By Justin Chant

Idles brought their raw, unfiltered energy to the Margate Summer Series last night, echoing the intensity of their headline-grabbing Glastonbury performance with a powerful, high-octane show.

After causing shockwaves at Worthy Farm last month, the highly-political punk rock act took to the Dreamland stage for an equally riotous set.

Not for the faint-hearted (or easily offended), the Bristol five-piece have gained a reputation for their provocative performances and anti-establishment onslaughts.

After admirable warm-up sets from support acts Angelica Garcia and Genesis Owusu, I armed myself with an overly-sweet mojito and weaved my way to the front through a sea of people, who politely and courteously stepped aside. As has been the case at all alternative gigs I’ve been to, the music may be hostile and aggressive, but the fans are anything but.

As the opening notes of Idea 01 reverberated around the open-air venue, the band emerged on stage to roars and cheers from the audience, which began to pulsate and surge forward.

From then, frontman Joe Talbot led the charge with his visceral stage presence and uncompromising anti-Tory, anti-fascist, anti-racism and anti-monarchy messages, which seemed to resonate deeply with the crowd.

Midway through their second song, Colossus, a charismatic Talbot waved happily to the audience as the sun began to set. Addressing “Margate, the land of dreams” he asked the crowd to divide in two and create a space down the middle. Shouting “Are you ready to collide, are you ready for love?” and “Viva Palestina”, he then launched into the ferocious second half of the song, sending fans into a frenzy as guitarist Lee Kiernan hurled himself into the hordes.

Despite the current Idles tour showcasing their new album Tangk, their Margate set had a greatest hits feel as the band delivered fan favourites spanning their five studio albums over seven years.

The audience lapped it up, shouting along to the likes of Never Fight a Man With a Perm and Danny Nedelko, the latter of which was introduced with an impassioned speech from Talbot celebrating the bravery and hard work of immigrants.

As he introduced I’m Scum, a cult-like Talbot thanked the crowd for their “love and energy”. The audience now completely at his command, he led them on a three-word anti-monarchy chant which turned the air blue over Margate.

As the punchy 20-song set-list drew to a close, Talbot addressed the audience once more, proclaiming: “This is an anti-fascist song for anti-fascist folk” before launching into the aggressive and chaotic finale, Rottweiler.

Everyone emerged from the open-air venue hot and exhausted - but with huge smiles on their faces.

It was definitely a night to remember. It’s fair to say Idles gigs at times feel more political rally than rock concert - but their fans are here for it. If you haven’t experienced Idles live, you are missing out on a band at the peak of their powers.

After the sell-out success of Limp Bizkit and now a phenomenal reaction to Idles, there is clearly a huge appetite for alternative acts to take to the main stage in Margate - and I hope 2025 brings us even more.