Fresh from conquering their enormous Friday night headline slot at Glastonbury's Other Stage, there's a newfound sense of anticipation around the build up to this IDLES show.
Six years on from their breakout second album Joy As An Act Of Resistance, there's the sense that the innovative, heart-on-sleeve punks are now finally in the big leagues, now respected as one of the UK's titans that they were always destined to become.
In the glorious, Georgian setting of Halifax's The Piece Hall - which continues to become an unmissable stop on the summer touring circuit - the Bristol quintet delivered a masterful, dominant headline show, justfiying the hype from BBC iPlayer with a show to match in the flesh.
Scattered with new material from their experimental, left-field fifth album TANGK, the old classics hit even heavier, especially the drawn out 'Colossus', which persists early on in the set. 'Mr. Motivator' and 'Samaritans' are equally mighty, while 'Mother' provides - perhaps unsurprisingly - the most glorious sing-along of the night.
As for the new material, 'POP POP POP' is a work in progress on the live circuit, not quite translating through with as much poise as the studio version, but 'Dancer' is perhaps their finest work yet, saved for the back end of the set. The celebration of multiculturalism in 'Danny Nedelko' continues to be as relevant as ever, before 'Rottweiler' brings proceedings to a close - as per usual.
Armed with a seriously fleshed out discography, IDLES continues their steady ascendancy at the helm of punk music, continuing to reinvent their sound but maintaining a fearless, poignant live show.
Image Credits: Cuffe and Taylor / The Piece Hall
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