 14, 2018

Yes, it was Idles, one of the most rocking Brit bands in recent memory, playing in the quietest of places, Coventry. I mean the library in Coventry. Without much adieu, since there’s not much of a backstage in the middle of the stacks, they came to the stage at an early hour (8:30) for a Saturday night. Obviously wanting to get the crowd into it off the top they hit with the familiar Brutalism opener, Heel. And so it began as a small but rabid group of Idles fans began mixing it up in the pit. With only one released full-length thus far it's no surprise that the hits just kept on hitting. Date Night started with the crowd, instead of Joe, hollering the song title, perhaps, as he later explained, because of a headache that only bothered him in a talking but not singing voice. So the banter was limited but the music was not. Early in the set they dropped Mother to an appreciative audience and I hope the potency of “the best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich” wasn’t lost on this library crowd. Continuing their crusade of lyrics-to-do-good they dropped 1049 Gotho and Faith in the City too. During another, it may have been Benzocaine, the punters were keeping it up and we opened the pit wide. However just as we crashed together the rhythm guitarist jumped into the middle with his axe. Intentionally or not the crowd crushed around him and the song went on. This was his first of many forays into our depths, while later both guitarists met in the middle of the crowd and the other  dropped his guitar on the floor to then skip back and forth overtop of it, finally breaking it down with a b-boy break.

Besides the majority of Brutalism, Divide and Conquer plus a stellar live rendition of Exeter included, they also dropped Danny Nedelko (the immigrant song) too, briefed by a short speech on our need for unity in a post Brexit age. There has been a fair amount of idle(s) chatter about a new record and they had a few on preview from that. First was Great, that spelled out it’s title in the track. Next was I’m Scum, that Joe almost dedicated before realising the title might make it offensive to the dedicatee. The last, and probably the most grabbing was The Love Song, endeared further by a light-hearted back and forth between Joe the guitarist he finally admitted he loved in a brotherly way.

On White Privilege the guitarist was back in the crowd, or should I specify at the far reaches of the crowd, still fully plugged in such that the mic cord was held taught above our heads while he gave most everyone a chance to yell the “yeah” refrain into the mic (myself included). With warning that they don’t do encores, “because we’re weird” they finally played Well Done to the delight of the fans. For the proper finale they did Rottweiler and did it indeed, even after Joe had left “back”stage the crew wound it to a close with the guitarist on top the crowd, along with a few game ladies as well. All told it was a friendly, fun gig unbecoming of its surroundings but just as well for it.

Lice
These are a few guys on the label that Idles have setup. Their billed as a satirical band and I wasn't sure how serious to take them as they didn't seem to take things too seriously themselves. The singer had a lackadaisical approach and the band overall played a bunch of short rock songs that weren't bad but none of which really stood out. They said they were playing their album in full and halfway through told us "That was side one. Any questions?" Someone playfully yelled out "How is side two?" and they replied "Pretty much the same" so at least they are self-aware. Kudos to the drummer who was filling in and learned all the songs in the last week.

Heel/Heal

Date Night

Faith in the City

Mother

Great

1049 Gotho

Divide & Conquer

I Am Scum

Benzocaine

White Privilege

Danny Nedelko

Exeter

Lovesong

Well Done

Rottweiler