Some call it the eighth wonder of the world, others call it a glorified garden centre, whatever you call it, Tonight saw Bristol Boy-Band IDLES play the Eden Project in Cornwall with their killer live show, supported by Spectres and Black Honey, read on to see how the evening panned out.

Opening the proceedings were SPECTRES, a noise rock quartet who combine elements of noise, drone and post-punk to create melancholy pop songs which categorise them alongside luminaries such as My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain. We sadly missed the opportunity to photograph the band owing to being parked exactly 1 mile away from the stage, which was nice.

Up next were BLACK HONEY, a Brighton based indie rock quartet whose music and appearance reminded me of a young Wolf Alice but with a heavier sprinkling of grunge thrown into the mix. Izzy reminded me of a young Courtney Love (pre-Kurt years) and looked resplendent in her neck to ankle white lace dress. They have come on leaps and bounds over the past few years and are now a force to be reckoned with on both the live circuit and their catalogue of releases since 2014.

Come 9pm, it was time for the main event.

Tonight’s set was more of a ‘Greatest Hits’ as opposed to a regular show, every track was immense and saw some key favourites missed out, the boys having to think hard about what was going to be included from their arsenal of quality tuneage.

From the opening brashness of Dev’s bass line to ‘Colossus’ to the closing guitar stabs of ‘Rottweiller’, the Eden Project audience were in for a treat and a half…..

“We haven’t down this in a while….and neither have you” remarked Joe Talbot as people tried to locate their shoes and catch their breath after a rather raucous rendition of ‘Colossus’ (the opening track) finally came to a close - At the breakpoint (before it all went off!), Joe parted the crowd as Moses did with the Red Sea in that there Bible book and made them wait for a few seconds before counting in the killer closing section of the track. Bowen swaggered on the lip of the stage, cavorting provocatively to the arena whilst Joe started the closing section of the song….“I’m like Stone Cold Steve Austin, I put homophobes in coffins”. Dev screamed “Yeah Yeah Yeah” many times as Lee and John did their thing to bring the track to a shuddering close.

From the outset, IDLES looked and sounded tight, I’m not saying that they never were, just that with a forced hiatus of goodness knows how long, it appears that the rest has done them good as they looked fresh, revived and battle fit, ready to challenge anything that stood in their way.

Tracks from Ultra Mono, their latest #1 album which was released last Autumn played a part in the setlist with ‘Reigns’, ‘Grounds’, ‘Anxiety’ and ‘Mr Motivator’ all receiving a massive reception from the audience, proving that the subject matter raised is as current and meaningful as it ever has been.

‘Divide and Conquer’ saw Joe splitting the arena down the middle once again and holding them for a couple of minutes, allowing each side to perform a ceremonial ‘Haka’, taunting their opposition until Joe gave the word and everyone rushed in causing a good old rumpus in the mosh pit.

Lee took to the crowd for a spot of surfing which excited the arena and saw him plopped safely back in the pit after a tour around the mosh pit whilst Bowen took to the audience, held aloft to blast out the closing lyrics of ‘Danny Nedelko’. From where I was stood, it was hard to make out whether he managed to stay vertical, I guess he didn’t as he soon disappeared into the pit and re-emerged a moment or two later looking a little dishevelled before climbing back onto the stage and strapping his guitar back on.

As their closing track ‘Rottweiler’ drew to a close, the band invited members of Spectres and Black Honey on stage to join in and from our spot on the top viewing platform, it looked like a great time was had by all.

After just three studio albums, it’s clear that IDLES mean business, hearing the tracks from each album performed live demonstrated just how they have progressed on their musical journey. The raw anger and bitterness could easily be heard in tracks such as ‘Heel/Heal’, ‘Mother’, ‘1049 Gotho’, ‘Divide and Conquer’ and ‘Benzocaine’ whereas the offerings from Joy as an Act of Resistance (‘Danny Nedelko’, ‘Colossus’, ‘Love Song’, Samaritans’, ‘Television’, ‘Rottweiler’ showcased their feelings around topics such as toxic masculinity, the falseness of social media, self-acceptance and the bands collective hatred of right wing media organisations (no names mentioned).

It was a joy to see the band on such good form, I have seen them at various different styles of venues over the last 4 years and I will say that regardless of whether it’s a small club, an arena or a festival stage, you will ALWAYS receive 110% effort from the boys. With such a punishing tour schedule in the past, I did fear that they were burning out and needed a break to recuperate, but. as I mentioned earlier, I felt that they have done just this and have come out WAY stronger than they ever were.

I was sceptical about tonight’s show but can safely say that it was a killer performance and has restored my faith in the band and their ability to educate us all in issues that affect us in so many different ways, my hat goes off to you lads, well done, keep up the good work and we’ll see you again sometime soon.  

Setlist (#Brutalism / *JAAAOR / ^Ultra Mono)

Colossus*

Mr. Motivator^

Grounds^

Mother#

Anxiety^

1049 Gotho#

Samaritans*

Divide and Conquer#

War^

Danny Nedelko*

Television*

Benzocaine#

Reigns^

Heel/Heal#

Love Song*

Never Fight a Man With a Perm*

Rottweiler* (With members of Spectres and Black Honey)

Words & Pictures – Steve Muscutt (apart from the setlist pic that I borrowed from Annie Beavis’s Facebook page….)