Abbey Road Lock-In Sessions
Nervous start, explosive finish. The Bristolian firebands live at iconic studios.
“Sorry about the lack of chit-chat but I’m inconsolably nervous,” Idles singer Joe Talbot admits midway through the first of the band’s three live-streamed coronavirus lockdown shows from London’s fabled studios. Shot from above and in kinetic close-up, these Bristolian headbangers slog through Mr Motivator, Queens and other monster anthems old and new, sounding at times like Sleaford Mods jamming with Sonic Youth. The studio crackles with pent-up energy, but playing to a remote invisible audience has clearly pushed Idles outside their crowd-pleasing, shout-along comfort zone. Not until the third performance does Talbot fully regain his usual combustible blend of sardonic humour, turbo-Tourette’s bellowing, snarky political slogans and garishly loud shirts.