Billy Idol/Killing Joke, Manchester Arena. 13th October 2022

The headliner tonight is Billy Idol. This will no doubt raise a few eyebrows, Mr Idol has always been divisive hadn’t he, but stick with me. In truth I’m not exactly here for Billy. In fact the band I bought the ticket for isn’t here either. Television have sadly had to pull out due to sickness which is a real shame. They did strike me as slightly odd support for Billy Idol, but someone who makes total sense is Toyah, who’s opening tonight. She’s not the Television replacement and she’s on far too early for me to catch. That’s okay though, I couldn’t name a single Toyah song, but I believe her recent shows have been good if she’s your thing. What is my thing is Killing Joke! Who've stepped in but also seem like odd support for Billy Idol. I love Killing Joke. More so the early new wave punk stuff, than the later industrial Ministry like stuff, but their set covers all bases of what’s actually a pretty astounding back catalogue. They seem to lose the Idol crowd. Even ‘Wardance’ doesn’t get the masses out of their seats as Jaz cries “We’re close to WW3!”. I don’t like this venue at the best of times, but when they fill the floor space with chairs, it’s sucks all the energy out of the place. I can see how if you’ve not heard Killing Joke before, they could be a hard sell, but songs like ‘Requiem’ still sound massive. The band sound tight, if not a little sludgy with the arena’s sound. I’m not sure though if this is just how they sound now, even the older songs seem to have inherited the beefier sound. Even ‘Eighties’ doesn’t get the crowd moving and I’m starting to suspect that’s the average age. The band don’t care though and truthfully neither do I. They sound brilliant and as they rip into ‘Change’ Flood’s bass hooks sound as brilliant as ever. The newer songs have more power chords and wibbly electronica, it seems to suit the sound mix better and it clearly wakes the crowd up. It’s songs like ‘The Wait’ that do it for me though. It’s a brilliant set, the only thing is it’s not long enough! For 50 minutes they’re brilliant, but they should’ve been given longer. So to Billy Idol. I said I wasn’t really here for him, but who doesn’t love the big hits that he conquered the charts with in the 80s. I’m gutted that there’s nothing from the critically maligned but brilliant Cyberpunks album, but we do get pretty much everything else you’d expect. ‘Dancing With Myself’ kicks things off and boy does it. The comatose crowd are all up, so I’m up too. It’s a bit cheesy let’s be honest and Billy screams “Manchester England, let’s fucking go” countless times before the first song is over, but fuck it, it’s fun. ‘Cradle of Love’ is a bit naff, but comes to life with the guitar solo and ‘Flesh for Fantasy’ hits that soft rock spot perfectly. On that note, there’s no ‘Hot in the City’ which is a shame. The aesthetic is punk, but this is pure power pop. I’m not sure Billy would like that, but he’s fucking brilliant at it. Stalking the stage, I’m too far away to tell you how he looks, he looks good from a distance though and he sounds fantastic. Billy hasn’t been idol though, he has new music to push. ‘Cage’ is alright. It comes with a projected video of Billy in a straight jacket and sounds a lot like some of the new British bands banging out classic rock, which makes me think maybe someone like Massive Wagons might’ve been better support. Although I might not have come then and that would’ve been a shame as a Billy Idol gig is a lot of fun. Honestly the new songs do subdue vast swathes of the crowd, but songs like ‘Eyes Without a Face’ sound like the sort of record David Lynch would put on when he wants to get mushy. There a fair bit of guitar wankery, but this might just be to give everyone a breather before ‘Mony Mony’. I thought it might go off and there are some fists raised, but no one wants to throw their hip out. Older folks can be quite vocal about their objections can’t they and there’s a bit of bother when some want to sit and others want to stand. It’s quite amusing. We get Generation X’s ‘One Hundred Punks’ which ups the tempo, but someone near me smells like their colostomy bag has split. That’s enough of the ageism. I’m laughing too much as the guitar wankery indulges a little too much with the Top Gun theme. I shit you not. The fist pumping is back for ‘Rebel Yell’ though, apparently Billy’s favourite. It’s his calling card, a stone cold classic and it sounds FUCKING HUGE!!, “More, more, MORE!” Which is what we get including a couple of covers before we inevitably close with ‘White Wedding’. A great gig can be like a great film when you’ve lower expectations going in. I thought I was here for Killing Joke, but honestly Idol blew me away. The cynics (usually me) will say it’s all show and it is, but what a show!