Sounds and Shadows

If there was any constant in my life, it was in 1985, when my oldest brother started playing “Rebel Yell” at the house, then “Hot In The City”, and it moved from there to the sound that I could not even comprehend, from Duran Duran being my fave at the time (I was almost 11) and listening to Ozzy. Judas Priest, I heard this unspeakable glory in the sounds of “Generation X”, learning what the sound was behind this “Punk” thing. I can honestly say that, as much as I loved the metal we heard around the house, PUNK changed my life. The wildest moments were in August 1986, driving with my brother’s punk buddy at 4 am around Washington, DC, hearing “YOUTH YOUTH YOUTH”, or “Kiss Me, Deadly Tonight”, Punk somehow shifted in my brain to this new sound, and I have never broken free of it since.

Concert Review

Artist: Billy Idol

Date: September 5, 2025.

Supporting Act: Joan Jett

Venue: Utah First Amphitheater

City: West Valley City, Utah.

I have seen Billy Idol several times over the last almost 40 years, and knowing that this is the kind of tour that is his own Viking Funeral, going out in flames and glory, I expected nothing short of exactly that.

Joan Jett.

Well, for someone who has earned her stripes starting the same time a Billy Idol but in Los Angeles, Joan Jett is one of the godmothers of Punk herself, she was in “The Runaways” the first all girl punk rock band with Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Sandy West, and are most known for shocking everyone within earshot with their song “Cherry Bomb”.

Joan delivered a tight set, but her voice sounded really hoarse. She was good, but wasn’t singing in the higher notes that we are used to hearing. The only song that sounded like it should have been “I Love Rock & Roll”.

No photos were allowed.

So, Billy Idol, well, from the humble raw beginnings of Generation X, in small clubs, with barely a stage and a couple of lights, suddenly we saw the sold-out amphitheater go dark, and a large screen behind the stage light up, with echoes of previous hits. In contrast, the lights went white, red, and blue, and the band took their positions on the stage. “Hey Little Sister” and the silhouette from the first album, glowing red, the drums kicked off, then Steve Stevens on the guitar gave way for the legend to come running out on the stage, and he gave us “Still Dancing” with “Sneer Delight”, he was back in front of a full audience, doing what he does best.

“Cradle of Love” from the 1990 album “Charmed Life”, he was all over the stage dancing, moving quickly, only a little stiff in his leg, but he clearly has been able to bounce back from the incident where we almost lost him.

He had a costume change, where he took off his leather biker jacket and swapped it out for a biker’s cut vest. The band amped up with the guitar and basslines of “Flesh For Fantasy”. It felt just as intense as when I first heard it in ’85. With images of TV screens stacked behind him, it was evident that he had taken care of his voice for all these years. He was on top of the platforms on the stage, making the standard Billy Idol wave, also known as “The Fist,” with all the leather spiked bracelets from 1984. Each member showcased their instruments, where the bassist got to thump out some lines, and the rock and roll god Steve Stevens played the top line over the bass, and was just as cool as ever, big hair and all. Taking the guitar lines into almost an improvised guitar solo, Billy would wave a fist and yell “FLESH” with everyone singing along. It was all pretty intense here, and we were only 3 songs in.

He talked about everyone who felt like an outsider, and played “77” for those of us who made our world listening to this kind of music, against whatever the grain was. Billy and so many other artists gave us all of this, starting in 1977.

While ramping everyone up, with banter “GIVE IT TO ME, GONNA HAVE SOME FUN?” and expecting everyone to yell “YES!!!”, we suddenly heard an almost new age synth line, straight out of “old VH1” then Steve Stevens started playing flamenco guitar almost in a minor chord progression under a white spotlight, this went on for a few measures, then the band kicked in, with it sounding like a smooth-jazz vibe, it all turned into “Eyes Without A Face”. (oh yeah, and Billy had another costume change). It was so mellow, and as rich as always, but a very “Adult” sounding vibe with it. I guess we are all grown up now. It was in the right meter, but it felt like slow motion. When the guitar solo was secondary to Billy’s “smooth” vocals, as strange as it was, it still just felt fantastic with how they are doing it these days.

As though we weren’t already graced by some guitar solos, Steve Stevens kinda went off into playing a meddle of guitar riffs from whatever was on his mind that night, some old Billy songs, some Spanish guitar, some Bach crescendos, I thought I even heard the guitar line from “The Damned” cover of “Alone Again Or”, then everyone chanting “Ole”, a piece of “Stairway To Heaven” and who knows hat else, it was just fun.

They went into the biggest song in Utah that everyone knows by Billy Idol, his cover of “Money Money” by Tommy James and the Shondells. That song got continuous airplay, and was played at EVERY LDS youth stake dance, and school dance, and often in the dance clubs. Billy had the crowd losing their minds. It was a bit odd, though I noticed that he had forgotten the words in a few places. Maybe it was just out of boredom, it tightened up at the end of the 2^nd verse, and he had the entire amphitheater singing along with him. With his background vocalists all glammed out standing at his sides, they were just as intense as Billy was, getting everyone worked up to sing along. These ladies made it sound so much better than the recording on the EP “Don’t Stop”.

Billy then started telling the audience how good they all looked, saying, “You are the best looking audience we’ve seen in a while”, all for the cheers. Then they played a cover of Rose Royce’s “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore”. A nice selection outside of the norm, and they did it well.

