Bonnaroo 2024 Artist Spotlight: IDLES

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2024 lineup. After roaring back to life in 2022, after two years off due to Covid and weather, and feeling fully like its old self again with a great fest last summer, this year marks Bonnaroo’s 21st installment (and 23rd anniversary), boasting not only another great and varied lineup, but also a continuation of some of the big changes and improvements rolled out over the last couple of years, with more flexibility in ticketing and camping, a reimagined “Outeroo” campground area, new activations, and further new ways to Roo. Back once again in its usual June 13-16 timeframe, we’re counting down the days until another great weekend on the farm.

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend at the fest!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

LEARN

One of the most exciting rock groups to come out of the UK in the last decade, frenetic and layered punk outfit IDLES first formed in 2009 in Bristol, England, where frontman Joe Talbot and bassist Adam Devonshire- friends from attending school together previously- had moved for university. Though they commanded a local following early on, IDLES took took their time to hone their sound and live show, spending several years playing at small clubs, releasing early EPs like 2012’s Welcome and 2015’s Meat, and gradually attracting the attention of the British music press. By 2017, their hype had finally begun to grow, and that year’s debut full-length, Brutalism, proved to be a lauded introduction, showcasing the band’s early punk rock ferocity, sonic complexity, and Talbot’s angry and anguished lyrics, both lashing at British socioeconomic issues and navigating his own grief at the loss of his mother. Just a year later, IDLES expanded the scope of their sound with sophomore LP Joy as an Act of Resistance, incorporating elements of post-punk and post-hardcore, and broadening the intensity, political critique, and personal anguish in subject matter, with Talbot this time dealing with the loss of a child. The band remained prolific as they played increasingly larger shows and received major awards in the UK (while also breaking through in America, playing early Nashville dates at spots like The High Watt), and released adventurous third album Ultra Mono in 2020, amidst the Covid lockdown, with universally praised, mainstream breakout Crawler just a year later, embracing even more musical experimentation both with more intense hardcore and noise-rock elements and also more layered and electronic production, all the while retaining the anger and intensity which fueled prior efforts. Able to tour again and experiencing a significant boost in attention post-Crawler, the last few years have seen the group play considerably larger shows outside of the UK, appear at major fests like Coachella and last year’s Re:SET, and even land Grammy nominations, which led their latest, this year’s TANGK, to be IDLES’ most-anticipated release ever. And, though quite different from everything they’ve done before, helmed by the band’s own Mark Bowen, legendary Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, and contemporary DJ and producer Kenny Beats, best known for his work in hip hop, it’s a fantastic culmination of the group’s last decade, adopting a little more sonic restraint and introspection, and even finding peace from some of the lyrical ferocity, while still sounding decidedly IDLES. Renowned for their live show, which has been forged over 15 years on stages of all sizes, IDLES are an amazing choice for a late night set, and we absolutely urge you to stay up for this one!

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