Live Review: IDLES and Protomartyr at the Hollywood Palladium

On Monday, May 13, 2024, IDLES hit the stage at the Hollywood Palladium, bringing along Protomartyr in a night of passion and fun on their “Love is the Fing” tour.

As the night commenced, Protomartyr began their show with “Maidenhead” from their sophomore album, Under Color of Official Right, and “For Tomorrow” from their latest album, Formal Growth in the Desert. The band cruised through each song concisely, touching on old songs and new, in an all-out jam session before closing out with “Why Does it Shake?” from The Agent Intellect album.

After a short pause to transition bands, IDLES lead singer Joe Talbot marched on stage to an adoring audience as he opened with “Colossus” from the Joy as an Act of Resistance album. Before moving on to more songs, Talbot split the room in half to make room for a sea of moshers to move about safely. Passing through each song seemed like a pleasure to Talbot and guitarists Lee Kiernan and Mark Bowen as they pranced around on stage while performing “Gift Horse” from their new album TANGK.

Recognizing the recent celebration of mother’s day here in the states, Talbot opened up about the influence his late mother held when it comes to his views on the world and life struggling with addiction from his own perspective, as well as his mother’s. Reflecting on his mother’s story and her importance to him, Talbot gave thanks to his bandmates as well as IDLES fans everywhere, explaining that it is a privilege to travel and perform for their loving listeners before breaking into “Mother” from their debut album Brutalism.

Leading into the next portion of their set, Talbot made a point to all who would listen, that their show was dedicated to Palestinians in light of the current state of affairs. Moving on to songs like “War” and “Gratitude,” Talbot conducted and contorted the crowd, demanding they get down onto the floor before engaging in a rally of chants before giving thanks to the immigrants who are a cornerstone to countries like the United Kingdom and the United States.

Closing out the final parts of the night, the band worked through songs like “Divide & Conquer,” “Crawl!” and “Dancer.” Purple strobe lights shifted the mood and Kiernan dove into a crowd surf, guitar in hand, before ending the show with “Rottweiler.” A reiteration of thanks was given to the crowd for having them perform, to their producers, and to Protomartyr for being a mass inspiration to IDLES since the formation of their band. Talbot delivered his thanks with grace and a level of authenticity, conveying just how much he cared about being present at shows like their night at the Hollywood Palladium.

Altogether, IDLES and Protomartyr put on a show to remember for their devoted fans with a sentiment of passion and depth, two feelings which clearly influence the “Love is the Fing” theme.

Setlists:

Protomartyr:

1. Maidenhead
2. For Tomorrow
3. Windsor Hum
4. Scum, Rise!
5. Polacrilex Kid
6. Half Sister
7. The Devil in His Youth
8. Why Does it Shake?

IDLES:

1. Colossus
2. Gift Horse
3. Mr Motivator
4. Mother
5. Car Crash
6. I’m Scum
7. 1049 Gotho
8. The Wheel
9. Jungle
10. War
11. Wizz
12. When the Lights
13. Benzocaine
14. Gratitude
15. Divide & Conquer
16. Pop Pop Pop
17. Television
18. Crawl!
19. Beachland Ballroom
20. NFAMWAP
21. Dancer
22. Danny Nedelko
23. Rottweiler