Idles’ energy, empathy and politically charged anthems annihilate Cardiff castle.

The music industry is full of amazing female artists so it’s refreshing to see Idles’ opening support slot at Cardiff castle going to pop auteur, Angélica Garcia. Her experimental versatility is clear to see as she draws from her impressive back catalogue and immediately holds the attention of a crowd who, judging by the faces around us, have never encountered her spellbinding performance before. Singing in her native tongue, Garcia elegantly stalks the stage in a mesmerising dance, bringing a breath of fresh air to the proceedings.

Next up we get Dublin’s four piece, Sprints. Their Radio 6 approved garage punk storytelling, meets melodic catharsis is met with instant enthusiasm from the now swelling crowd. It’s obvious from the off that the band are energised with front woman, Karla Chubb’s charisma. The band play proudly in front of a Palestinian flag adorned with ‘free Palestine’ in Gaelic. It’s easy to see why Sprints are gaining so much ground in the music industry as they effortlessly tear through the edgy urgency of debut album highlights ‘Heavy’, ‘Shadow of a doubt’ and ‘Literary mind’ and a very cool cover of dance punk legend’s le Tigre’s ‘Deceptacon’ which gets heads bomping. Sprints’ intricate alt rock is the perfect precursor to Idles’ impending chaos and they leave the stage to a rapturous applause from the Cardiff crowd.

Post punk heavyweights Idles’ recent momentous Glastonbury headliner slot has cemented their place in the annuls of history and it’s safe to say, the anticipation for their arrival is beyond palpable. A now well oiled crowd explodes into applause as Idles’ tub thumping powerhouse, John Beavis starts pumping the bass drum intro to ‘Idea 01’ as the band slowly join him on stage complete with dissonant feedback in a spine tingling calm before the storm.

The band sound absolutely huge as they tear into ‘Colossus’, as singer, Joe Talbot addresses the crowd with a “Bore da”, demanding the crowd to ‘split in half’ sending anyone not wanting to be part of the biggest mosh pit Cardiff has seen this decade, to the outside of the crowd. Pints, shoes and random pieces of clothing fly through the air as Idles deliver a lesson in absolute chaos. ‘Gift Horse’ and ‘Mr Motivator’ send the crowd into a frenzy before a more tender moment sees Talbot introduce the song ‘Mother’ with “I know I don’t sound like it, but this is my home. I wrote this song when my Mother died, and it’s a celebration of the discovery of all the roles she played as a woman”. As the pounding drum and bass intro hits, Cardiff collectively screams “the best way to scare a tory is to read and get rich”, finishing with Talbot triumphantly declaring “No more tories” to a rapturous applause.

‘Scum’ surges out out of the speakers as Talbot instructs everyone to crouch down, making the crowd leap up during the chorus which fair play, almost everyone respond to. No recent Idles set would be complete without a “Fuck the King” chant, as both guitarists launch themselves into the crowd again and again, song after song. ‘Pop pop pop’ gives everyone a grooving respite as the crowd collectively wiggle away. Older material interplays with new as we reach the crescendo of ‘Never fight a man with a perm’, ‘Dancer’ and the politically charged pro-immigration song, ‘Danny Nedelko’ which sees guitarist, Mark Bowen lead a passionate, and rightly so, “Ceasefire now!” chant. The night peaks with ‘Rottweiler’ which sees mini circle pits breaking out all around us sending just about everyone in the crowd into each other whether they want to or not.

Idles’ dedication to their craft is second to none and as a live band, are almost untouchable. As they thank Cardiff from the bottom of their hearts, they fade into the dark under a hail of feedback and it genuinely feels like we’ve all had an electric exorcism. Simply brilliant.