Idles Block Party Friday - Queen Square, Bristol 01.08.25
Case in point - Lambrini Girls. Despite only having a half hour slot, this vivaciously enraged trio make their time on stage count. Every moment acts as a call to action. Whether it's the seething energy of Bad Apple - a visceral condemnation of Police Brutality - or the mocking bite of Terf Wars - an unabashed anthem of support for trans rights, this band know where they stand, and they make sure their crowd know where they stand too. Lead vocalist Phoebe Lunny brilliantly commands the crowd, often climbing over the barrier to interact with the audience face to face.
Having only released their debut album earlier this year, Lambrini Girls are newcomers to the burgeoning UK punk scene that seems to have been reignited by our main act. That said, they made an impression on everyone in the crowd. I daresay this support show will shift more than a few tickets for the openers biggest shows ever, later this year. Watch out for these - they're unapologetic in their activism, and will say how they feel without remorse, but at a time of mass censorship of artists who dare to speak out against state sanctioned violence, maybe that's exactly what the industry needs!
“Punks dead! Punks dead! Pushing up daisies! Come and get a load of these PC babies!”. Those were the words our main support act Soft Play wrote when their name change was met with a chorus of whining from columnists and vloggers with nothing better to do with their time than complain about woke punk bands. It's that song that gets the biggest shout-along of the set, proving once and for all that the hardcore scene belongs to snowflakes like us!
And yet, the duo brilliantly make their set feel exciting with a mixture of quirky spoken word pieces, slower pieces like the absolutely beautiful Heavy Jelly, and up-tempo ragers in the vein of The Hunter and Act Violently. The noise Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent make with just a guitar, and a small drum kit is quite frankly astonishing, and yet they warm up the 15,000 capacity crowd with fervour and a sense of humour that makes them a perfect set up for our headliners. Johnny Rotten may be rolling over in his bed (“I was gonna say grave but the fucker ain't dead”) but if this is the calibre of acts we’re getting today, Punk music is in safer hands than it's ever been.
This feels like a victory lap for Idles. They've gone from being a small, strange act at a time when the mainstream wasn't kind to bands who sound like them, to blowing the doors down on the music industry, so that a whole spectrum of angry, experimental and socially conscious acts can make their mark. I wouldn't label it an exaggeration to say that without their meteoric rise to fame acts like Model/Actriz and Kneecap may have flown under the radar. And, seeing as the band all met in the centre Bristol, it only feels right that the cities most influential act since Massive Attack, should be allowed to use a place that hasn't been used for concerts in the past 19 years - the small field that's somehow big enough for a massive concert, of Queen Square.
This feels like a victory lap for Idles. They've gone from being a small, strange act at a time when the mainstream wasn't kind to bands who sound like them, to blowing the doors down on the music industry, so that a whole spectrum of angry, experimental and socially conscious acts can make their mark. I wouldn't label it an exaggeration to say that without their meteoric rise to fame acts like Model/Actriz and Kneecap may have flown under the radar. And, seeing as the band all met in the centre Bristol, it only feels right that the cities most influential act since Massive Attack, should be allowed to use a place that hasn't been used for concerts in the past 19 years - the small field that's somehow big enough for a massive concert, of Queen Square.
Our headliners don't waste any time making a massive impression either. Starting with Colllosus frontman Joe Talbot commands the crowd to split into two. “Are you ready to collide?” he asks to a rapturous response. “Well, viva Palestina!!” he then screams as both half of the crowds rush forward, to be consumed in a fiery combination of chaos and love. Those are the two elements that shape Idles message. For them aggression is a way we acknowledge and overcome adversity, and in doing so become closer to each other.
Moments like Danny Nedelko and I’m Scum are raw, yet they're about being gentle and accepting. The energy of the crowd to receive and channel this message into their dancing and singing doesn't let up for the entire hour and half that the band plays for. It's an experience that's leaves each and every one of us exhausted but enthused and joyous. The feeling I have left every Idles show I've been to with - this one perhaps more than any other - is that when the lights come on and the crowds shuffle out, I can use the anger I feel towards the hate and division in the world, to bring people together, and work for change, in a way that's “tender, violent and queer”
Anger left to its own devices can be destructive. And yet in writing this I’m reminded of the stories Joe Talbot told on stage, both through his speeches and through songs like Benzocaine and Mother. Stories about how he grew up on the streets of Bristol with a lot of rage, and yet through the support of his bandmates and his audience, turned his negative experiences into something that inspired hope for people like me, who may never feel truly comfortable in their own head, but are most themselves in the comfort of friends, and allies who don't make us feel the need to hide who we are. One last time, all together - “this snowflakes an avalanche!” 10/10
Anger left to its own devices can be destructive. And yet in writing this I’m reminded of the stories Joe Talbot told on stage, both through his speeches and through songs like Benzocaine and Mother. Stories about how he grew up on the streets of Bristol with a lot of rage, and yet through the support of his bandmates and his audience, turned his negative experiences into something that inspired hope for people like me, who may never feel truly comfortable in their own head, but are most themselves in the comfort of friends, and allies who don't make us feel the need to hide who we are. One last time, all together - “this snowflakes an avalanche!” 10/10
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