When I heard that the mighty IDLES were playing an in-store performance at Rough Trade in the heart of Bristol, I thought they were mad. An in-store performance.... in a city centre record shop.... where they are based.... I could honestly see carnage ensuing. The streets would be locked down, people wouldn’t be able to see through smoke and flares, set off by naughty people, causing minimal movement around the city, whilst horse mounted coppers lined the streets, swinging their batons at anyone they fancied in a failed attempt to maintain some semblance of order like they would have done on a City/Rovers derby day back in the 80’s.  

I then found out that the event was taking place at Bristol’s Marble Factory, a rather brutalist, warehouse unit situated a stone’s throw from Temple Meads train station. This was better as it kept the action away from the city centre and was a much larger venue which would mean that loads more fans of the quirky quintet would be able to attend and see them entertain the masses with a mixture of classic hits and cuts lifted from their shiny new, fifth studio album ‘TANGK’ (pronounced ‘TANK’ with a hint of ‘G’) which dropped via Partisan Records on Friday 16th February.  

Given the amount of ‘love’ that Joe and Co had been speaking about leading up to its release, I had a tenner on the release date being 14th February (damn you Talbot!) I could even see them adding a few ‘Valentine’s’ style bundles to their online shop, a limited edition red translucent record with a single rose? A muddy brown ‘splatter’ disc made of recycled vinyl coupled with a box of Ferrero Roche? The options are endless.... 

I attended DRIFT Record shop in Totnes on 15th February for a sneaky preview of the album, a chance to hear it in its entirety ahead of midnight when the album finally launched. I was surprised to find that it was just me stood outside of the shop at 10:55pm, in the rain, waiting to be let in. At 11pm sharp, Rupert and his colleague unlocked the door and let me in and it wasn’t too long until others joined me, I hoped that they were fans of the band and not freeloaders, attending on the promise of a ‘free bar’, which may be music to some people’s ears but not this writer who hasn’t touched a drop of the devil’s juice for some months. Saying that, I did tuck into a non-alcoholic beer which tasted strangely like the ‘full fat’ version, which was nice. Rupert sliced open the limited edition green ‘glow in the dark’ version of the album which was available only from places that hosted the listening parties ahead of its release and off we went. People came and went, including a good friend Chris Perkins who I share a radio slot on Exeter’s Phonic FM who had made the pilgrimage with his partner from Exeter to pick up a bunch of records that he had pre-ordered, we chatted, laughed and took some silly photographs before they had to depart as they were on the last train back to Exeter. As the dying embers of the new record ended, I purchased a copy of the limited ‘GITD’ records (to go alongside the other 27 colour variations that the IDLES store tempted me with) and made my way home to enjoy my spoils. 

Anyway, back to the Bristol show.... 

As we approached the Marble Factory, we saw the expected queue forming outside. Not as long as we thought it would have been but a queue all the same. We (Sketch and I) had left Exeter a little earlier than planned as you can never be too sure when it comes to weekend traffic and as my late mother used to tell me, it’s best to arrive early than rushing and stressing, cursing every red light and member of public who decide to cross the road JUST as you are approaching, adding at least another 15 seconds to your already strained journey time. We parked outside a bar, and after a drink, enjoyed a gentle stroll towards the action.  

The weather had taken a turn for the worse and by this stage, it was proper raining, not that misty drizzly rain but full-on hard rain, the type that gets you REALLY wet. As we approached the venue, the queue had grown to an enormous beast, it wasn’t looking good, we would have to join the masses to remain as dry as we could whilst shuffling through security and into the building. We did spot a smaller queue reaching from the other direction so thought we’d chance our arms and take a look. It turned out to be the queue for guests and VIP’s, that was us.... and whilst we are certainly not VIP’s, we had been invited to attend by IDLES’ PR company so we joined the queue, slightly happier than we were 5 mins before. I recognised a young lady who was stood behind us as Dev’s partner whom we had chatted to at the Alexandra Palace show in 2019, I asked why she was even queuing in the first place as I assumed that Dev would have made sure that they were able to enter the building a bit earlier to stay dry, obviously not the case! With a bag check and a coloured wristband securely attached to my wrist, we were in! 

If you’ve never been to either The Marble Factory or Motion (both are in the same building – just different rooms), you’re in for a surprise, I think that the building has served as an indoor skate park amongst other projects over the years and looked pretty basic, as you entered, there was a bar and a merch table that was doing a roaring trade with the many variations of the new album (TANGK) alongside t-shirts, hoodies and other goodies to suit all tastes and budgets. 

Having seen the setlist from the Electric Brixton gig show on 16th February, I was happy to see that as well as including a number of tracks from ‘TANGK’ (with an almost silent ‘G’) they had included cuts from their previous 4 records including ‘Heal/Heel’ and ‘Mother’ from Brutalism, fingers crossed that they’d be keeping things the same for the Bristol show.... 

I took my place in the pit and managed to get a sneaky peek at the setlist for the show, whilst I couldn’t see Heal/Heel, I did see other classics and all in all, I was very happy and excited about the show. 

With no support act and no DJ, it was as if time had stood still for the last 20 mins leading up to the start of the show. Come 6pm, a pump of dry ice filled the stage and set the scene for the next 90 minutes from everyone's fave five piece since Take That. 

