AOB: Idlewild @ The Junction

Idlewild should be more famous than they are. I know everybody says that about their favourite bands, but in this case it’s true. Their back catalogue is jam-packed with catchy songs perfect for jumping up and down to, and, one slightly iffy album aside (Warnings/Promises, which still contains two of their best songs, El Capitan and Love Steals us from Loneliness), their output has been consistently good over the years.

“It’s good to be back in Cambridge”, said lead singer Roddy Womble during last nights gig. “Last time we played here it was out on its own in the middle of a big car park.” That they are again playing venues the size of the Junction is probably a sad indictment of the bands career trajectory of late.

Oh well, never mind. The rest of the world’s loss was the 300 or so people at the Junction’s gain. Arriving on the back of a greatest hits album, Idlewild were always going to play a crowd-pleasing set, and so it proved, as they kicked off with I Don’t Have a Map and the epic You Held the World in you Arms.

Songs from the bands last studio album, Make Another World, feature prominently. Everything (As it Moves) got what is apparently its first airing of their current tour, while No Emotion and In Competition for the Worst Times were both enthusiastically received. The latter was particularly intense, with the band playing it at break neck speed and reducing a three minute track to about 30 seconds (at least that’s what it seemed like).

Old favourites When I Argue I see Shapes and Everybody says you’re so Fragile also went down well, while their encore contained rare outings for Chandelier and 4 People Do Good, alongside perhaps their biggest hit, American English.

Greatest hits albums can often signal the end of a bands career, but one hopes this is not the case for Idlewild, who on this kind of form still have plenty of years ahead of them.