Words by Stephen Shelverton
Photography by Elizabeth Sharpe | @ummagummamumma
Thank you for your patience! There was an electronic catastrophe at hand.
The deluge served up on the night of the gig (and the consequent puddle in my raincoat pocket) resulted in my phone gurgling its last breaths, spluttering out soggy residue (and possibly tequila and pineapple) from its charging port as it chain stoked itself to the scrapheap following the IDLES after party. I am left freeballing this review minus any notes or photos to remind me of key points of the event that rattled (and soaked) Meanjin to the marrow.
I could shit on about the weather and demonstrate the meteorological madness of scheduling outdoor gigs in Brisbane in Summer, or I can spin this into a golden web of delight. I chose the latter, as the event reminded this old bastard of what gigs were like pre-mobile phone age… absolutely joyous, with or without rain.
The weather not only created theatrical backdrop drama with the intensity of a Hollywood sound stage, it prevented pruned soaked hands from the over-worn impulsion to hold a phone in order to record the entire performance – leaving the participants to be just there; just there, alive, dancing, singing and present in each precious moment, hence the energy was intensified threefold.
Prior to the show, I was regretting bunjee jumping in to review another band that tickles my love bone, when I’m not deeply engaged with the full discography and history of the band. However, the IDLES 2024 album ‘TANGK’ made me do it, without any safety equipment and in the company of many fans, old and new.
The album title ‘TANGK’arrives with suggested pronunciation of (‘TANGK’) a work of poetic onomatope. ‘TANGK’ captures the intimidation of an armoured battle tank, while the extenuation on the letter “G” serves to create the “tang” sound. This appropriately describes the sweet-bitter pleasures of the album tracks that hit your G spot with the same intensity as M1A2 Abram 120mm armor piercing round.
Discussing IDLES with long-term fans of the band, they will respond with “Oh you have to listen to their earlier stuff!” Granted, I feel your commitment to them, but I just want to float in my ‘TANGK’ for a while. And tonight, I had a big soak in it (pun slightly intended).
Fast forwarding for a moment to the IDLES After Party at Outpost (…more on this later), I was lucky enough to meet the IDLES official photographer and close friend of the band, Tom Ham. Tommy shared with me the measure that IDLES go to hand-pick support acts that align with their social philosophies in each town they tour. Just as they did tonight in selecting Voiid, who represented their hometown with pride, charm, and kick-ass riffs.
The crew I was with are no stranger to Voiid, and we were elated to see them take stage in such a pivotal moment for their career after a short hiatus. Anji Greenwood (vocals) informed us how grateful they are to come back refreshed and stronger than ever, stoked to play for the highly regarded IDLES, at Riverstage.
The set bolted off with several tracks off the incredible 2023 album, ‘Watering Dead Flowers’ – And So Two, Ctrl Alt, then punking it up with Feminine When? and the anti-gaslighting track Lexapro. The medicated track worked to smooth the pre-main-act anxiety for the gathering crowd, now supplemented by a heavy representation of the 4ZZZ community, dancing and cheering the band along. Voiid‘s Need To Feel Me, with crisp lyrics and smooth-sailing bass lines, gained further favour from the crowd.
Voiid bid the Brisbane audience adieu in style with droning heavy warped guitars, balanced against French lyrics, with L’Amour Fou, “You can trust us, you can trust us!!!” and it was over way too soon. Killer set Voiid!
Next act was a New York group called Nation of Language. It was a side step to the heavier anthems of Voiid, a balanced, new-wave, NY sound, slowing down the mood and soothing out the vibe, readying us for the Bristol barrage to come. I am certain they mentioned this was the first performance in Australia, and extremely grateful for the hospitality.
It was at this point I recognised more and more faces of the Brisbane music community, including artists, crews, and the regular gig-addicted punter. I was told, “Yeah man, it’s IDLES, they attract everyone!”
True to that quote I saw a broad cross section of all ages and music genres wearing t-shirts from Misfits, Run The Jewels, Joy Division, AC/DC, Fontaines D.C, Speed, These New South Wales, Slipknot. to name a few. Most importantly the crowd was peaceful, harmonious, and joyous, despite the deluges.
Nation of Language played On Division Street as the last few punters came up the hill to the entrance. Is this an ode to Joy Division, The Smiths or The Clash, perhaps? Either way, it had a romantic, new-wave synth melody, with a perfect mix by the sound desk, taking full advantage of the outdoor space.
Without notes and being largely unfamiliar with this act, I am unable to elaborate much further, except to say that I am certain Melbourne and Sydney are going to eat them up with a spoon.
IDLES have a penchant for capturing presence with dramatic effect, and what better way than to intro with the slow alarm pulsing piano keys of IDEA 01. It heightened a sense of caution, and trailed to the storytelling mystique from Joe Talbot for a perfect set-up.