As the opening bars of ‘Idea 01’ kicked off, the band took to the stage and prepared themselves for the set. This was certainly a gentler way of starting the show, I was half expecting ‘Colossus’ to kick things off but with a new album, comes new opportunities to bring in their fresh material. 

This was followed by ‘Gift Horse’, the most recent of the singles released ahead of ‘TANGK’ which was the perfect antidote to anything that ‘Idea 01’ injected into the room, it was raw, it was raunchy, it sounded like a band who were well into their career and weren’t afraid to experiment with their sound. 

‘Car Crash’ sounded as hard hitting and present as it did the first time I heard it ahead of the release of Crawler, the band’s 4th studio album.   

I spent most of ‘Mr Motivator’ trying to get back to the accessibility area to retrieve my bag and meet up with my gig buddie who managed to secure a chair for the duration of the gig whilst yours truly did the honours and shot some pics that would capture the mood and true spirit of the show. I blame that Joe-cal-fucking-zaghe character who was revving the crowd up and made it tres difficult to get around without treading on people’s toes (apologies to anyone who I may have stood on, I didn’t mean to...) 

Joe gave a heartfelt speech about the people that have helped him overcome his issues in the past, to stop being a knob and help him to become a better person, on this note, the band launched into ‘I’m Scum’ which saw them all get low on the stage, the room followed suit and resulted in a large scale jump up which was epic! 

‘Grace’ saw an extended intro which set the scene perfectly, the bass heavy, washed out guitar soundscape was the perfect bed for a headbanded Joe to sing over whilst the room locked into the groove. Having seen the recent video to the track where they used AI to make it look as if Chris Martin from Coldplay was singing the lyrics to the song rather than ‘Yellow’ was immense and after a few watches, has fast become my fave so far. 

Joe was having some issues with his new ‘in-ear’ monitors, prior to admitting that they were not designed for ‘sweaty fat boys’, he launched them across the stage whilst continuing with the song (as he’s such a professional) before getting wired up with another set for the remainder of the show. 

Joe dedicated a track to a talented singer songwriter called Willie J Healey, I have heard his name before but cannot admit to knowing any of his material (one to check out tomorrow). 

Lee took to the crowd avec guitar, it’s always a fun game to see just how far he can travel on his back whilst playing and judging by his guitar lead that was held aloft by the fans, I think he made it about halfway to the back before he had to reverse the journey and get back on stage for the next number. 

The gig was fuelled by love, both from the stage and from the audience, you could almost see it coming together in a massive ball of adoration for the band and for the fans that have helped get them to their current position, five records into their career with no signs of slowing anytime soon. 

Tonight was the first time I've ever seen Bowen on the piano, (it’s also the first time in a long time that I haven’t seen him in a dress), his foray into the piano created a complete diversion from the noisier, brasher and more lively content that many love the band for, it was a refreshing change seeing them tap into a much more laid back and contemplative state..... and then ‘Never Fight a Man with a Perm’ kicked in! Mosh pit central! 

Keeping the pressure on, ‘Dancer’ saw the room in full on bounce mode with the entire floor becoming a mass of bobbing heads and smiles, this track was my fave from the album when it was released a couple of months back but I think at the moment, it's a close tie with Grace which is equally as fantastic but in a different way. 

As soon as Joe started talking about immigrants, we all knew that it was time for ‘Danny Nedelko’ to get an airing, as soon as it kicked in, the room erupted and I saw a number of crowd surfers take to the skies, ending up being escorted from the pit where they could join the throng and do it all over again. The chorus created epic scenes as everyone sang and leapt about like people possessed. Lee took to the audience once again, as did Bowen to do his ‘D to A to N’ piece... which resulted in him losing his footing and involuntarily crowd surfing back to the barrier where he was rescued and deposited safely back on the stage to carry on the show. 

Joe announced the next (and final track of the show), a song about love, performed in Bristol, a city that he has long considered THE city of love (screw Paris). he looked up at the balcony and dedicated the song to "the two of you", I think it was his partner and daughter he was aiming this at and seconds later, they launched into 'Rottweiller', the closing track on ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance’. The song sounded as fresh and relevant as it did given its first airing in 2018. As the song came to a close, Joe returned to his part time job of ‘assistant cymbal basher’, Bowen was on his knees creating an ungodly noise from his pedals whilst screaming about a ceasefire in Gaza, Dev and Lee did battle with bass and guitar respectively. Come the end, once everyone was on their knees thrashing the hell out of anything that wasn’t already thrashed, the lights came up, the last puff of smoke bellowed from the dry ice machine, and it was all over.  

Joe thanked the room for attending, Bowen placed his guitar on the stage and followed Joe, leaving the rest to throw setlists, drumsticks, guitar picks, in-ear monitors and whatever else they could remove from the stage into the sea of arms which were held aloft on front row. 

so, was tonight a success? did IDLES' new songs sound as good live as they did the first time I heard them at the listening party? YES and YES is my reply, it was great to hear the new songs mixed in with the old and despite there being a couple of live faves missing from the setlist (only my opinion), it was a phenomenal show that, judging by the smiles on people's faces, ticked just about every box.  

All in all, it was 90 minutes of pure sonic pleasure for anyone in attendance and is certainly a gig that will be remembered by everyone for a long time to come. 

‘TANGK’ (with an almost silent G) is available to purchase HERE 

Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt