Calvin's Weblog

Vital Idol

Last night Carole and I were at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to see Billy Idol's new "Devil's Playground" tour. Let me tell ya... for a guy that turns 50 in four months, he sure has a hell of a lot of energy - not to mention the bod of a teenager... and he made sure to show it off allllll night long...

The girls went wild for him, that's for sure - and he made sure to play it up to the max, too. Carole went as far as to describe him as "pure sex on stage", LOL - and that's all fine and dandy, but how was the MUSIC??? Pretty damn good, that's how it was. It was a really well put together show with a modest stage show, but effective lighting and loads of energy. Steve Stevens on guitar is always a blast of virtuoso energy, so that kept me happy while Billy was busy grinding the girls in the front row. Steve Stevens has been playing with Billy Idol ever since Billy left "Generation X" in 1981 to form his solo band, but you may know Steve from one of his MANY side projects - like his solo band "Steve Stevens and the Atomic Playboys", or his writing of the "Top Gun" soundtrack, or his awesome solos in Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" video, or his tour with the Vince Neil band, after Vince left Motley Crue... just to name a few...
Yes, I admit it - I was there half to see Billy Idol, the biggest name to ever come out of 70's Brit Punk, and one of the very first successes of the MTV revolution - but I was also half there to see Steve Stevens, one of the guitar legends that I grew up admiring back when I was first learning to play.

Billy confessed to be "completely drunk" last night, but I'm not so sure it wasn't an act.. sure, he rambled incoherently a bit, and laughed at his own lame jokes a lot, but I never saw him drinking anything but bottled water, and his performances were flawless, so who knows ... maybe he was just kidding around. It was sure fun though, that's for sure.

One strange thing about the two-and-a-quarter hour show was the inordinate number of cover tunes that they played. Sure, Billy IS known for doing a lot of covers, like "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (theme from Breakfast Club movie), and of course, he pulled out "L.A. Woman" (by the Doors) and closed the show with his monster rendition of "Mony Mony" (by Tommy James and the Shondells), but some of the other oddball stuff they pulled off (flawlessly, I might add) was "Heartbreak Hotel" (Elvis), "Jump" (Van Halen), and "Who are You?" (The Who) - sure, they did all the songs to perfection, but it was still a shocker to substitute covers for originals that never made it to the stage last night. Conspicuously absent were "Cradle of Love", "Dancing with Myself" and virtually all of the "Charmed Life" and "Cyber Punk" albums ... though I must admit, it was really cool to hear him pull out the old Generation-X classic "Ready Steady Go" which he prefaced by querying "Can you believe I've been performing this song for TWENTY-SIX years?"

When it was all over, Carole and I both agreed (for entirely different reasons) that this was a great, memorable show. I must admit, that after hundreds and hundreds of concerts, they all start to become a blur when thinking back, but there are occasionally shows that really stick out - and this was one of them. For Carole, I think it'll be the image of Billy's washboard belly, for me (assuming I can shake that image!) it's the power, energy, charisma, and presence that an 80's punker can still bring to the stage after 26 years of decadence and debauchery (Billy hasn't exactly been living a cautious life).

They're still on top of the world, I'm glad I've finally seen this band after all these years!

Posted by Calvin at July 13, 2005 08:41 AM