IDLES’ potential is “limitless” according to their longtime agent Natasha Gregory as the British rock band continue to make waves on the live stage at home and abroad.

The Bristol five-piece are currently touring Australia and New Zealand prior to dates in Japan later this month, with festival slots at Primavera Sound (Barcelona), Rock im Park and Rock am Ring (Germany), Festineuch (Switzerland), Nova Rock (Austria) and Release Athens (Greece) and Cabaret Vert (France) set for the summer.

“We’ll go to markets that we haven’t had time to go to before to make sure that we’re constantly growing in new territories,” Gregory tells IQ. “We’re always led by headline shows first, so festivals will just complement everything we’ve built.

“We’ve been playing 7,000 to 10,000-cap spaces in Australia and New Zealand, and that’s mirrored in the US. When we started touring, we considered every market to be equally important. We reminisce with our Swiss promoter TAKK, who I love dearly, about how we’d do five shows in Switzerland in the beginning.”

The group will also headline promoter Communion ONE‘s new 15,000-cap music festival in Bristol’s Queen Square on 1-2 August in their only UK shows of 2025.

“With Bristol being their hometown, it’s a celebration of everything they’ve done,” says Gregory. “The location means a lot to them and to those that live there. [Communion ONE’s] vision matched exactly who IDLES are and what they want to do, so it will be a big party celebration and good times for everyone.”

“IDLES have an unbelievable amount of belief in all of us – and I think great work comes from that”

Gregory launched independent artist management and live agency Mother Artists with her brother – IDLES manager Mark Bent – in 2020. The siblings come up with a two-year plan for Idles at the start of each campaign with the help of Carly James of CAA, the band’s agent for North America.

“Mark and I will always talk about live at the beginning,” says Gregory. “We’ll set a global strategy for where we want to see them – the venues, the festivals. Carly will jump on board from CAA in the States and then everything is worked around that.

“I cannot tell you how close we all are. Mark is an impeccable, smart and amazing manager who runs the ship so well, not only through his organisation and his vision and ambition, but also by treating everybody like humans. There’s no bullshit in this team; we’re all very honest, we communicate, we respect each other and I find that you work harder when you’re given that amount of trust in what you do.”

She continues: “IDLES have an unbelievable amount of belief in all of us – and I think great work comes from that. One of their sayings is not being afraid to fail: by trying new things and putting yourself forward, you learn and grow from it. You better yourself, and I feel those are the fundamentals of why we’ve got to where we have. And with each campaign, it honestly feels like the beginning again.”

The band enjoyed a packed 2024, selling close to 200,000 tickets in Europe and going from strength to strength in the US and Canada. Assorted venues included the WiZink Center in Madrid, Antwerp’s Lotto Arena, Luxembourg’s Rockhal and Cardiff Castle.

“That’s a huge feat,” says Gregory. “We were going up to 8,500 tickets [at Max-Schmeling-Halle] in Berlin, plus Zenith in Paris and AFAS in Amsterdam – all very sizeable rooms. The promoters were nervous but excited, and we sold them out.  “IDLES are constantly pushing themselves. They work damn hard and are probably one of the hardest touring bands out there – they did well over 100 shows last year.

“They have a core fanbase that have extreme love for them, but this [most recent tour] was all about welcoming as many people as we could to the shows. So actually, it wasn’t about an instant sellout or smoke and mirrors, we just wanted as many people as possible to come and see IDLES. And it’s worked; it’s magic.”

“They have genuinely built this community of love, and how they make you feel as a fan at a gig is how the team feel as well”

This year marks a decade since IDLES began working on their debut album Brutalism, which came out in 2017. They have gone on to release four further LPs: Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018), Ultra Mono (2020), Crawler (2021) and Tangk (2024).

“What a decade!” enthuses Gregory. “Idles have proven they’re worth time and time again. The albums they’re writing are fucking incredible and we know the next one is going to be even better. I was trying to think about what it is about IDLES’ live shows that makes audiences fall in love with them and stay committed, and I think it’s that they make you feel – as a fan – that it’s about you and not them.

“They have genuinely built this community of love, and how they make you feel as a fan at a gig is how the team feel as well. There’s this genuine goodwill for them to go all the way. And we’ll do it – I feel like it’s limitless as to where we can get to.”

Mother Artists triumphed at last month’s LIVE Awards, taking the prize in the Booking Agency <21 category. The firm’s active roster also includes Amy Macdonald, The Teskey Brothers, CMAT, Ry X, Blair Davie and Foster the People, among others.

“Since Covid, I try not to overthink things too much,” adds Gregory. “I try just be present and day-to-day and – actually this sounds very hippieish but – enjoy the journey. What’s next for Mother? It’s really just to keep going as we are, and whatever we do will be based on what’s right for us and the clients.”

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Massive Attack has announced a weekend of live music in Liverpool, featuring IDLES and Nile Rodgers, under the banner Act 1.5 presents…

Last month, the British band delivered a groundbreaking eco-friendly concert in their home city of Bristol, dubbed Act 1.5.

The all-day outdoor event was a “manifestation” of a carbon emissions report commissioned by Massive Attack and conducted by scientists at the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

Today, Massive Attack and the Act 1.5 partners have announced a weekend event at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena between 28–30 November which will build on the sustainability methods first trialled in Bristol.

