Idles brought their explosive, hometown fury to Bristol’s Queen Square for two days of defiant celebration.
These are the first live events held in Queen Square for 20 years—and the setting proves to be a perfect fit. It is easily accessible and there is an uplifting buzz around the area as fans in Idles t-shirts pack out the surrounding pubs. Well organised and with an array of local food and drink available, it is a superb mini festival which will hopefully host more bands in future years.
To create the ‘block party’ vibe, the music is continuous. A diverse and exciting supporting line-up on the main stage is interspersed with DJs in an adjacent container who maintain a consistent energy throughout the all-day event.
Bristol’s Grove kick off proceedings with a passionate performance focusing largely on new material. ‘Feed My Desire’ and ‘Big Boots’ ease any fears about what the Queen Square sound system might be capable of as the bass envelops us while Grove commands the space with a confidence deserving of even bigger stages.
The celebration of local music continues with SCALER delivering an exhilarating set of danceable industrial music which gets most of the crowd dancing early.
Spanish indie rock band, Hinds, bring a ramshackle charm that is perfect for sunny festival days like this one. Drawing mostly from their latest album, ‘Viva Hinds’, the band talk fondly of their gig at the city’s Fleece earlier this year and also drop a Charli XCX & Lorde cover for good measure. There is a sizeable crowd for them and they deservedly pick up a lot of new fans.
Julian Casablancas’ side project, The Voidz, are the final support and what a thrill to have them in Bristol. The frontman’s main band, The Strokes, have long outgrown the city having last played at the Beacon 10 years ago. In great spirits, he appears very happy to be back and tells us that they have spent a week here ahead of the show. It’s a captivating and musically tight set that covers all of their albums.
The square is comfortably packed as Idles take the stage slightly before their 8:45pm slot. They burst into ‘Colossus’ followed by ‘Gift Horse’ both taken from their 2024 chart-topping album, ‘TANGK’. Not every band of this size can open with two tracks from their latest release to such a fevered reception. The immediate singalongs make it clear that this band are continuing to produce vital and exciting material.
Each of their five records are showcased here with ‘Mr. Motivator’ the only showing from their other Number 1 album, ‘Ultra Mono’. Despite its commercial success, there was some negative discourse around the LP at the time. The track sounds great live and goes down well so perhaps they can consider playing more from it.
‘Car Crash’, ‘Crawl!’ and ‘The Wheel’ from their darker ‘CRAWLER’ record all sound enormous today and really showcase how Idles have progressed into an exceptional and varied live band.
Lesser-known tracks from their excellent debut, ‘Brutalism’, like ‘Well Done’ or ‘1049 Gotho’ stand alongside hits like ‘I’m Scum’ or ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’ with the energy not letting up on nor offstage at any point.
Frontman, Joe Talbot, still performs with the enthusiasm of someone trying to win over the audience. There’s no trace of the complacency that can creep in once a band has ‘made it’.
Idles sound bigger and tighter than ever, the setlist shows off the diverse depth of the discography they have built and the sense of community in the audience is undeniable. Mosh pits erupt for almost every song and there are regular chants in support of Palestine (the band also share details of how to support medical aid for Palestine via QR codes on the screen).
They have taken over the Louisiana, then the Downs and now Queen Square and it’s exciting to think where these local heroes might go next. After tonight, it’s hard to imagine a venue in Bristol big enough to contain what Idles have become.
Words by Ryan Simmonds
Gallery by Craig J Simmonds Media
