Saturday 16^th August 2008 @ The Fleece and Firkin

A sold out gig at The Fleece means only one thing; an uncomfortably hot and sweaty night is ahead of us. However just behind Shirley Manson and Franz Ferdinand, tonight’s band are one of Scotland’s finest indie/rock exports – Idlewild, so worth the extreme conditions.

With no support act it seemed like quite a long wait until the band would take the stage. With the heat rapidly rising, it felt as if someone were to spill a drink steam would begin to fizzle and rise and we would be buying shots of wheat grass instead of Sambuca, but I digress.

Idlewild finally take to the stage and tell us that they will be treating us to a bit of a different gig. They will be performing two sets one acoustic then the other electric with a short break in between. This was a very pleasant surprise to the crowd obviously filled with some die hard fans.

The acoustic set turned into a slight sing along session with such anthems as American English and You Held the World in Your Arms given an unplugged makeover. This actually worked extremely well at getting the crowd going, it also meant getting the slower songs out of the way ready for us all to rock out to the second half of the night.

A twenty minute break ensued and a chance for the band to find some oxygen and a room with a slightly lower temperature (maybe one nearer the earths crust?). Idlewild then burst onto the stage again with incredible gusto. Leaping off monitors and spinning their guitars they seemed to be truly at home with their faster material.

They had planned a very fan-centric set playing many b-sides and old album tracks. Nobody seemed to mind as all the songs were of a pretty high standard. The whole Idlewild set was nearly two hours long and reminded me just how many classic tracks these guys had released. A personal highlight was Little Discourage which was the most celebrated song of the night for all too.

It was obvious that the body of work from this band has easily stood the test of time for over a decade due to their commitment to their live gigs which has left us all more than satisfied but still wanting more which is always the sign of a great gig.

www.idlewild.co.uk

Stu Freeman