Continuing their partnership with clean energy provider Ecotricity, ‘Act 1.5 presents…’ will test, operate and adapt a range of measures to dramatically reduce the level of carbon emissions and air pollution that would usually be produced at an event of this scale.

These measures include a localised presale period for anyone living in the Liverpool City Region, an entire event site powered entirely by 100% renewable energy, a public transport incentive initiative to reduce travel emissions, a meat-free arena, 100% zero to landfill waste removal and a single technical set up shared by each act.

“Our recent Bristol show demonstrated beyond question that major live music events can be Paris 1.5 compatible”

News of Act 1.5 presents… coincides with today’s announcement at UN Headquarters in New York that Liverpool is the world’s first ‘UN Accelerator City’ for climate action.

“Our recent Bristol show demonstrated beyond question that major live music events can be Paris 1.5 compatible, and that audiences will embrace change enthusiastically,” says Robert Del Naja, 3D – Massive Attack.

“The vast scope of work in Liverpool and UN recognition means we can now concentrate more dynamic pilots and experiments to rapidly phase out fossil fuels. This idea and this insistence are not going back in any box. We’re delighted to see artists like Coldplay testing elements like localised ticket pre-sales as recommended in the Tyndall Centre Paris 1.5 decarbonisation road map and encourage other artists to do so freely. The talking stage is over, it’s time to act.”

Nile Rogers adds: “Some of the greatest CHIC shows have taken place in Liverpool so I’m thrilled that we are bringing our funk back to the city. We love the people and it’s always a night to remember. However, the circumstances this time are special, as we’re joining forces with our friends in Massive Attack to launch Liverpool’s UN climate action programme across music and film.

“Our We Are Family Foundation community of global youth changemakers have been sounding the alarm and working in the climate change space for years, as have Massive Attack, and now it’s time for all of the music and film communities to get onboard. Yes, we’re going to have a party at Liverpool Arena, but we’re also going to act!”

Read IQ‘s recent interview with A Greener Future’s Claire O’Neill about Act 1.5 in Bristol here.

For more information on Act 1.5 presents… click here.

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Italy’s Radar Concerti has planned a new two-day summer festival, headlined by British rock band IDLES.

The 7,000-capacity Fake Fest will take place at Beky Bay Beach in Rimini, a city on the Adriatic coast in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region.

A total of 10 acts – nine of which are yet to be announced – will perform at the beach festival on the 13 and 14 July, with tickets priced at €40.25.

Radar’s Fabrizio Pompeo told IQ that the festival is part of a strategy to “develop new events in Italy” under the All Things Live umbrella.

The Italian agency and promoter was bought by All Things Live in July 2022

The Italian agency and promoter was bought by All Things Live in July 2022, marking the Nordic live entertainment giant’s first foray into the region.

Radar, which has offices in Milan and Rome was founded in 2014 by Giorgio Riccitelli, who brought ex-Live Nation Finland senior promoter Pompeo on board as a partner in 2018.

The company has worked with international artists such as Idles, BadBadNotGood, Central Cee, Future Islands, FKA Twigs, the Libertines, The xx, Masego, M83, Kamasis Washington, Saint Jhn and Slowthai.

Radar also partners with festivals including Cinzella festival, Ypsigrock festival, Flowers festival, Todays festival, Spring attitude festival, Frac festival, Mengo festival and Farm festival.

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Kanye West-endorsed New York rapper Sheck Wes was the hottest new act of October, pipping emerging Southern hip-hop artist Quando Rondo and UK post-punk five-piece Idles to first place in the Radar Station’s monthly chart.

The Radar Station algorithm calculates the fastest-growing new artists by combining data across a number of online platforms, including Spotify, Facebook, Songkick and Last.fm. Florida rapper YNW Melly was last month’s hottest chart-topper; see the September chart here.

Born to Senegalese parents in 1998, Sheck Wes (né Khadimou Rassoul Cheikh Fall) was signed to Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack and Kanye West’s GOOD Music labels earlier this year, after taking first SoundCloud then Spotify by storm.

His debut single, ‘Mo Bamba’, made №16 in the Billboard Hot 100 last year, while his debut album, Mudboy, released through Interscope on 5 October, reached #16 in the US and #19 in Canada.

Sheck Wes currently has nearly 13m monthly listeners on Spotify. He is represented by Obi Asika and Kazia Davy at Echo Location.

Savannah, Georgia-born Quando Rondo, meanwhile, is another SoundCloud prodigy, with his first mixtape, Life B4 Fame, garnering 1.9m downloads in the space of a week when it dropped earlier this year. The follow-up album, Life After Fame, was released through Atlantic Records on 24 September.

Idles, formed in Bristol in 2011, followed up a support slot for Foo Fighters at the O2 Arena in September 2017 with a string of European festival dates this year, and released their second album, Joy as an Act of Resistance, on 7 September. A Guardian review describes the politically charged LP as “11 songs of focused, cathartic rage” and and calls Idles “Britain’s most necessary band”. They are represented by Natasha Bent and Geoff Meall at Coda Agency, and Paradigm’s Tom Windish and Carly James in North America.

See the full chart, with links to each artist’s Facebook page and booking agency details, below.

For more details about the Radar Station, contact info@theradarstation.com.au.

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