It is a pleasing sign of the times when Mark Bowen seems to cop more banter for the plexi glass guitar body and the height of guitar wearing from armchair guitar hero’s, rather than a variety of vulgar right-wing phobias opposing his exquisite flowing dresses. Bowen shreds in both of them to dispute any such hysteria, with a moustachioed smile and lightning riffs.
IDLES is lovely, gruff, emotive, lefty punk that packs a wallop. I detect the likeness in songs of anthemic origin to chants akin to football hooliganism, with its cadence and delivery, minus any notion of hatred or bigotry (except to mouldy aristocrats). Rather, the song lyrics are inserted with respect, empathy and social growth, equality, and kindness. The visuals accompany this with pink hair, moustaches, draped in a Palestinian flag, all with heavy punk stomping. A prime example of this was Danny Nedelko and the next track Colossus. “Goes and it goes and it goes.”
Loyalty to Australian-made music normally means 10/10 on Hottest 100 votes for Aus acts, but Gift Horse … bloody hell! Now, that track should come with a health warning! The drama, intensity, builds and climatic peaks, in the live performance is the stereo equivalent of a melting Toblerone bar with a gooey cocaine centre. Watch out Amyl and The Sniffers, you’ve got some red-hot competition for the finish line on the 25th.
Throughout the concert, Joe was candid with the audience, sharing the bleakness and dangers in his life over 15 yeas ago. He combated demons via locking himself away to record music with the friends that saved him, to which he has eternal gratitude he shared with us. Now, 15 years later, we (supporters) are saving them all. Perhaps Joe should take credit for his songs saving many too.
Fast forwarding again to the After Party, Tommy shared the genuine nature of the band’s attachment to their fans and the humility they share to those who care about them. They encourage fans to support them via championing the messages in their songs.
I’m Scum, had the crowd sloshing on the muddy banks, I laughed as my crew said this was my song! Lee Kiernan came out amongst the swirling circle of a mosh pit, it vortexed around him like dirty bath water, all the while his industrial strength guitar cable was held overhead in the expertise grip of his guitar techs, they were reeling him in like a surf lifesaver on dry land, using the cable to extricate him disappearing down an invisible greasy plug hole in the middle of the mosh.
Joe knows how to order a crowd into action; parting the crowd like the Dead Sea, making us do prolonged squat holds, and his general low tolerance of poor punter behaviour towards one another. Several times he corrected crowd actions, and gave praise to the seccies in assisting band interactions with the audience.
On that, I’ve been following IDLES this year on socials, and impressed with the performance intensity and genuine crowd interaction, and overall willingness to merge the two. At the recent Auckland show, Joe invited a young fan at an all-ages gig on to the stage to sign an autograph, with “yeah, come down…, security let him on stage, come on I’m not Taylor Swift!” He signed a card, had a chat, and cherished the future of the youth. Joe thanked the parents of the young lad, and the seccies for assisting. What a respectful way to honour the audience as a whole.
POP POP POP, was the breathing space we all needed, it renewed the pace in the middle of a seemingly endless 23 song set, with the majority from the ‘TANGK’ album to remind us that “Love is the Fing!”
“Brylcreem, creatine, and a bag of Charlie Sheen”. Downpour or not, Never Fight A Man With A Perm had us swimming in a pool of our own filth! The crowd went berserk for it. Even with obstructed vision from fogged-up glasses, a raincoat hood and sheets of rain – I could see the crowd chanting the battle cry lyrics. Beating our chests, and spraying fine mists from our hands when we clapped, not a phone in sight, just a sheer mass of energy to “Concrete to leather!”. (For those longing for more of this check out the NPR Tiny Desk concert that has racked up 9.4 million views on YouTube.)
I’m pleased to say no encore, and a respectful crowd that did not initiate the horrendous chant to demand one. Instead, band outros, thankyou’s and “…A snake in my boots.” with Rottweiler.
Full disclosure: I purchased a ticket to the afterparty welllllll in advance of securing a ticket to the IDLES show! As if I wouldn’t with the likes of a blazing red hot 7 song set by Radium Dolls, a guest DJ from Full Flower Moon Band, and an IDLES DJ set!
Being accosted for spare change is a common occurrence in the Valley, however on entering the stairs to the sold-out party at the Outpost the appeal was “Hey do have a spare ticket man?”. Early birds got the worm (either in or out of the tequila). My new mate Tommy told me, IDLES do this in every city on tour. They just love to get up close to meet fans and have fun doing it – so keep this in mind next tour! Full thanks to James and the crew at Grain for putting it together.
My rain-bleached words cannot come close to representing the artistry, and song-writing ability of IDLES. Ahh well, perhaps you’ll have to stand next to me at the next IDLES show in Brisbane. I better get a better raincoat, and smash the back catalogue even harder!

Thanks to Maric Media