Review | IDLES – A Beautiful Thing: Live At Le Bataclan
Out December 6th Via Partisan Records
Rating: 10/10
By Kieran Webber
The live album. Something that has often been called pointless, a waste of time and uninteresting by many people. Yet, artists such as Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees & many more of started releasing them with great success. A live album captures the madness of a show, the visceral feeling that is abundant in person. This atmosphere and feeling is beautifully laid into wax (or digitally) for those at home to enjoy. Personally I am strong advocator for the live album and relish in its return.
If there is one band that deserves to have a live album it’s IDLES. Those of us that have experienced the band live know just how overwhelmingly powerful their performance is. This is all captured within this album, the rawness of the recording is fantastic and hearing the communication with Joe Talbot with the crowd throws the listener into the darkened french venue.
The set list spans the bands last two albums ‘Brutalism’ and the incredibly popular ‘Joy As An Act Of Resistance’. Playing the band’s most volatile, important and ferocious tracks. There is barely a moments break across the set, boasting IDLES relentless energy, an energy that is wildly infectious. The live album captures the band at their best, if you close your eyes you can almost see Bobo dancing in his pants, Joe’s signature grimace and their kind accountant on the drums. Not to mention Kiernan’s long flowing brown locks swinging sweat across the stage and audience.
The screams from the audience during ‘Danny Nedelko’ is awe inspiring, hearing the words “Unity” being thrown back towards the band is something very special. In fact throughout the whole album you feel this connection between the band and the audience. This album enforces why IDLES are so successful right now, why across the world they are being digested at such a rate. Their lyrics, raw energy and message is so incredibly important. People around the world no matter your country are uniting behind one thing, we’re fed up, angry and want to live in a fairer society. IDLES capture that energy and feed it back to the disenfranchised, the downtrodden and fed up masses. They allow the listener to not only have empathy but to feel that anger and project it in a positive way. IDLES allow for us to live in a world with no borders, no hatred and more love. It’s a beautiful thing, and to have it captured on record is an even more beautiful thing.
For those that have experienced IDLES live this album will be a way to reminisce. Those of you that haven’t this album will give you a very good insight into what expect, no doubt you’ll be seeing them very soon after.
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