Will I be as cool as Billy Idol when I’m 67? I hope so!
So I saw Billy Idol in Boston on 9/9 and it was good stuff. He may be pushing 70, but he puts on a much better show than some of the younger dudes I’ve seen recently (Third Eye Blind, Incubus, and Collective Soul for instance…). He may do an old man shuffle dance but still sounds great and has fun.
The night started off with an opener named Alex Cameron. He’s from Australia and the act consists of him, his laptop for prerecorded totally 80s synth music, and his saxophone playing friend. He sang and had the lamest dance moves. It was so bad, that it was good. The only song title I remember is Marlon Brando and by the end of it I was singing along and laughing. Ahhhh, good times!
Billy Idol time! He has a pretty tight set list it seems when looking at previous shows, just a few changes here and there. He opened with Dancing With Myself, and then played the song I really wanted to hear second: Rock the Cradle of Love. The rest of the night was a bonus for me. He played a few in a row that I wasn’t particularly familiar with, but all solid tunes, before getting to
As we hit the halfway point of the night, it was time for a guitar solo…from Steve Stevens! Billy’s long time guitarist is still with him and the dude is a great player. When people talk about guitar virtuosos, it’s usually Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, etc…why no love for Steve Stevens? He rules and makes some incredible sounds.
After the solo, it was Mony Mony time. Always a crowd pleaser. Another unfamiliar one (for me) was next called Running From the Ghost, but it was an awesome song. Definitely on the heavier side, great guitars, good vocals and lyrics…one to check out for sure if you don’t know it.
The worked in the Top Gun theme at the end of Blue Highway, and closed the main set with Rebel Yell. At this point, you figure what’s left? But they came back out for the encore which was Hot In the City, and White Wedding. Billy had a lot of hits back in the day…and he played them all.
The crowd was cool too. Everyone was really into it, lots of dancing, singing along (not too much to drown him out for the most part), and just enjoying seeing a rock icon. For me, being in heavy rotation when MTV was still playing videos all day, Billy Idol is a true rock star, and they don’t make rock stars like they used to. Awesome show and a great night that I got to enjoy with my buddy Del.
Full set list here
Next up, Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper!
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