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8.30pm? EIGHT-THIRTY in the evening!!? That’s the
time for spooning the sugar into your last cup of tea
before you come out, hazily confirming to the bartender
that yes, indeed you will have another pint pre-gig,
or at the very least shouting insults at the gurning
nobodies masquerading as a support band. It is not –
we concur after years of seasoned gig-hopping – when
the headline act swoops in to claim their trophy from
the masses. And certainly not on a SATURDAY NIGHT! We
only know Idlewild took to the stage at 20.30 however
because as we stumble up the stairs and crash panicking
through the hall’s doors at just gone 9pm they have
their heads down, pummelling manically through the final
straights of their set, before pirouetting off stage
to the sound of definite departure feedback and some
thankfully – considering our mood – soothing projections
of a gloomy seascape.
It may be some small saving grace that they return for
a two song encore, but if we seem a touch irked, that
is most certainly because we are. And why exactly? Apart
from the obvious? Because from the three and a bit song
set that we experience – through this combination of
our own ineptitude and that of the tour manager (sheeesh!)
– the nu-Idlewild smack us square in the face with an
aptitude that we’re sure always just evaded them before.
The final goodbye, ‘A Film For The Future’, jolts its
way to the expected adolescent-angsty, noise-riddled
climax, Roddy stuttering around the stage hovering between
ours and another plain, newly self assured, comfortable,
poetic even. He ends simply staring up at the projection
on the back wall: “support your local poet”. Worthy
words perhaps after a couple of years when rhyming ‘Devon’
with ‘lemon’ could be considered high verse. Then greeting
the silence with a wry smile he’s off, as if he barely
knows where he’s stumbling to. A star.
Even guitarist Rod has grown, pinning down his centre
of gravity so those defying spasms never quite get the
better of him, until one concluding crash brings him
to his knees. And bassist Bob, while not yet joining
the Grandaddy league, has at least grown a pretty
substantial beard. This is an older band, and if not
a wiser band, a band that’s lived. The only new song
we catch, closing the main set, demonstrates their now
intuitive ability to weave colour and melody, experience
and spiritual wealth into the noisy conundrum that characterised
their early bursts of anger. If they’ve sandpapered
the fury down to a neat gleam then it’s only because
they’ve learnt to control the fire for their own gain.
Or at least this is what we gather from our brief time
with them tonight. You’ll have to come back to us to
see if the forthcoming album ‘The Remote Part’ stands
up to this. Now, just don’t get us started on also missing
Ikara Colt in support.
More dates:
MAY 2002:
Wednesday 1st - Newcastle University
Friday 3rd - Edinburgh Queens Hall
Festival appearances
JUNE 2002
Glastonbury Festival @ Glastonbury, England,
UK
Friday 28th June
JULY 2002
Lost Weekend @ Docklands Arena, London, UK
Friday 12th July
T In The Park Festival @ Kinross, Scotland, UK
Saturday 13th July
James Berry for Crud Magazine© 2002 
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|
| 04/02 1 Giant Leap - My Culture
04/02 Elfpower Interview - Andrew Rieger - Creatures
04/02 Frou Frou Interview - Guy Sigsworth/Imogen Heap
04/02 Gomez Interview - Ian Ball
04/02 Idlewild - Live - London Astoria
04/02 K's Choice Interview
04/02 Leaves - Live - Camden Dingwall
04/02 Longwave Interview - Exit
04/02 Lucy Mongrel Interview
04/02 Oasis - The Hindu Times
04/02 Phantom Planet - Interview
04/02 Unwritten Law - Interview
04/02 VUE - Coordinates Interview
05/02 BRMC - LIve - Kentish Town, London
05/02 Breeders - Title K
05/02 FC Kahuna - Machine Says Yes
05/02 Moco - Live - London Monarch
05/02 Need New Body - Interview
05/02 The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Live - Soundhause, Northampton
05/02 The Bellrays - Meet The Bellrays
06/02 Fleadh Festival - Finsbury Park
06/02 Frou Frou Coordinates Interview
06/02 Incubus - Interview - Mark Einziger
06/02 North Mississippi Allstars - Interview
06/02 Papa Roach - She Loves Me Not
06/02 Proud Mary - Live - Northampton, Soundhaus
06/02 Pulp - Live - Sherwood Pines, Edwinstowe
06/02 Reindeer section - You Are My Joy
06/02 Silverchair - Diorama
|  | 06/02 Something Corporate - Leaving Through The Window
06/02 Soinc Youth - Interview
06/02 The Burn - The Smiling Face
06/02 The Coral - Live - Roadmender, Northampton
06/02 The LIbertines - Live - The Social, Nottingham
06/02 The Vines, Sheffield Leadmill
06/02 Trik Turner - Interview
06/02 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Live, Soundhaus, Northampton
07/02 12 Stones Interview
07/02 Arolo -Interview
07/02 Buy To Let Doncaster - Anti Social Behaviour
07/02 Cassius - Interview
07/02 Farrah - Interview
07/02 Glassjaw - Interview
07/02 Neil Michael Haggerty - Interview
07/02 Hoobastank - Running Away
07/02 Leaves - Interview
07/02 LL Cool Jay Interview
07/02 Oasis - Live - Finsbury Park, London
07/02 Polyphonic Spree - Live - Camden Monarch
07/02 Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
07/02 Super Furry Animals - Interview
07/02 The Beatings - Live - Metro Club London
07/02 The Bellrays + The D4 - Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street London
January 2001
July - August 2001
September - October 2001
November - December 2001
January - March 2002
April - July 2002
August - December 2002 | |
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