British band IDLES brought out indie artist Jack White on stage at Riot Fest, where they performed IDLES’ popular song, “Never Fight A Man With A Perm.” According to NME, despite also performing at Riot Fest on Saturday, September 20, White’s addition to the IDLES performance the following Sunday was a complete surprise to audience members. The post-punk band played on the last day of the festival, right before their punk peers Green Day on the main Riot Stage. Jawbreaker, Inhaler, and Dune Rats were among the other artists who performed on Sunday. Popular punk-rock artists, including Blink-182, Weezer, and All Time Low, performed on prior days of the festival.

“It’s a great honor,” said IDLES frontman Joe Talbot. “I’d like to welcome onstage Jack White the third.”

“Never Fight A Man With A Perm” is the second track off IDLES’ 2018 record, Joy as an Act of Resistance. Since then, the band has released four studio albums, including Ultra Mono in 2020, CRAWLER in 2021, Five Years of Brutalism in 2022, and TANGK in 2024. They’ve also released A Beautiful Thing: IDLES Live at Le Bataclan and collaborated on the soundtrack for the 2025 film, Caught Stealing, alongside Rob Simonsen. The band has spent the past summer performing at various festivals, including Primavera Sound, to which they dedicated their performance to Palestine.

White has also used his platform to comment on politics, recently taking to Instagram to call out the Trump administration. The punk artist has also dissed Trump on stage at some of his many festival performances this past year.

Watch footage from the performance below.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat