07.03.2005 - Idol on Fire!

Last night I went to go see Billy Idol at the Wiltern LG with my dear friend, Kastle.  She's one of my usual and consistent counterparts in crime these days when I venture into Hollywood to partake in whatever rock 'n' roll debauchery the City of Angels has to offer for the moment....

Billy Idol had been on my list of rock stars to see for a very long time now.  As a kid, I think I pretty much wore out my Generation X cassette tapes due to extra heavy rotation on my Walkman, but somehow for one reason or another I had never previously managed to make it to any of Billy's shows.  After waiting two full decades to get my Idol fill, I went to this particular show with a lot of curiosity and high expectations. The good news is that Billy-boy far exceeded them! 

As I sipped through my second cocktail of Malibu and pineapple juice, the lights went out and Billy Idol took to the stage singing Super Overdrive.  To my delight, Billy Idol's longtime guitarist and one of my own personal rock-god favorites, Steve Stevens, was there as well... They both looked perfectly preserved and it was almost shocking to see just how good they both looked after all of these years.  It was obvious right from the start that it would be a pretty rockin' night!

Billy blazed on through and rocked it out as they launched into Dancing With Myself. The crowd went NUTS!  It's pretty rare to see folks in L.A. get that excited as generally they can be pretty apathetic from being spoiled by the onslaught of the music industry here...

When Steve Stevens licked out the first few notes of Flesh For Fantasy, I literally got chills down my spine.  In another priceless moment, I had to laugh as Billy proclaimed, "Picture this! It's 1982. Danceteria... And I'm fucking Madonna!" just before launching into White Wedding.

Other songs from the set list included Body Snatcher, Scream, Eyes Without A Face,
Sweet Sixteen, L.A. Woman, Hot In The City, and covers of the Elvis classic, Heartbreak Hotel and Who Are You by the Who.  With a cigarette hanging out the side of his lips, Steve Stevens did several twirling guitar solos throughout the night in true rock star fashion!  I was overjoyed when they played Ready Steady Go. To hear a classic Generation X song live like that was a dream come true for me. 

It was pretty funny to watch just how piggish Billy could be as he flirted with the girls in the front row- flexing his pecs, sneering at them, and occasionally squatting down to sign his autograph.  You could tell he was really enjoying himself and having a great time.  His energy was ecstatic and it was fully reciprocated by the audience.  During Rebel Yell he kept shouting "Do you feel alright?" and the crowd would yell back "I feel alright!" as they shook their fists in their air.  The show closed with an extra-long guitar-dueling version of Mony Mony.

The Wiltern's website touted this show as being "undiluted with opening acts" and as the sold-out concert clocked in at around 2 full hours of unruly rock, screaming guitar solos, and a fanatical crowd full of pumping fists, I can see why no opening acts were necessary... I had an absolute blast and I can only hope to see him play live again!  In his own words, "I broke my leg. I fixed it! I broke my head. I fixed it!"  He may be pushing the big 50 this year and he's had his bouts with motorcycle accidents and drug overdoses, but this was full-force Billy Fuckin' Idol!!!!! 

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