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Idlewild (formed in 1995) is a Scottish indie and alternative rock band, originally from Glasgow, based out of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Lead singer Roddy Woomble met drummer Colin Newton and guitarist Rod Jones at a party in 1995, and before long found shared musical interests and decided to start a band. Bassist Phil Scanlon was enlisted to play bass and Idlewild played their debut show at the Subway Club in Edinburgh, and subsequently, with over twenty songs under their belt, a host of other gigs around the country.
After the release of the band’s debut single “Queen of the Troubled Teens” in 1997, which earned considerable UK exposure thanks to BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq, led to the label Fierce Panda releasing Idlewild’s second single “Chandelier”. The single marked the departure of bassist Scanlon who was replaced by Bob Fairfoull, and the group became notorious for the punk-like chaos of their live shows, later signing with Food Records in 1998.
The label issued Idlewild’s debut album “Hope Is Important” towards the tail-end of 1998, which was succeeded by “100 Broken Windows” in 2001. Idlewild’s third full-length album “The Remote Part” proved to be their most popular and well-received, aided by the singles “American English” and “You Held the World in Your Arms”, although tensions within the band were rising. Bassist Fairfoull got the boot after a show in Amsterdam and the following year bassist Gavin Fox and guitarist Allen Stewart made tenure ahead of the American release of “The Remote Part”.
After a four-month touring hiatus in the Scottish Highlands writing songs, Idlewild issued “Warnings/Promises” in 2005. The curse of the bassist rang true again and Fox left the group after the release, making way for Gareth Russell, formerly of the band Astrid. Russel’s debut came with “Make Another World” released in 2007, after which lead singer Woomble made his solo debut with “My Secret Is My Silence” also in 2007. Sticking in to the man, Idlewild’s sixth studio album “Post Electric Blues” was given away free to fans in 2009 and represented a more melodic rock sound than their earliest releases.
Read morePrior going to this concert I told a lot of work colleagues that I was going to see idlewild to which I got a lot of blank looks and told they had never heard of them . When explaining who they were I struggled to put them in a genre are they folk / Rock / pop etc ? . This concert took place at the institute in Birmingham which is a superb intimate venue . As for the show the band played majority of their new album which is the point of these tours , which were well received and known by the audience. Then in the mix came the crowd favourites which the band delivered with pride and passion with the choruses belted out by the crowd with vigour. The band obviously love what they do and it shows on stage and this is a band who will be around still for many years to come to which I can't wait to see again . Now when I explain to friends about idlewild I tell them they are a must see folk rock fusion.
Neil Slattery
Over the years Idlewild have remained extremely true the process of natural creative input.
Evolving through multiple styles of guitar based rock, their live sets present a wonderful tapestry of a workman-like band pumping through various forays into the top-40 between 1998 and 2008.
As a band, few are willing to as openly show their influences on their sleeve, Superchunk-esque stomps, Echo and the Bunnymen style melodic or Post-Punk bite. Recent influence of Scottish folk add to a rich soundscape.
Absolutely brilliant. Very much going for loud, but with all the classics such as Amerucan English. The new albums songs held up and it looked like they were having a great despite the Artic temperatures ( the air conditioning had broken), but they kept us all warm!
Saw them at the Kelvingrove Band Stand on the 5th August 2016. Varied well crafted set from their back catalogue. Superb performance from the entire band. My only regret is it took me this long to catch them live. Can't recommend enough.
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