IDLES brought positive mayhem to fantastic Forest Hills Stadium show w/ The Walkmen (review, pics, setlist)

“ARE YOU READY TO COLLIDE?” Joe Talbot asked the floor at Forest Hills stadium who had just been ordered to split in half. The crowd was definitely ready to collide, and many had probably done so at previous IDLES shows. “ARE YOU READY TO LOVE?,” Talbot then added, making this not your usual wall of death. He then cried “Viva Palestina!” and the band launched into “Colossus” as the two sides of the audienced launched into each other. Soon guitarist Lee Kiernan was playing atop the crowd. It was an explosive start of a typically wild, totally fun night.

The last time IDLES played Forest Hills it was 2022 opening for LCD Soundsystem as part of the Re:SET concert series, but here they were headlining — playing the last show of their North American tour — and it was new level of production and stage design befitting a show like this, and expanded sonic landscape of their great new album TANGK. The lighting design was particularly impressive, with banks of LEDs that not only covered the back of the stage but also lined the sides as well, which could turn everything into a glowing red oven. (It felt to me like they have taken a note or two from the Bristol neighbors Massive Attack). On “Gift Horse,” an early high point, giant spotlights blasted the place, a slow sweep down timed with the “WHOOAAA / Look at him GOOOO” chorus of the song. It was an awesome touch and the crowd lost it.

For all the seeming chaos, the LOVE IS THE FING tour is clearly well thought-out, built for big crowds like this and festivals. In addition to the “collide” bit, they hit a lot of the same marks as when I saw them at Oya in August, including some of Talbot’s stage banter, but it wasn’t any less satisfying the second time around as the crowd feeds off of his and the rest of the band’s indefatigable energy. Talbot’s positivity might be a turnoff to some but he’s a genuine guy and onstage it’s endearing, like when he brought a kid named Ash he’d met earlier in the night onto the stage to play drums on “Samaritan.” Ash killed it.

IDLES played for two hours straight, mostly rippers, but one of my favorite moments of the night was “POP POP POP” from TANGK which has real swing and groove, and was a welcome gear shift, as was CRAWLER‘s soulful “The Beachland Ballroom.” I wish we’d gotten a couple more moodier songs, like “Roy” or “Grace” from the new album, amongst all the bruisers but in the moment the show flew by. As the 10 PM curfew approach, Talbot led the crowd in an a capella rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas (Is You)” before closing things with the bang that is “Rottweiler.” What a show.

Joe Talbot also took a couple moments to thank The Walkmen for playing the Forest Hills show, as their 2004 album Bows & Arrows was given to him at a point in his life when he really needed it. The Walkmen sounded great during their opening set and frontman Hamilton Leithauser noted that it was his first time at the stadium even though he spends a lot of time in Forest Hills theses days. “Maybe, since you all probably live in this neighborhood, I’ll see you around some time.” He also said that this show, and their opening slot for Interpol at LA’s The Forum in November, will be the band’s last “for the foreseeable future,” but that the band would be back. “We needed the time off,” speaking to their hiatus, “and it was definitely weird at first but it’s been really great and we’ve had so much fun.” I will admit I’m just a casual Walkmen fan but there’s no denying “The Rat” (one of the best indie rock songs of the mid-’00s) and it sounded fantastic on Friday.

Check out photos by Dimitry Mak, along video of IDLES and setlists for both bands, below.

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SETLIST: IDLES @ Forest Hills Stadium 9/27/2024
IDEA 01
Colossus
Gift Horse
Mr. Motivator
Mother
Car Crash
I’m Scum
Jungle
1049 Gotho
The Wheel
When the Lights Come On
Divide and Conquer
War
Wizz
Gratitude
Benzocaine
POP POP POP
Samaritans
Crawl!
The Beachland Ballroom
Never Fight a Man With a Perm
Dancer
Danny Nedelko
Rottweiler (w/ All I Want for Christmas Is You intro)

SETLIST: The Walkmen @ Forest Hills Stadium 9/27/2024
What’s in It for Me
On the Water
In the New Year
Angela Surf City
Dónde Está la Playa
Postcards from Tiny Islands
Wake Up
The Rat
All Hands and the Cook
Heaven