July 22, 2023

Idles – Spark Arena (Elemental Akl): July 21, 2023

Idles got Elemental Nights started in a big way at Auckland’s Spark Arena. We sent Simon Coffey and Ivan Karczewski to see what all the noise was about.

IDLES @ ELEMENTAL AKL 2023 has been heavily marketed as a club show. No, that didn’t mean it was a disco ball on the dancefloor, it simply meant no seating, at all, except for the physically challenged. The upstairs seating was curtained off (which acted to reduce ‘bounce’ and improve the overall sound, it was also done for Morrissey many years ago, it should happen more!

Half/Time

Described as Maori Post-Punk, originally a solo project formed in 2020 by Half/Time Hamilton/Kirikiriroa based Wairehu Grant, with the addition of Ciara Bernstein on drums and Cee on bass in 2023, Half/Time has metamorphosis into a three-piece that famously toured Wales/UK in May as part of a musical cultural exchange. But there’s more, just this week they released Black Union Jack, a collection of seven songs/waiata recorded just the week before as a digital EP.

Fucking hell! Half\Time kicked off with a mihi and karakia: Te Pou, which is used widely in school these days, as a kaiako, I found myself automatically chanting along. As a three-piece, they musically lurched between agitprop punk (think Riot 111 or early Scritti Politti) 70’s hair rock (aka Alice Cooper) and thrash punk (nee Bikini Kill). All the while Te Reo Maori, Whakapapa (history) and anti-neo-conservative politics were at the forefront. Half/Time was confrontational, but welcoming, there were a few technical issues, and they have brought a (re)vision of punk through Te Ao Maori eyes to the Aotearoa scene, keep an eye out for them.

Daffodils

Daffodils Four-piece alt/indie Tamaki Makaurau group Daffodils formed after being inspired by seeing The 1975, have played only a few choice shows in the last year, with a line-up change in the drummers’ seat, tonight’s chance to play with IDLES has had them frothing at the mouth. A definite shift in sound, very much a reimagining of the 80s pop sound, think A Flock of Seagulls, Thompson Twins and dare I say, The Fixx. The keyboards (Jade Bryham) were an essential element of Daffodils’ sound, a definite point of difference. Singer Theo Spike Salmon has a quite unique vocal style, baritone, that occasionally got lost in the room. Well-versed in their enterprise, they played a mixture of old, recent and just written for an album in production. A sizeable part of the audience was appreciative, but I’m not sure how well they fitted with the punters’ expectations for the night. Finishing up their upbeat ‘angst’ over covid-lockdowns song was a smart move.

IDLES

IDLES, the band from Bristol, are back! Bristol the city of sea, industry and slaves, that is now a city of culture, has a rich modern musical history. Home of Massive Attack, Roni Size, the highly influential 1970s agitprop punk group The Pop Group and a flourishing second-generation thrash punk scene in the 1980s featuring Chaotic Dischord, Vice Squad and Chaos UK, it’s from this richness (and more) that IDLES have synthesised a unique post-punk sound that is easily recognisable.

Idles

IDLES are magnificent. I’ve just done the post-punk trifecta now, seen them in three different venues in Tamaki Makaurau, and loved every minute (though the intimate show with the few hundred at Tuning Fork will be forever scarred into my brain.

IDLES just played Aotearoa in October 2022, we are graced so soon with their presence because of their appearance at Splendour In The Grass in Cavanbah/Byron Bay across the Tasman, and the wonderful people that put together the Elemental AKL 2023 Festival. We are by default the lucky country, we’ve got pineapple lumps too don’t you know!

IDLES are not without controversy. The Brits love musical and political rivalries (past, present and future) Think Beatles vs Stones, Sex Pistols vs The Clash, Blur vs Oasis, and more recently a verbal stoush between Sleaford Mods/Fat White Family vs IDLES. Ensconced in little old Aotearoa/New Zealand we live in awe of the richness our cousins have, and while a few culturally deficit Kiwis dogmatically adopt the ‘fashion of the day’ rivalry, most of us just want to listen (and see) to our favourite and new music. Working Class, Middle Class, Ultra-Rich Trust Fund Elite Scum Class, butters no parsnips, when we are crowded together like proles, seeing one of our favourite bands, smashing through 90 mins of music that allows us to escape neo-con modernity and fracturing personal relationships.

Idles “Goes and it goes and it goes…” IDLES frontman Joe Talbot under a giant multi-coloured IDLES logo, looking like a carnival carny, roaming the stage like a caged lion, but commanding the room like a circus ringmaster brings the crowd closer. The driving drums and bass of Colossus energize the room (the curtains are doing a great job) Already making a demand, trying to split the crowd into left and right sides, IDLES are ready to play, to spread the love and a guitarist (not the one wearing the lovely dress) is already in the crowd, crowd surfing and still playing.

Car Crash has an intense bass sound, a highlight already. Followed by Mr Motivator “How’d you like them cliches?”

The bass/drum lead-in on Mother feels like an earthquake, as the crowd counts in with Joe, at “The best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich” A random guy wraps his arms around me and demands I also sing along. Making new friends has never been so easy. On Meds, again the power of the bass (and drums) is enveloping, Adam Devonshire on bass is a hero tonight, and when the disconnected guitar lines (in a PIl/Gang of Four vogue) dance over drum n bass, the IDLES post-punk elements come to the fore.

Joe Talbot is the ringmaster and receives obedience, he gets (most of the crowd) sitting down on one knee “Fuck The King” he commands, and in our reserved Kiwi way, many respond in kind. It’s a spectacle. It’s IDLES. The theatrics lead into I’m Scum, then the pure punk rock high-powered Crawl, so vocal, so effective as the crowd returns to mania (especially upfront). The low-key Divide & Conquer slows things down.

Idles About now, Joe takes a moment to connect further, sharing a life of travel, a love of his bandmates, appreciation of being welcome in Aotearoa, and the aroha he feels from the crowd (“Feeling at home in your arms”) the vibe is of every show being a personal journey for him/them. The heartfelt aroha dovetails perfectly as Mark Bowen switches to keyboards for Beachlands Ballroom, a softer side of IDLES a Brighton Beach Pier moment, a feel-good song that builds to Wheels, 1049 Gotho and a hectic, anarchistic spectacle of both guitarists in the crowd and as a medley, battle of other people’s songs being sung “nothing compares to you, let it go, be my baby, cold as ice, all want for Xmas is you”

A Hymn mellows things down again until WAR backs the energy back, the drum n’ bass back, another crowd sing-along song (I make no new friends this time) it sounds dangerous, followed by the clever Never Fight A Man With A Perm eliciting further punter singing (Concrete and Leather) IDLES frontman is passionate, passionate about many things, but with Danny Nedelko looming, he is vocal about opposing the virus of racist anti-immigrant rhetoric that abounds in the UK across the political spectrum (and to a degree here in Aotearoa)

“We don’t do encores” as IDLES launch into their last song Rottweiler with power, passion and playfulness, 90 minutes of IDLES-ISM completed, a slightly different set to last year’s show, and a final promise that they’ll be back soon. I wonder if the band were off to do a spot of karaoke post-show?