Billy took a somber moment to talk about having near-death experiences. Talking about his motorcycle accident, where he was on too many substances, and it led to him almost dying, and all the medical treatments in the world to put him back together. It reminded me of the gig on the “Charmed Life” tour, where he walked out on stage with a cane, then threw it away after the first song, while mocking the doctors who said he would never walk again. He had a sense of arrogance and bravado that night. I am not sure how real it was, or if it was for show. He said some really jerky things back then on stage and laid down a lot of crude jokes. Tonight he explained how all of those days were behind him, and too many times he was supposed to have died, then he humbly said, “I had to wise up, because I realized I wasn’t ready to go yet, I still had too much fun waiting for me”. Then he played his song “Too Much Fun”, which told that exact story, in a killer Glam Punk Rock delivery. It was magnificent to have that moment, and the song was his way of sharing those thoughts with all of us.

After another costume change, he brought up losing a friend and a great musician, Ozzy Osborne, a few weeks earlier, and introduced one of Ozzy’s best friends, Billy Morrison, who was in the band. Billy Morrison told a great story, said “Yes, he was THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS, and that I hope you all know he is looking over us tonight,” and had everyone chant “OZZY” really loudly. He told this story about being in the studio with Steve Stevens, and how much Ozzy loved punk. They would be recording, and at any random interval in the studio, Ozzy would say, “I just fucking love Billy Idol”.

SO, to celebrate Ozzy, let’s have a nice slice of Punk, how about some Generation X (You all know Generation X), Billy said, “Yeah, let’s do it! “Ready! Steady! GO!”. With that, all the old school punk fans were standing up and singing along with the punk rock classic, pogo stick dancing, and waving fists. This was not the amphitheater of 18K people; it was a basement pub dive bar in London, 1978. The only thing cooler would have been if Tony James, Mark Laff, and Bob Andrews were there for this one. (I met Tony in the Sisters of Mercy back in 1991, oh so close)

With a grinding Steve Stevens guitar solo that NO ONE was complaining about, playing more lines from obscure songs, flipping feedback switches, at random, then the guitar lines of “Blue Highway”.

All the old school fans were singing “You you we want to ride, On the Blue Highway”, reminiscent of Hunter S Thompson’s legendary road trip, being caught up in one of the best punk songs that Billy Idol wanted to sing about. The song closed out with Steve Stevens just showing off by now, playing some more great riffs, showing what an absolute Deity on guitar that he is, some fun lines familiar to us, he smiled with a rather mischievous grin, as he went into the theme from “Top Gun”, yeah, that was just cool too. At this point, with all the vocalists taking their slice of attention on the stage, and showcasing what they have done, it was only fair and proper that we get that one out of Steve Stevens.

“Cheers, Steve,” Billy said, then began to tell a story where he was at a party at someone’s place in New York City, shortly after he moved to the United States. It was Ronnie Wood’s house from the Rolling Stones, at one point during the night, standing in front of him was Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Ronnie Wood, and each had this big bottle of “Tennessee Southern Sour Mash Bourbon” and he was curious what they were all drinking, then as Keith Richards put the bottle to his lips, he noticed one name on the label, it was “REBEL YELL”, what a way to introduce a song. They played Rebel Yell just as pure and tight as we all first heard it. This was how they finished out the first part of the set. The Graphics on the screens were fantastic; you just had to be there to get it.

After a several-minute interlude and another costume change, they took the stage again. The unmistakable drum line for “Dancing With Myself,” the guitar fired up, and everyone was doing exactly what the song suggested; all of the punters were dancing, going back to so many of those great memories resurrecting in this one shared moment.

While all of us were sweating and catching our breath, he told another story about moving to New York City in March of 1981 to start his solo career. He was going to renew himself, and when he was going through that boiling summer, and he was walking around in bondage boots and leather trousers, he felt like he was in that movie “The Warriors”. He was walking around and thought, “People around me seem hot, if there is the first song I’m gonna write, it’s gonna be ‘Hot In The City'”. This was the ONLY song he sang out of the original vocal vibe. It was good, just different. Everyone was swaying their heads to this one. He was singing like Elvis at the end, letting his background singers take the lead.

Billy then went into his apology to the world, to his friends, and to his fans. I found his humility (If you could have been on the stage like this) authentic. He knows he had some less-than-stellar albums and tours; he knows that right now, this time, nostalgia is what people are going out to see. He talked about his family and these experiences, and this new song, “People I Love”. It was a great song, actually, and spilled out his heart to everyone he had disappointed over the years while being on the road. His candor in all of this was real, and he earned everyone’s respect.

Apologizing for not knowing where he was in the set, he asked the punters what they might have missed. Then with “Steve, show them what a hit song sounds like, will ya?” And there were all these women in wedding veils running down to the front tossing them at the stage, yes, it was “WHITE WEDDING”. The set closed out with as many classics and fun new songs, showing the world that Billy Idol still has it. Yes, everyone, like he said, one or two lines about this “It’s a nice day to TOUR AGAIN”. Whether you went for a few singles from high school, or you are a die-hard fan, Billy Idol delivered the most amazing set, showing us all that he still has what it takes to entertain a crowd, and tell us all how much he loves what we gave back. Billy Idol decided to go out with a BANG, anyone who sees this tour will give him that.

Cheers Billy.

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