Billy Idol

Eighties throwback Billy Idol is on a world tour, starting in America and now winging its way around  Australia and New Zealand. And for once a major star is not just visiting Auckland, but also taking in Wellington and Christchurch, before heading back to the States and thence to the UK and Europe. On the Australasian leg of the tour he’s supported by Cheap Trick, and Aussie band The Angels.

Oddly enough, Nicola wasn’t that interested in seeing this show, so I teamed up with quiz team regular, Tor. Tor handily works for the Bresolin brothers, so we were able to get some nosh at Scopa and take advantage of her staff discount, before going to the gig. The Bresolin brothers, you will recall, own such hot properties as Scopa, Duke Carvell’s Swan Lane Emporium, and the aptly-named The Bresolin, all of which we have patronised regularly (“you’re quite good, for some Wellington cafés”).

We then wandered up to the TSB Arena for the gig. The show was starting early as there are three bands, each with a substantial set. This venue is Wellington’s second-largest (after the stadium) and holds around 5,000. We’ve been here to see netball and for exhibitions, but this is the first time I’ve been to it as a music venue. We were seated to the left of the stage.  

The Angels are well-known to Australian audiences, but never really broke out of their home country (few Aussie bands seem to - Powderfinger, anyone?). Their heyday was the late Seventies and Eighties, when they were regularly in the album and singles charts in Australia. They are, apparently, famous for a chant at their concerts, in response to the question raised by one of their songs Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again? to which the answer is “no way, get fucked, fuck off!” And it seemed plenty of people in the audience knew this.

Cheap Trick are best remembered for their iconic hit I Want You To Want Me. In fact, they’re known for little else, although they’ve continued making albums until 2009. For reasons unknown, they’re big in Japan…it was their live recording of IWYTWM from the album At Budokan which brought them to international recognition. They played a short set which included a few songs which, it turned out, I did know (Ain't That A Shame, If You Want My Love). It turns out that quite a few people at the concert were there to see Cheap Trick rather than Billy Idol.

And so to the main act: Idol still looks like Billy Idol (hey, once you’ve found your look, why change it?). He was loud, he was bad, and he played all those tunes that you remember, including the Generation X songs Dancing With Myself and Ready Steady Go; and an adaptation of his LA Woman cover, which he changed to Wellington Woman (I kinda think he does this for every city he visits) and added in some stuff from his new album, Kings And Queens Of the Underground. And of course, he took off his shirt. This seemed to excite some of the members of the audience.

He finished off his main set with Rebel Yell, before coming back on for an encore of White Wedding and Mony Mony.