10/25/21
Still a thrill to see Billy Idol—badass + sincere—light up a room. “I want to thank you for making my life so fucking great,” he said onstage this past Saturday night at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan to a packed crowd as part of his residency there.
His widescreen punk rock, dressed up with glam and hard rock, still dazzles. The fist-pumping hits kept coming, along with three new songs from his new EP, ‘The Roadside,’ one of which, “U Don’t Have to Kiss Me Like That,” was instantly anthemic. It was pure joy to hear Idol’s menacingly husky voice, matched with the fierce, eloquent guitar runs by Steve Stevens and the sturdy rhythm guitar of Billy Morrison. The two song-encore sealed the deal: a sparks-flying cover of “Born To Lose” (by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers) and then…”White Wedding.” It was my first time seeing Idol (a former client) since 2014 when he released the “Kings & Queens of The Underground “ album, for which SRO PR handled the PR including a memorable L.A. Weekly cover.
