Ding, ding — round two. Back in the ring with Idles.

After first catching their incendiary performance on April 8th at the Komedia in Bath, six months later it’s clear: this band is on a rocket-fueled trajectory. Since then, Idles have dropped their second album, smashing into the UK Top Five, stormed the globe on tour, flooded TV and radio waves, and now, with a sold-out UK tour under their belt, they’ve firmly cemented themselves as the most vital band to emerge from these shores in recent memory.

Tonight, at SWX in Bristol, the volume is cranked, the pace relentless. Support band, Heavy Lungs impress with their raw, jagged sound, but it’s clear where the night’s true pulse lies. Idles tear through their set with the manic energy of the Village People on acid — chaotic, exuberant, utterly uncontainable.

At Bath, their live energy carried them through, but here? With an ever-growing and wildly responsive crowd, their confidence is sky-high — and rightly so. It takes guts to invite fans onstage; it takes pure, unshakeable confidence to hand over your instruments to them. What follows is glorious mayhem — a glorious, beautiful shambles — feeding the band’s raw, unfiltered energy, making this performance feel like a living, breathing beast.

There’s a rare and electric bond between band and audience tonight, a connection that harks back to punk’s wild heyday in the late ’70s, or the anarchic stage invasions at early Smiths gigs. Idles shows are celebrations of life — raw, flawed, unapologetic — a much-needed antidote in an era where hate and division have become disturbingly mainstream.

Sure, rock bands have always had their audiences eating from their hands. But in today’s sterile, overproduced musical landscape, it’s a rare gift to witness a band that means more than just the product they sell. Tonight, that gift belongs to Idles.

Thank fuck for Idles.