BILLY IDOL
Glasgow Barrowlands
14th November 2005
To be honest, Billy Idol is one of those artists I was resigned to never seeing. At his peak, he was too big to play anywhere round here, and when the hits dried up, I envisioned him retiring Ozzy Osbourne style to his mansion in the states. So when I heard that he was not only touring, but playing the Barrowland, there was no hesitation. Rock gods like Billy don’t play in your back yard all that often.
For those of you who don’t know the Barrowland as a venue, it deserves an introduction of it’s own. It’s old, badly equipped and the toilets smell a bit funny. When the lights go down, though, it has an energy like no other venue I’ve been to, and I’ve heard this said by countless artists through the years –and not in a rock’n’roll “this is the best venue in the world!” line that gets screamed every night, this is in the press when the tour is done. So when the lights go down at 8:15, the noise is deafening – we’re expecting a quality rock’n’roll show from a legend. And we’re not disappointed.
Opening with a new track can be hit-or-miss, but with an adoring crowd, Billy could have opened with a Westlife cover and got an ovation. Thankfully, he decided against Ireland’s finest, opting instead for “Super Overdrive” from new album “Devil’s Playground”, his first record for 12 years. A noisy rocker, it sets up the show perfectly. Billy himself looks much like he did 20 years ago, all peroxide spiky hair and his trademark curled lip, and looks genuinely excited to be here. Having established that there’s new material, going straight into Dancing With Myself, and the crowd goes wild. As if that wasn’t enough, we’re then treated to White Wedding, far earlier that we had any right to deserve. Now, I go to a lot of gigs, but it’s a long time since I’ve heard such a fine live song – it’s a classic on record, but live brings a whole new dimension, as the thousands of us in the place have known this song intimately for decades, and none of us, or Billy, hold back. An experience worth the ticket price alone.
For the first few tracks, Billy’s been shedding clothes like it was June in California rather than November in Glasgow, and by the appropriate Flesh For Fantasy, he’s his traditional bare-chested self. For a man who hits 50 in a couple of weeks, he’s in incredible shape – a lifetime of drink and drugs may destroy your brain and liver, but it clearly does your six-pack no harm at all. During the next couple of tracks off the new album, he throws paper plates like Frisbees into the audience – later on, I discovered that they’d all been signed by Billy and the band before the gig. A small gesture, but here’s an artist who clearly cares about his fans.
So far, I’ve only talked about the artist himself, but anyone who’s followed Billy’s career knows that “Billy Idol” is effectively a duo, with Steve Stevens on guitar and songwriting duty. At regular intervals, Billy moves to the back and gives the stage to Steve, whose flamboyant style gets the same kind of reception as the singer’s posturing.
For the next hour, we get a greatest hits set interspersed with tracks from the new album. The new stuff goes down very well, and seems to be significantly heavier than the hits, but that’s no bad thing. There are a couple of Generation X classics, “Ready Steady Go!” and “Kiss Me Deadly”, but strangely no “King Rocker”. “Sweet Sixteen” grinds to a halt after the first verse as Billy starts singing the middle eight a verse too early – laughs all round and we re-start, while Billy quips “I’m an Idol, not a god”. “LA Woman” becomes “Glasgow Woman” for the evening - not sure how he’ll manage that in Nottingham in a few days, but we appreciate the gesture. Billy and his keyboard player also cover Randy Newman’s “Louisiana” as a mark of respect for those who suffered in New Orleans.
The show closes after almost 2 hours, and the band leave. However, we know he’ll be back, as he’s saved a couple of monsters for us. Steve Stevens treats us to 5 minutes of virtuoso guitar work solo, and is rewarded in no small measure. Then, if I thought “White Wedding” was good, “Rebel Yell” was divine. It’s the perfect live song, it’s got the energy and sing-along factor that elevate it above almost anything else you could hear. Another exit, and then back for “Mony Mony”, and again he raises the bar. It’s a song he’s made his own when playing live, and is as good a live song as I’ve heard in my 25 years of gigs. Towards the end, a roadie takes on drum duty and the guitarist straps on a guitar, and duels with Stevens to great effect. Then the keyboard player, and then Billy himself, get their guitars out, and we’re treated to 4 guitars and a bass front and centre, a finale the likes of which I’ve never seen. This truly was rock and roll as it should be.
…and then they were gone, with a promise to be back next year. I know a couple of thousand people who I can guarantee will be there.
Set list (in approximate order)
Super Overdrive
Dancing With Myself
White Wedding
Flesh For Fantasy
World Comin' Down
Eyes Without A Face
Scream
Catch My Fall
To Be A Lover
Sweet Sixteen
Ready Steady Go
LA Woman
Louisiana
Rat Race
Hot In The City
Body Snatcher
Blue Highway
Kiss Me Deadly
Rebel Yell
Mony Mony
To be honest, Billy Idol is one of those artists I was resigned to never seeing. At his peak, he was too big to play anywhere round here, and when the hits dried up, I envisioned him retiring Ozzy Osbourne style to his mansion in the states. So when I heard that he was not only touring, but playing the Barrowland, there was no hesitation. Rock gods like Billy don’t play in your back yard all that often.
