To the casual observer Idles may appear to be something of an engima; an inexplicable bolt from the blue thrust, blinking and blinkered, into a searching limelight. Casual observers, you see, are largely unaware that this year marks a decade since Idles came into being and some seven years since their first studio release was made available.
While it might appear that Talbot and co. have emerged from nowhere, the Idles success story is underpinned by a tremendous amount of hard work and relentless touring. Anyone lucky enough to catch the band live at any point in their career can testify as to the almost religious experience of an Idles live show, but those early offerings, often blistering sets in the country's affectionately-titled 'toilet venues', were other-worldly.
While the full lengths have only arrived in the past couple of years, this is not a marker of a band experiencing success at the first attempt. Instead, it marks an all-too-rare patience; a desire to hone a craft before pummeling the masses with the anthems it's able to produce. Far from an unexpected joy, for many the Idles success story has been far too long in the making.
This week sees the band headline venues far in excess of anything they've played before. Earlier this year the band found themselves not only attending the Brit Awards, but attending as nominees. We're living in an uncomfortable and unpredictable time, but far from being a symptom of this, the success of Idles is testament to the fact that they've spent ten years screaming their warnings and now, their sell-out colossus shows are a shuddering dystopian novel made real. A true voice-in-the-wind being embraced by the populace at large (and, of course, the blistering riffs don't hurt). These are anthems for the world; whether they mark the beginning or the end of it is for everyone else to decide.
Tickets for the shows are on sale now and the remaining itinerary is as follows:
March
29th - The Dome, Brighton
30th - 6 Music Festival: By Day, Liverpool
30th - 6 Music Festival: By Night, Liverpool
April
1st - Empire Music Hall, Belfast
2nd - Vicar Street, Dublin
3rd - Albert Hall, Manchester
4th - Electric Ballroom, London
5th - Electric Ballroom, London
6th - Electric Ballroom, London
While the full lengths have only arrived in the past couple of years, this is not a marker of a band experiencing success at the first attempt. Instead, it marks an all-too-rare patience; a desire to hone a craft before pummeling the masses with the anthems it's able to produce. Far from an unexpected joy, for many the Idles success story has been far too long in the making.
This week sees the band headline venues far in excess of anything they've played before. Earlier this year the band found themselves not only attending the Brit Awards, but attending as nominees. We're living in an uncomfortable and unpredictable time, but far from being a symptom of this, the success of Idles is testament to the fact that they've spent ten years screaming their warnings and now, their sell-out colossus shows are a shuddering dystopian novel made real. A true voice-in-the-wind being embraced by the populace at large (and, of course, the blistering riffs don't hurt). These are anthems for the world; whether they mark the beginning or the end of it is for everyone else to decide.
Tickets for the shows are on sale now and the remaining itinerary is as follows:
March
29th - The Dome, Brighton
30th - 6 Music Festival: By Day, Liverpool
30th - 6 Music Festival: By Night, Liverpool
April
1st - Empire Music Hall, Belfast
2nd - Vicar Street, Dublin
3rd - Albert Hall, Manchester
4th - Electric Ballroom, London
5th - Electric Ballroom, London
6th - Electric Ballroom, London
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