IDLEWILD live at the Empire in sunny Boro……wasn’t that ages ago? Well, yes, October the 27th to be precise. Why so long to post a review I hear you all scream. Well, two reasons. The first is simple; procrastination. The second reason is more practical. Roddy Woomble is playing the Westgarth Social Club on Southfield Road in Middlesbrough this Friday (11th of December) so I wanted to plug the gig and remind you all of his great band. I first got into Idlewild in 1998 with the Captain mini LP. The Remote Part in 2002 is probably their best and one of my favourite albums ever. I really thought that they wouldn’t get any better than that. So it was with a little trepidation and a bit of cynicism that I headed to the Empire. Well, how wrong can one boy be? They were superb. 22 songs and everyone a gem. The new album Post Electric Blues is a classic. The tracks they played from it were awesome. A real return to form. Opening track Younger than America (which features both John McCusker on violin and Heidi Talbot on backing vocals), Take me back to the Islands and the first single from the album Readers and Writers are all great on record but even better live.  Old classics like Roseability and You held the world in your hand are given an airing and sound as fresh as they did when they were released. If you haven’t got the new album buy it. If you haven’t got tickets for Roddys gig on Friday then get them. There are only a handful left and will probably be gone on the night. Roddy is joined by the aforementioned John McCusker and Heidi Talbot as well as Kris Frever and Boo Hewerdine. It is the final gig in what has been a great year for Andy and Phil from the kids are solid gold. For tickets go to: www.myspace.com/thekidsaresolidgold

By peter on December 7, 2009