Show Pics: Idles @ Stubb’s

After over 2 years of being a home body and living with anxiety, mixed with a dash of unease, it was an overwhelmingly cathartic experience to get out of the house to see live music again. Seeing old faces, visiting old haunts, and of course being treated to an incredible live set by one of the best live bands around, Idles. I’d say BGray and I were like little kids going to a show for the first time. Hit the jump for a few thoughts and some fancy photos from BGray.

New York based Gustaf opened the night and did enough to keep the crowd prepped and excited for the main act. The band gives off a heavy B-52’s vibe with a quirky take on a sort of post punk sound. Folks in the crowd danced along to the poppier tunes and were impressed with the overall, energy filled performance from front lady Lydia Gammill. I definitely plan on checking them out on bandcamp later today.

For the sake of your attention span and your time, I’ll keep this rather brief…. Idles are likely one of the best, if not THE best, touring bands putting on shows in 2020. Period. Seriously, I can’t think of a band who pours this much energy and raw power into an hour and a half set. Once you think front man Joe Talbot is waining just a tad and losing some energy, his bandmates jump into the crowd and reignite his emotional, and stunning on stage performance. If you are in need of a reinvigorating way to get back into shows/live music after quarantine, THIS is the band you should get in line to see. Of particular note, it always give you the warmest of warm fuzzies when a band is gracious and thankful to the fans for the amazing thing they get to do every night for a living (touching 26th Happy Birthday tribute to audience member Johnny). Idles made Stubbs feel like we were all part of one big living room show surrounded by family and friends. All the hits, all the energy, everyone left happy and amped.

Last night was exactly what was needed to pull me back into normalcy and a return to my religion of live music. If you’ve yet to get back out there, I suggest you give it a chance. Have a beer with friends before the show, let go of the anxiety, and roll with the musical expericne.

Also, Idles have a new album coming out next month entitled Crawler. Pre-orders in all sorts of fancy versions are live now.

Gallery from that @photobriangray guy.