Idles performed at Kings Theatre on September 15th, 2022 in support of their latest record, 2021's excellent Crawler. While a gilded theatre deep in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood might not seem like the obvious venue for the Bristol band, Idles found a way to make the venue a giant mosh pit (thankfully seats in the lower level were removed to allow for a GA area, and photo pit. I would have died otherwise).

The band, consisting of Joe Talbot, Mark Bowen (his first show back from paternity leave), Lee Kiernan, Adam Devonshire, and Jon Beavis, performed a raucous set of songs from across their catalog including "Colussus," "Car Crash," "Mr. Motivator" (which found guitarist Lee Kiernan climbing into the crowd) "Never Fight a Man With a Perm" (just good advice tbh), "Crawl!," and "A Hymn" (a highlight for me!). The set served as a reminder of why the band is one of the most vital rock acts performing today.

Idles are sometimes criticized for being "dogmatic" or for "sloganeering," but honestly, fuck that. The band are certainly try-hards (I mean that as a compliment), and they may be self-aware and with heart-sleeve lyrics, but if anything that's a strength, setting them apart from artists who are too afraid, or gun shy, to stick their necks out and speak on issues, political or personal, that might be uncomfortable. How'd we like them cliches? While I wouldn't call them that, based on last night's show, I'd say a whole fucking lot.