AO Arena, Manchester – 13/10/2022
After Brilliant opening sets from Toyah and Killing Joke who, let’s face it are both acts on the opposite end of the musical spectrum, but somehow tonight, it all fits together perfectly – the crowd eagerly await the arrival of Billy Idol. Excitement is building as the final preparations are made on stage and at 9.10pm, the lights dim, the music starts and we are in for one hell of a night.
This is a long awaited return for Billy, who last graced the shores of old Blighty some four years ago before the covid 19 pandemic and hasn’t the world changed a lot since then?! I’m pleased to see that, as an athletic looking Billy Idol enters the stage, the world may have changed, but Billy has not. He is still sporting his blonde spikey hair and leathers! Some things remain a constant!
Opening up with an old Generation X song ‘Dancing With Myself’ the crowd jump to their feet and don’t sit down for the rest of the night! Billy starts the show from the top of the raised platform on stage which is used to great effect throughout the night, before coming down to join his band. The band consists of guitarist Steve Stevens, Stephen McGrath on Bass, Billy Morrison on second guitar, Paul Trudeau on Keys and Erik Eldenius on drums.
Straight away Billy’s energy just hit me. Here is a man, who is 67, running around whilst singing and he looks and sounds great! ‘Dancing with Myself’ comes to a close then it’s straight into ‘Cradle of Love’ and then ‘Flesh for Fantasy’, Billy and the band don’t take their foot off the gas for a second.
He then introduces a new song and tells the crowd how much the pandemic was ‘pissing him off’ – ‘Cage’ is from the latest four track EP of the same name and is about Billy being unable to attend his mum’s funeral over lockdown. I’ve been listening to a lot of the newer stuff lately and I think it really packs a punch and so it would seem so the rest of the crowd, with the song getting a huge cheer at the end!
A glorious rendition of ‘Eyes Without a Face’ had the whole crowd singing along and let me just say this, Billy is the consummate performer, with nearly 50 years in the business he can really work a crowd. He had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand and lapping up every second of this amazing show!
I have to mention Steve Stevens, who is a criminally underrated guitarist, Steve has some major guitar skills! I loved the Spanish solo half way through, it was absolutely incredible, and the pairing of Billy Idol and Steve Stevens is a formula that works so incredibly well.
Yet another fan singalong in the form of Mony Mony is followed by a deep dive into Billy’s past with another Generation X song, Billy likes to play a few of the old ones and tonight it’s ‘100 Punks’! Energy levels surpassing 100 onstage, this is one hell of a show and Billy Idol is still going. He’s not even breaking a sweat!
Billy talks to the crowd again, saying the next song is one of his favourites and only needs two words to introduce it; the crowd know exactly and a cheer erupts as Billy shouts ‘Rebel Yell’. Billy is really impressing me, he is on fine form and vocally he is really on point! Just amazing.
Rebel Yell comes to an end and the band disappear offstage and return moments later with Billy now in a floor length jacket and bare chested! Again, he’s 67 and in great shape! Wow! We are back to the Cage EP for ‘Rebel Like You’ before the band launch into ‘an old rock n roll number’; ‘Born To Lose’. Billy and the band finish and still he hasn’t broken a sweat. It looks like he can go on forever, Billy and the band look like they’re having so much fun up there on stage!
Sadly the end has to come sometime and Billy teases the crowd, ‘is there one song we haven’t done? Is there something we’ve forgotten’… The opening chords to ‘White Wedding kick in and the band play us out!
Unlike most shows where the band play their final song and then disappear, at the end of ‘White Wedding’ Billy invited the band to the front and introduced them all in turn. What an absolutely incredible night. Billy Idol is an incredible performer who hasn’t lost anything in the near 50 years he’s been in the business. Great show, a stunningly great voice and a brilliant night! And in Billy’s words he really showed us that he is still… ‘Billy fucking Idol!’
