Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
On Wednesday night, IDLES stormed the small stage at Night Club 101 on Avenue A for a surprise set.
The English punk band — more accustomed in recent years to playing larger venues like Fenway Park, where they'll be on Sept 7 — tore through 12 songs in a sweaty and full-tilt show.
And it didn't matter that they had a smaller-than-usual stage — the band simply incorporated the show floor alongside concertgoers...
The performance tied into the group's collaboration with East Village-based director Darren Aronofsky. When developing his latest film, "Caught Stealing" — which opened yesterday and stars Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz — Aronofsky turned to IDLES, his favorite band, to help shape the movie's high-energy sonic identity and 1998 setting.
Drawing inspiration from the 1990s New York punk scene that drives the film, IDLES contributed four original tracks and recorded the full score with composer Rob Simonsen. (He worked with Aronofsky on "The Whale.") The soundtrack includes their take on Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves" — covered by The Clash — along with new originals such as "Rabbit Run" and instrumentals titled "Tompkins Square Park" and "6th and A." (No instrumentals on Wednesday — the band stayed in loud-and-fast mode.)
Aside from a few members of the press (EVG included), the secret set was the payoff for a "Caught Stealing"-related scavenger hunt. A few vintage payphones, suddenly back on city corners, like outside the Second Avenue F stop, offered cryptic directions that led from one receiver to another.
The trail ended at A-1 Record Shop on Sixth Street, where participants walked out with paper tickets to see The Idles at the Pyramid Club, the former legendary venue at 101 Avenue A, on Aug. 27, 1998. (Thankfully, everyone in the audience seemed to be an IDLES fan.)
A replica of the Pyramid Club sign appeared briefly above the entrance during the show...
Aronofsky was in attendance (here with Zoë Kravitz) and Austin Butler (who can be spotted in the crowd in one of the above photos).
Following the set, local photographer and IDLES superfan Krys Fox, who took part in the scavenger hunt, scored Joe Talbot's signature inside a heart on his bicep. The autograph soon became a tattoo, courtesy of Andromeda Studio on St. Mark's Place. He also had the band sign his shirt.
As Fox shared on Instagram: "I love it so much, it will always serve as a reminder of my strength, perseverance, and of how the band helps pump me full of love, guts, and queer power."
And three of five IDLES on Avenue A...
The band released this montage from the night on Instagram...
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