It Was a Nice Night for Billy Idol to Rock St. Louis

–by Sean Derrick

 

With his trademark sneer and signature punk rock spiked hair veteran rocker Billy Idol made his first non-festival headline appearance in St. Louis since 2005 with a show at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater on Thursday.

Idol is on tour in support of his 9th studio album, Dream Into It, which dropped last year. His tour, dubbed “It’s a Nice Day to…Tour Again” is fresh off his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.

At 70, Idol is still rocking like he is in his 30’s, and while the jumps may be shorter his punk attitude is still sky high, as are his fist pumps. Longtime guitarist Steve Stevens showed off his chops with excellent solos (something I have long said is sorely missing from today’s music scene.) And with AC/DC in town 2 days before and Zakk Wilde with Black Label Society the next night it was a terrific week for hard rock/metal guitar enthusiasts in the Gateway City.

Stevens wowed the crowd with a 5-minute guitar solo that ran the gauntlet in styles form flamenco to rock, weaving in bits from Led Zeppelin’s “Over the Hills and Far Away”, The Beatles’ “Blackbird”, and Van Halen’s “Eruption”.

Idol and Stevens (with guitarist Billy Morrison, bassist Stephen McGrath, drummer Erik Eldenius, keyboardist Paul Trudeau and backing vocalists Kitten Kuroi and Jessica Childress) stormed into the set with “Still Dancing”, “Cradle of Love”, and “Flesh for Fantasy” getting the crowd into a rocking mood for the night.

Kuroi and Childress showed off their incredible vocal talents throughout the set and complimented Idol’s rough, gritty, but still powerful vocals and commanding stage presence.

Arguably the face of MTV throughout the 80’s Idol still commands attention with a larger-than-life persona that transcends onto the stage. This was accomplished through several wardrobe changes, his still powerful vocals, and ever-present punk attitude.

Idol touched all eras of his career, even doing 2 songs from his first full time band “Generation X” with not only his hit single “Dancing With Myself” but the deep dive “Night of the Cadillacs”, with Morrison taking the lead on guitar. The set also touched his hits “Rebel Yell”, “Hot in the City”, “White Wedding” and “Eyes Without A Face”.

All in all the 90-minute show was fun and absolutely a must see for any fan of 80’s rock who wants to take a time machine for a couple hours back to the height of MTV.

Susanna Hoffs (former lead vocalist of The Bangles) opened with a charming 45-minute set that included several songs from The Bangles like “Walk Like an Egyptian”, “Manic Monday”, and “Eternal Flame”, some covers from The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, and Little Feat, and a song from her upcoming release The List.

Hoffs’ set got off to a rocky start on her first night of the tour with some technical glitches, but the fans took it in stride. Hoffs and her band also had all of the lights go out for several seconds. Hoffs and her band just laughed it off and never missed a beat. The charming Hoffs attitude and stage presence was polar opposite of Idol, not saying that either was bad. While Idol commanded attention Hoffs was demure and almost like “aw shucks, you want ME to open for you?” It was sweet and a nice contrast for Idol. It shouldn’t work, but it does.

Check out the full gallery of photos after the setlist below.

Billy Idol Setlist:

Still Dancing

Cradle of Love

Flesh For Fantasy

77

Love Unchained

Eyes Without a Face

Steve Stevens guitar solo

Mony Mony (tommy James & the Shondells cover)

Trouble With the Sweet Stuff

Night of the Cadillacs

Blue Highway / Top Gun Anthem

Rebel Yell

Encore:

Dancing With Myself (Generation X song)

Hot in the City

White Wedding