For those of you who don’t know the Barrowland as a venue, it deserves an introduction of it’s own. It’s old, badly equipped and the toilets smell a bit funny. When the lights go down, though, it has an energy like no other venue I’ve been to, and I’ve heard this said by countless artists through the years –and not in a rock’n’roll “this is the best venue in the world!” line that gets screamed every night, this is in the press when the tour is done. So when the lights go down at 8:15, the noise is deafening – we’re expecting a quality rock’n’roll show from a legend. And we’re not disappointed.
Opening with a new track can be hit-or-miss, but with an adoring crowd, Billy could have opened with a Westlife cover and got an ovation. Thankfully, he decided against Ireland’s finest, opting instead for “Super Overdrive” from new album “Devil’s Playground”, his first record for 12 years. A noisy rocker, it sets up the show perfectly. Billy himself looks much like he did 20 years ago, all peroxide spiky hair and his trademark curled lip, and looks genuinely excited to be here. Having established that there’s new material, going straight into Dancing With Myself, and the crowd goes wild. As if that wasn’t enough, we’re then treated to White Wedding, far earlier that we had any right to deserve. Now, I go to a lot of gigs, but it’s a long time since I’ve heard such a fine live song – it’s a classic on record, but live brings a whole new dimension, as the thousands of us in the place have known this song intimately for decades, and none of us, or Billy, hold back. An experience worth the ticket price alone.
For the first few tracks, Billy’s been shedding clothes like it was June in California rather than November in Glasgow, and by the appropriate Flesh For Fantasy, he’s his traditional bare-chested self. For a man who hits 50 in a couple of weeks, he’s in incredible shape – a lifetime of drink and drugs may destroy your brain and liver, but it clearly does your six-pack no harm at all. During the next couple of tracks off the new album, he throws paper plates like Frisbees into the audience – later on, I discovered that they’d all been signed by Billy and the band before the gig. A small gesture, but here’s an artist who clearly cares about his fans.
So far, I’ve only talked about the artist himself, but anyone who’s followed Billy’s career knows that “Billy Idol” is effectively a duo, with Steve Stevens on guitar and songwriting duty. At regular intervals, Billy moves to the back and gives the stage to Steve, whose flamboyant style gets the same kind of reception as the singer’s posturing.
For the next hour, we get a greatest hits set interspersed with tracks from the new album. The new stuff goes down very well, and seems to be significantly heavier than the hits, but that’s no bad thing. There are a couple of Generation X classics, “Ready Steady Go!” and “Kiss Me Deadly”, but strangely no “King Rocker”. “Sweet Sixteen” grinds to a halt after the first verse as Billy starts singing the middle eight a verse too early – laughs all round and we re-start, while Billy quips “I’m an Idol, not a god”. “LA Woman” becomes “Glasgow Woman” for the evening - not sure how he’ll manage that in Nottingham in a few days, but we appreciate the gesture. Billy and his keyboard player also cover Randy Newman’s “Louisiana” as a mark of respect for those who suffered in New Orleans.
The show closes after almost 2 hours, and the band leave. However, we know he’ll be back, as he’s saved a couple of monsters for us. Steve Stevens treats us to 5 minutes of virtuoso guitar work solo, and is rewarded in no small measure. Then, if I thought “White Wedding” was good, “Rebel Yell” was divine. It’s the perfect live song, it’s got the energy and sing-along factor that elevate it above almost anything else you could hear. Another exit, and then back for “Mony Mony”, and again he raises the bar. It’s a song he’s made his own when playing live, and is as good a live song as I’ve heard in my 25 years of gigs. Towards the end, a roadie takes on drum duty and the guitarist straps on a guitar, and duels with Stevens to great effect. Then the keyboard player, and then Billy himself, get their guitars out, and we’re treated to 4 guitars and a bass front and centre, a finale the likes of which I’ve never seen. This truly was rock and roll as it should be.
…and then they were gone, with a promise to be back next year. I know a couple of thousand people who I can guarantee will be there.
Set list (in approximate order)
Super Overdrive
Dancing With Myself
White Wedding
Flesh For Fantasy
World Comin' Down
Eyes Without A Face
Scream
Catch My Fall
To Be A Lover
Sweet Sixteen
Ready Steady Go
LA Woman
Louisiana
Rat Race
Hot In The City
Body Snatcher
Blue Highway
Kiss Me Deadly
Rebel Yell
Mony Mony
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