Concert Review: Billy Idol - Auckland - 19th January 2020

Billy Idol | Photo Megan Moss

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By Andra Jenkin

Artist: Billy Idol

Date: Sunday January 19th, 2020

Venue:Western Springs

The concert vibe is apparent with the summer frocks competing for attention with the diehard 90s docs and tartan brigade, both sporting multi coloured hair. For those keen on people-watching, the early hours of the 4 band concert provides diverse entertainment. All of Auckland appears to have tipped itself into the packed outer fields of Western Springs Stadium, and it’s not just those who remember Billy Idol from the heyday of punk, but their children and grandchildren who have gathered here as well. 

I’ve heard good things about the support band BEACHWARE, which have a cruisy chill rock sound that was entirely appropriate for a line-up that looks like it belongs to a paired down big day out. The crowd for these guys are kids, which is to be expected, but as the crowd gathers momentum, it’s all ages for Elemeno P.

The New Zealand accent is unmistakable as Elemeno P take the stage. They have the easy rapport with the crowd you’d expect from seasoned rock and rollers. People are moving to the front and starting to dance, me among them. I just can’t help myself and I’d dare you to stand still through such shake your arse numbers as Tahoe and Verona. If you’re an Aucklander, Verona is part of the backdrop of town and if you haven’t had good fortune at the bar you’re really missing out. They play the Verlaines - the one that knows its own name, which is a blessing. I love this song and dance with no fucks given. Not that anyone cares; they’re alongside, swaying and shoe gazing.

Then it’s over and Elemeno P, who got us all hyped have gone and we’re left with the radio, but its Joan Jett and Tina Turner and the Eurythmics, so it’s not the end of the world, unless you count the Rem song being pumped through the speakers while in the background the guitar techs are getting the sound sweet as for Stellar.

This is a good time to talk about the amenities. I have to say they did well and I was worried. About 4 hours into a gig things can get pretty dicey when the gates open at 4, but the water stations were great, you could refill your containers and take in empty ones if you wanted. They also had free cups. The toilets were fine, which is always a small miracle and you could bring in low chairs if you’re the type to sit at a rock concert.

I’m not, so I’m a few rows from the front when Stellar starts. Stellar is freaking epic as they always are, I’m holding out for Pretty Violence, a staple I always played back in my brief DJ days. They keep me hanging while rocking out a groovy line up of old favourites I’ve sorely missed. Boh Runga is, as always, the epitome of cool, and effortlessly so. In skinny black jeans, and a white shirt with a strappy black corset thing underneath. She outclasses the guys fashion-wise, as they’re wearing the rock uniform of jeans and a shirt or T-shirt. But they all look the part, and the heat isn’t just the sun beating down on us all. 

There’s a tribute to Sharon O’Neil’s Maxine. A surprisingly danceable number given its dark subject matter. Last song up Stellar did play Violent and I sang along at the top of my lungs and danced so hard the woman behind me declared she was standing her ground no matter how wild I got when Billy came on. 
I’m interested to see what the pit is going to be like, chilled and restrained so far, with that weird thing that kiwi audiences do where they jostle for position to get a spot up front, but then stand there like scenery while the performers give it their all. 

I’m expecting a rough moshpit, because though the vibe has been chill so far, the most violent mosh I was ever in was for The Buzzcocks. The older punters who were here for punk the first time round are as hard as nails and in a mosh they’re all elbows with their pace makers keeping them going like the energizer bunny; plus the boomers are the only ones who can afford to pre-load with real coke like proper rock stars. 

But I couldn’t be more wrong. The vibe is chill, so more of the same. Much more. All of the people who were happy to hang back for the support bands are congregating around us, and excitement is building. They may have the right idea sitting until now. I’ve been dancing for three and a half hours and my feet are killing me.

I’ve invited Liz, a naturopath and my day job boss to come to the concert with me, (hilarious when Stellar are singing Show the bosses what you do (it’s this Liz, this is what I do). For many it might have required good behaviour and reining it in, but Liz is fun plus and exactly the right person to take to a rock concert. She, like me, is a dance the whole day long kind of girl (which she can do because she’s sickeningly healthy – unfair advantage) and we only sit down (right in the middle of it all), when the music stops, to save our spots near the front for Billy himself. 

She points out the Idol impersonators dotted throughout the crowd, hair coloured like Christmas lights, and I am envious of their cool leather pants (yes I’m a westie), but wonder how they are handling the heat.

Then all of a sudden Billy Idol is there. The crowd is whooping and throwing up their goats as the man that started in a band that has become the name of a generation, Generation X, struts on stage. The band are beyond cool all dressed in their leathers, with Billy strung with silver chains, and kick-arse boots, and the hair! I could care less if it’s natural or not, they are all most on fleek with the coolest, spikiest, dos around. 

The drummer, Erik Eldenius, is behind a weird transparent wall. The first time I’ve seen this on stage. It’s either to protect against bottles being thrown, or to prevent him running amok presumably. He’s got a hard-core mohawk, so I’m going to pretend it’s the latter. The current line-up has Stephen McGrath on bass, Billy Morrison on guitar and Paul Trudeau on keyboard, who all rock the big songs just the way we want them to. 

Steve Stevens is given plenty of solo-time as lead guitar. At one stage he’s finger tapping and doing a lot of tricky classical guitar when he breaks into Stairway to Heaven. The crowd are both impressed and amused. 

There’s a lot of cheeky banter from Billy too, who along with his trademark sexy sneer, has an infectious grin that is both inviting and full of showmanship. With performances from bands that have been around the circuit a few times, there’s the almost inevitable decline, but other than taking a break while Stevens took centre stage for another epic solo, there’s no evidence of this here.

But it’s the music we’ve all come to hear and these guys deliver. They hand out crowd pleasers like its Christmas, and they’ve got so many to choose from. I’m surprised by the eager youth lining up to listen. More so by the fanaticism they display when I discover that they know the lyrics better than I do, and I’ve been Dancing with Myself since I was a teenager. I’m literally surrounded by kids that are too young to be Millennials, but are clearly serious fans. Anya, to my left, rocking a bad-arse sleeve tat of Freddy Kruger, has come from Taupo to thrash to Rebel Yell, while Rory, to my right, is waiting for Eyes Without a Face, and gets it too, along with monster hits like Flesh for Fantasy, Rebel Yell, White Wedding and Cradle of Love. This is a dedication most kids don’t have for music of their own generation and just goes to show how popular and transcendent Billy Idol is. 

There are some poignant and moving moments, notably when the last rays of the sunset are bleeding through the treeline, and Billy tells us about the last moments of his father’s life, where he passes away listening to Ghosts in My Guitar. The song he plays us is imbued with a deeper meaning than the lyrics on their own would have provided, and like the music we have listened to since we were children, and which will still be popular when we are in our graves, it’s a gift he’s giving us that feels at once personal and expansive, something we can share with anyone, because we can all sing along. 

But he won’t leave us on a down-note. In a killer leather jacket with a massive skull on the back, Billy is facing off the crowd with that signature sneer. Then, picking up the pace, the band delivers the last belters of the night, absolute bangers Rebel Yell and White Wedding. The kids behind me are jumping up and down, and all around the stadium the Rebel Yells can be hear. A well-deserved encore, which still leaves us yelling for more, more, more!

Billy Idol Set List - Auckland - 19th January 2020

Cradle

Dancing

Flesh

Cant Break Me

Ghosts in my Guitar

Eyes Without a Face

Steve Stevens Short Solo

Soul Standing By

Your Generation

Blue Highway

Rebel Yell

White Wedding

Review Edited By: Ben Doy

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