British Rock Band Idles Performs Live In Toronto
BY KYLE MCNEIL
PHOTO BY: KYLE MCNEIL
For those not familiar with Idles I would describe them as new aged, hard rock, and post-punk all blended into one sound. Idles arrived in Canada In September to play two back to back shows in Toronto’s History concert hall. The English rock band from Bristol was set to play their only Canadian dates on their 2022 North American summer tour and it was announced that the show was fully sold out earlier that day. Injury Reserve, an experimental hip-hop group from Tempe, Arizona currently touring with Idles, were scheduled to open up the show on both nights in Toronto.
The American 'trip-hop' group Injury Reserve hit the stage a bit early to bring their blend of electronically infused hip-hop to the live audience at History. The duo who are billed as being had a very unique set up as it seems the group synced up their sound and music to the lighting including the single overhead spot light that resembled a street light. The lights would frequently strobe and make other patterns as a fog machine routinely flooded the stage keeping the effect of some steady haze prominent. One of the members played the beats from a laptop while the emcee of the group provided the vocals, most of which were heavily saturated with auto tune giving it that Kanye-like sound. It was an interesting pairing to have Injury Reserve tour with Idles who seemed like polar opposites musically, but the crowd in Toronto gave Injury Reserve a great reception as I'm sure their music made its way to a lot of new ears.
After a brief intermission, Injury Reserve would give way to Idles. A slight change in the Idles line up saw guitarist Mark Bowen sitting out due to paternity leave. Replacing him was Tina Maynard who fulfilled the back up guitar responsibilities for some of the tours dates. Some would say rock and roll in the 2020's is very safe compared to previous decades, but I think this might have been the most 'unsafe' I have ever felt while shooting from a concert press pit. Although I doubt I was ever in real danger as the security in the venue were taking care of everyone and the band were cognizant of their actions while still displaying the 'rock and roll' energy you would expect. I was warned on my way into the venue that night by History staff that there was sure to be a lot of crowd surfing so I was already on high alert.
Once the set reached the second song the mosh pit and body surfing was already in full swing with guitarist Lee Keirnam jumping out into the crowd to partake in the mayhem. While on the surface it might appear that Idles are an unruly hard rock band, the group regularly took time between songs to talk to the crowd about various topics. At one point the lead singer Joe Talbot stopped to pay tribute to the late drummer Taylor Hawkins and spoke about watching the recent tribute concert which took place back home in England at Wembley Stadium. Joe spoke about his own struggles with alcoholism and said the only reason he is still here today is because of his bandmates and all the fans out there that support him and his band. One quote that stuck with me is when he told the crowd "that you might be lonely but you're not alone," which is something we have all felt at one time or another in our lives. I have to admit that at the beginning of this show I probably didn't expect to hear anything profound like this other than in the band's lyrics, but it helped to give me a new perspective on this band and what they represent.
Idles would go on to play a full 18 song set on this night starting with "Colossus" and finishing off with "Rottweiler.” There were many other notable performances during the course of the show such as "A Hymn," but my personal favorite was when the band played their 2017 smash hit "Mother," which really got the crowd fired up. Idles have proven to be a band on the rise in recent years from being nominated for awards, such as the NME, to playing live on the Jimmy Kimmel show late last year. Idles' increasing popularity is bringing edginess and grit back to mainstream rock, and quite frankly I’m all for it.
Check out Idles latest album release titled "Crawler" from November 2021 available on all streaming platforms. Idles will be touring the US for the rest of September so check your local listings for any shows that might be in your area!
All Photos By Kyle McNeil
