Idlewild live review by Rob Johnson
Idlewild are riding high at the moment after their tenth studio album, Idlewild (an imaginative name), was met with critical acclaim and achieved their highest chart position in over 20 years. The Scottish heroes have always been a band that have ploughed their own furrow, occasionally intersecting with the mainstream on tracks such as ‘Little Discourage’ and ‘American English’, so it’s satisfying to see them get their flowers over thirty years into a storied career.
The band take to the stage at Sheffield Foundry to the melancholy sound of ‘You Always Hurt the One You Love’ by The Mills Brothers, but any suggestion that Idlewild have gone soft in their dotage is quickly dispelled by an incendiary run through the new track ‘Like I Had Before’. The Foundry is a fairly small venue, and bands often struggle to adapt in the early part of their sets, but the Edinburgh band sound genuinely phenomenal from the off. It’s a tough balancing act to configure Rod Jones’ crunching guitar and Roddy Woomble’s often soft vocals, but the sound is crisp and clear throughout.
With ten albums to draw from, Idlewild have a well of riches to draw from, and this is reflected in a 21-song, career-spanning set that draws heavily from their first three records and their new album, whilst also incorporating the middle section of their career. ‘Actually It’s Darkness’, one of four songs from their sophomore record 100 Broken Windows, gets pulses racing, but it is ‘When I Argue I See Shapes’ that truly kicks things off. Taken from their debut record, Hope Is Important, the song was released 27 years ago and was written when the band were barely in their 20s, and yet it remains as vital and visceral as ever. The three-part vocal harmony during the track’s crescendo is a highlight of both the gig and the band’s career in general.
It was the 2002 album The Remote Part that really introduced Idlewild to the mainstream, however, and that is reflected in the fact that it is represented here more than any other album, with six tracks in total on the night, kicking off with ‘You Held the World in Your Arms’ – a track that acts as a bridge between the band’s early spiky singles and their more melodic later work. It still sounds incredible. It also provokes an intense crowd reaction, demonstrating that these songs still mean a lot to so many. They were always a cult band, and the cult is out in force in Sheffield. ‘Roseability’, surely the only indie rock song about a modernist novelist (Gertrude Stein, if you’re asking), reminds those in the crowd of what set Idlewild apart from their peers. Nobody in the British indie scene was making music like this in 2000 when the song originally came out, and it’s this singular eccentricity that has always made Idlewild more interesting than they’re given credit for.
Next up, ‘Let Me Sleep (Next to the Mirror)’ is emotive and heartfelt, ‘American English’, the band’s closest brush with stadium rockdom, has more bite live than it does on record, and ‘Everyone Says You’re So Fragile’, one of the oldest songs in the set, still feels like a joyously bratty expression of the exuberance of youth. The fact that the band can still play it and make it seem genuine is part of what makes this performance so impressive. Woomble and co. are just as passionate about these songs as the audience is.
‘A Modern Way of Letting Go’ closes out the first part of the set in spectacular fashion before Idlewild return with ‘Little Discourage’, one of the great lost indie pop songs, before finishing with ‘In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction’, complete with an extended outro that once again elevates the track beyond its more subdued studio version.
Walking away from Sheffield Foundry with my ears still ringing and my mouth hurting from all the uncharacteristic smiling I’ve been doing, it still feels like Idlewild are a glorious secret: the kind of band that inspires lifelong friendships and unforgettable memories. What a night.
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