“Manchester, England come on let’s see you dance,” growls Billy Idol across the sea of arms waving up at him at the AO Arena. The 80s icon is here to rock and he ain’t messing - blasting open his set with Generation X smasher Dancing With Myself to ensure the crowd are as fired up as he is.
Billy, with his trademark white blonde spikes, punk snarl and leather-clad form, is about as iconically 80s as you get, sitting alongside the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince as trailblazers of the decade.
Now he's back, somewhat bruised and battered by the events of the past three years of pandemic like the rest of us, but back he is. Here with his Roadside tour which kicks off in Manchester ahead of a string of dates across the UK.
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" Manchester, England," he keeps repeating as he stalks the stage on the opening track - stressing the England so much as he's so glad to be back here after his time caged by lockdowns, as he goes on to confess. He cuts the perfect swaggering rock figure on stage - the trademark snarl still intact, air guitar wielded at will, and his lean form poured into a succession of leathers.
Rather aptly as the seductive thud of Flesh For Fantasy pounds out, he gives us our first flash of flesh - when he strips off into an open shirt. Silver chains and padlocks dangle down his sculpted abs to the delight of his adoring fans as he leaps onto the monitor at the front of stage.
Yep, at the age of 66, he still cuts an impressively muscular rock lord figure. He is brilliantly backed by his crew of axemen, led by the inimitable Steve Stevens, all with their flowing black locks thrashed about to make the perfect contrast to Billy's peroxide punk quiff.
“Yeah it’s gonna be a good night I can feel it,” he smiles, eyeing up the Manchester masses all up on their feet.
But his is not a night of mere rock nostalgia - he’s keen to showcase his new tracks and tells us about some of the emotional times that have inspired them.
The covid pandemic, and successive lockdowns have hit him hard - particularly the loss of his mum and not being able to come back to the UK for her funeral. It inspired the track Cage which he blasts out after telling the crowds: "This f***ing virus is really p***ing me off."
There's also exploration of his darker moments in a career that spans an impressive five decades. That he's here at all is something he sounds completely thankful for.
He tells the crowd: "I was very drug addicted in the 80s, 90s and the 70s really… I scared myself in those days but the great thing is you can write a song about it." Before introducing powerful newie Runnin From a Ghost.
His previous two visits to Manchester saw Billy at the Apollo Theatre, but here in 2022, in a vast Arena setting, things are ramped up a tad.
There's a huge video screen playing out things like an 80s-inspired neon street scene, snippets of his more recent videos and a futurist metropolis with a floating crown that rather neatly hovers above his head to maintain his rock king status.
There is everything you'd probably expect from this kind of gig - meandering guitar solos from Stevens backlit in clouds of steam, or the odd moment when he plays his guitar behind his head. Naturally highlights came with the big Billy hits though - mobile phones firmly aloft as Mony Mony kicked in, and fans swooning in sway for Eyes Without a Face.
It seemed to me to be a blisteringly swift set - but then this night did cram in a triple bill of entertainers. The concert was kicked off by punk princess Toyah, before the industrial rock of Killing Joke, who are joining Billy on this tour.
It all rumbles along to an inevitably wonderful crescendo of Rebel Yell. Even Billy himself calls it, saying: "We get to the point of the show where I do my favourite number."
The 1983 anthem retains its lusty vigour, with every fan in the crowd singing out that they want "More, More, More" too. And clever Billy ensures he's got it in the bag when he waits for the encore to pull out the only song that's going to top that.
"Is there one number we haven’t done yet Steve?" he asks his long-time friend as the crowds willingly shout it out.
"Show them what a hit song sounds like," he bellows as the clattering thrust of White Wedding sneds the crowd, predictably, wild.
Billy ends the show with an emotional thank you to his fans. He says: "I first came to Manchester in 1976 and you've always meant a lot to me. I want to thank you for making my life so f***ing great."
Setlist
Dancing with Myself
Cradle of Love
Flesh for Fantasy
Cage
Speed
Bitter Taste
Eyes Without a Face
Mony Mony
Runnin from the Ghost
One Hundred Punks
Blue Highway
Rebel Yell
Encore
Rebel Like You
Born to Lose
White Wedding
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The secret cake outlet shop with cut-price caterpillar cakes, brownies, flapjacks and all sorts
