Billy Idol
- Pete Arnett
- Jul 1
- 5 min read
Artists: Billy Idol, New Model Army
Venue: Wembley Arena
Date: 24 June 2025
"With the powerful stance, the sneer, the swagger and the spiky do, he’s like a cross between Elvis and Sid. Idol by name, idol by nature. Come all ye faithful, adoration is the order of the day."
There’s no doubt that New Model Army is an appropriate choice for support for this gig in terms of their vintage and likely cross over in terms of fans. While they have always been in a bit of a class of their own, they were always more Goth than Rock and this expresses itself in lyrics about bodies, war and death. These days they very much look like a Rock band and they are very loud, but the haunting storytelling nature of their songs persists. The overwhelming impression I am left with from the gig is the extremely powerful tribal drumming like they are an ancient clan… and maybe they are!
Billy Idol also brought the power and the passion to a stadium full of his adoring fans. Under the maxim “It’s a nice day…to tour again!” he did indeed bring a sense of optimism and fun, and it was sunny in London for once! Starting with new track ‘Still Dancing’, he’s still showing everyone how it is done and the crowd reciprocated. While they had in large part sat down for New Model Army, everyone now stood to boogie along. It might be his show, but Idol made a great effort while the photographers are still shooting to interact with his band, including the backing singers to make sure they got a little photo action too.
For ‘Flesh For Fantasy’ Idol removed the T-shirt under his shirt so that everyone got a view of his bare back for just a second, when a huge roar of approval came from all of the crowd. If you’ve still got it flaunt it, I guess! Before that he had reminded everyone he was from London and still regarded it as home. He underlined this with ‘77’, another song from the new album which he has said is about his journey and autobiographical. This particular song goes back to his early Punk days in the capital. Also underlining what he said that he was here to enjoy himself, was the early appearance in his set of ‘Too Much Fun’ which refers to his huge bike accident which made him even more grateful to be living his life. Cockney accent still there? Yep!
It’s clearly time to amp up the crowd further and ‘Eyes Without A Face’ was a cue for much fist pumping and shouts of “Yeah!” for the crowd to echo and feel the transfer of energy in the most direct primal way. Time for Steve Stevens to hold the floor. Starting with an acoustic melody, developing into fully cranked up electric action riffs and transitioning into a full-on Flamenco flourish, he was illuminated with lighting designed to make his huge spiky hair the bluest of blacks.
On Idol’s return, he was pumped up for further action as if he’d had an injection of rocket fuel, doing jumping jacks like a man in his twenties. It’s ‘Mony Mony’ and the place went wild, even those in the rafters are up on their feet dancing. It may be a Tommy James & The Shondells cover, but it’s a song Idol has made all his own. He stopped to chat before ‘Dream Into It’ (the opening track on his latest album) saying life was not always easy, but his philosophy of keeping the flame alive had led to him being at Wembley with everyone that night. Steve Stevens played a sparkly guitar to this track to add to the glamorous ambiance. Billy Morrison was cranking the riffs, pulling back on his guitar and dramatically pausing in that old Punk way. Idol increased the bond with the front row by handing out drumsticks along the barrier.
A cover of ‘Gimme Shelter’ followed with backing singer Jessica, who strutted her stuff like a Rock queen making use of the whole stage. She has a great voice, soaring into the high melodies of the song, easily heard above the band playing at a no quarter volume. In the next intro to ‘People I Love’, another new one, Idol explained that he cannot make every family birthday or graduation, but this was a song he wrote about that. It is testimony to the quality of the new album that he can introduce so many new tracks into the set without any fall in the vibe.
Time for a cosmic solo from Steve Stevens in ‘Blue Highway’, and while he made astral noises, cranked riffs, referred to the Top Gun theme he played on and played his guitar behind his head, Idol got busy handing out autographed paper plates dual-functioning as frisbees, and doing a fast version of the mashed potato dance.
As an intro to the last song of the main set, Idol told a story about being at a Rolling Stones party and taking inspiration from what Ronnie, Keith and Mick were drinking. Checking they didn’t want to use it as a song title first, he apparently went home afterwards and wrote ‘Rebel Yell’. It is, of course, another major classic. Following much fist pumping and shouting with the crowd, Idol took off his shirt in triumph and threw it away before leaving the stage.
There was, of course, an encore, and to start we had two Generation X numbers. Idol introduced his “old mucker” Tony James for nostalgic versions of ‘Ready Steady Go’ and ‘Dancing With Myself’ (apparently written in Japan after the band observed a load of people dancing with their own reflections in mirrors). Idol was now wearing a beautiful long black leather coat. A great version of ‘Hot In The City’ kept up the party vibe, ending in fine acapella harmonies. Idol asked the crowd “What haven’t we played yet?” And to screams of ‘White Wedding’ the crowd gets its wish. I think if he hadn’t played it there would have been a riot!
With the powerful stance, the sneer, the swagger and the spiky do, he’s like a cross between Elvis and Sid. Idol by name, idol by nature. Come all ye faithful, adoration is the order of the day.
Gallery: All photos © Dawn Osborne (used with kind permission)
Review: Dawn Osborne
Photos: Dawn Osborne
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