Last night, Idles made their eagerly anticipated return to Chicago to headline a show at the Aragon Ballroom. The band first announced this tour way back in the winter when they released their latest album, Tangk. It seemed like the show was a lifetime away but the night finally arrived and fans packed the legendary uptown venue full.
First up was English Teacher. Hailing from Leeds, the band plays some really diverse indie rock that touches on a lot of different styles and influences. No two songs sounded alike, some were quirky, some catchy, but all of them were pretty enjoyable. Their frontwoman had a good stage presence and an excellent singing voice. They played a half hour set and got a really warm welcome from the audience. They are well worth checking out, so show up on time if you are catching a show on this tour.
The Aragon was packed full all the way to the back of the building when Idles took the stage and the entire place roared with excitement when the band walked out and picked up their instruments. The stage was quite dark for the opening track from their latest album, Tangk, “Idea 01”. The song starts out simple and subdued and then built into a more intense finish and this would set the stage for what was to come.
The band didn’t spent too much time between songs with some notable exceptions, and proceeded to spend the next to hours crafting a bombastic set full of peaks and valleys that had an awe inspiring amount of energy that seemed limitless. The audience went nuts for Idles, and they were constantly singing along to most of the songs, including the newest ones. It was like the band had over 4,000 backup singers. As the band played one great song after the next, they had some pretty interesting lightshows that ranged from soft and moody to blinding and aggressive. There was a lot of flashing backlights to go around and at times the lights matched the intensity of Idles music.
The band moved around a ton while performing, including one guitar player crowd surfing while playing during “Gift Horse”. The guitar players would move around the entirety of the stage, as did the singer, who rarely held still. The between song banter from lead singer, Joe Talbot was somewhat minimal, but when he did stop between songs to talk about things it was very heartfelt and meaningful. Joe touched on his past substance abuse and how the band gave him purpose which helped him overcome addiction. He talked about world issues, he talked about depression and suicide, and he even dedicated “The Wheel” to Steve Albini. It was really touching to have the singer of this pretty aggressive band be so open about feelings and personal things and even something as simple as Talbot expressing gratitude for the crowd and the band came across as so genuine and heartfelt that you couldn’t help being moved by it.
The band cranked out 25 songs with little time in between. They didn’t stop playing and come back for an encore, they just put in a full and flawless two hours before they left the stage. It was an exhilarating performance that had to be seen to be believed. As good as their albums are, this band is just on a whole other level as a live band and this tour should be a must-see on everyone’s list. Run, don’t walk, and go see them if they come to your town, you’ll be thankful you did.
