IDLES @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024

 It was a Wednesday night, the eve of EDC LV 2024 soft open. I lucked out by breaking free from  the festivities to get my rock n' roll on at the IDLES show at Brooklyn Bowl!

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The sold-out show was already packed when we arrived and the headliners had just started. Standing room with a view of the stage was not a likely thing to happen that late in the game but we weere able to find a sweet spot with a great view of the stage comeplete with bowling lanes to our left. 

A simple but big, bold back drop of their name in the same bubbly font used on the cover of their latest album, Tangk hung proudly behind the band for all to see. This show was definitely more dude heavy in attendance and they were not holding back, singing along with songs. Girls kept popping up on shoulders through out the set along with some light moshing and occasional crowd surfing from fans. 

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Singer Joe Talbot painstakenly commanded the show: pacing the stage non-stop only to pause and to crouch down to get closer to the crowd through out the night.  Early on in the set he stopped the show to tell people to stop taking selfies. A little later on when he stopped the show things got personal. Talbot shared as an insecure kid who got bullied his whole adolense the only people who accepted him and made him feel as though he belonged were his bandmates and their fans. For a guy like that to be that vulnerable is fucking badass. Then before the show went on he dropped a "free Palestine" and my respect for Idles jumped up a couple notches. He had everybody get down real low at one point then yell fuck the king a little later. Idles's crowd engagement was a welcomed surprise. 

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Idles fans were more than ready to rock. As the show went on it became clearer and clearer that Idles was feeding off the energy from their fans, in turn the fans were feeding off the energy from the band in a cycle of uplifting angst. It was as if Idles was gaining momentum the more they played. 

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

 Idles songs can rip pretty hard and fast, so the 24 song long set-list wasn't shocking. Since their first album in 2017 these British boys have dropped 4 more albums, the last one being 2024's Tangk. Six of the 24 songs played that night were off of Tangk and the rest of the set was sprinkled with the rest of their catalog. Lady luck was on our side that night in Vegas because they played a song they've apparently never played live before, "Love Song" off of
their 2018 album, Joy as an Act of Resistance. Blocks of faster, harder, heavier tempoed songs were sandwiched by blocks of slower more sudued tempoed songs which was a nice balance of the best of both worlds from Idles as their newer stuff hits a little softer. 

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

They didn't end on a soft note though! Idles closed out their sold-out show at The Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas with an oldie but goodie, "Rottweiler"! They riled us all up then sent us out to the strip, what a night!

Idles only have a few more shows here in the States on this run!

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Idles @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 5/15/2024 set-list 

1. IDEA 01

2. Colossus

3. Gift Horse

4. Mr. Motivator 

5. Mother 

6. Car Crash 

7. I'm Scum 

8. 1049 Gotho 

9. The Wheel 

10. Jungle 

11. When the Lights Come On

12. War

13. Wizz

14. Divide and Conquer

15. Gratitude

16. Love Song (tour debut)

17. POP POP POP
18. Television 

19. Crawl!

20. The Beachland Ballroom 

21. Never Fight a Man with a Perm 

22. Dancer 

23. Danny Nedelko

24. Rottweiler