Billy Idol

At Rogers Place on Thursday night for the Rebel Yell Canada 2024 tour, the singer and his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens took a six-piece band through a set of hits and deep cuts from the now 40-year-old album, interspersed with a few other notable songs from his career. Idol had no intention of giving up the goods right at the start. The band kicked off with (Do Not) Stand in the Shadows, an overlooked track from Rebel Yell, before dipping into radio standby Cradle of Love. Flesh For Fantasy was where the run of hits kicked off, the audience heartily singing along to the anthemic chorus. Cage, a more recent number that Idol explained as a reaction to the Covid-19 lockdown, was mind-numbing alt-rock landfill. Idol’s voice was phenomenal!!! By the time Idol brought the band into full lockstep groove with Mony Mony you could see hints of the young Idol peeking through. Stevens had his moment in the spotlight with the requisite solo guitar, plucking acoustic for a few flamenco exercises that felt like he was impressing everyone at the music shop. Genuinely a great guitarist, but you have to wonder what purpose this serves beyond allowing the singer a rest. Openers Platinum Blonde were a perfect fit as the evening’s warm-up act. Now pared down to a three-piece with vocalist Mark Holmes taking on bass duties, they’re still happily dishing out their ‘80s hits. It seemed like they had an unending well to draw from, and Thursday night’s 40-minute show gave you every single inescapable song from Canadian radio: Situation Critical, Crying Over You, Standing in the Dark, Doesn’t Really Matter. From one perspective they all blended into a single song with endless choruses, but from another the band was tight, Holmes was a stage dynamo, and Sergio Galli a rock on guitar. Holmes sound remarkable!! Hasn’t missed a beat since the 80s….Well one song…he openly admitted to making a mistake, but it’s LIVE. What do you expect.