Sold out signs, touts aplenty and roller coaster queues greet those heading to Brixton and back to the mid-eighties. Opening tonight are re-formed and reinvigorated Professionals whose short set is the perfect mix of new ‘n’ old. ‘Payola’, ‘Good Man Down’ and the anthemic ‘Rewind’ all receive generous, well earned applause. ‘Just Another Dream’ remains a Post-Pistols classic as does ‘Join The Professionals’ however it’s the newer track such as ‘Hat’s Off’ and ‘Let Go’ that really grab the attention. Final song ‘Silly Thing’ gets the heartiest of crowd reactions as the band head stage left. Paul Cook, Tom Spencer, Chris McCormack and Paul Myers should be playing these size venues every week. However, Billy Idol doesn’t come to London every week and why would he. With an L.A home a Las Vegas residency and a back catalogue that would make Madonna jealous life is pretty good for the Bromley Blonde. Tonight is a celebration, an MTV fuelled (when MTV mattered) night of sing-a-longs, guitar solo’s and loud, throwaway Rock ‘N’ Roll. The Cyber Punk-Pop hit ‘Shock To The System’ kicks open the doors and in a flash, the sold-out crowd is transported back to when Idol was the MTV king and the music video really was vital. He looks great and much like Adam Ant waaaaayyyy to good for 62. His dirty blonde spiky hair, sneer and fist pump are all here and the sold-out Brixton crowd revel in it. The opening bars to ‘Dancing With Myself’ are greeted with full-on hysteria which is matched when Billy strips off on stage to change into a shirt, which remains unbuttoned as a few thousand women scream with take that delight.
Guitarist Steve Stevens is the centre point for the show, his intro’s, solo’s and Glam-Rock Sunset Strip look add just the right amount of Sunset Strip glitz to proceedings. Along with his high frayed jet black hair, tight PVC/latex flared suit and some truly stunning guitar licks even the filler is killer. ‘Cradle Of Love’, ‘Can’t Break Me Down’ and ‘Eye’s Without a Face’ give way to a Spanish Ole! Guitar solo before Idol returns to fire out a superb ‘Don’t Need A Gun’. Between song chat is kept to a minimum although Billy does name-check his birthplace Bromley and how much he loves being back in London. ‘King Rocker’ still sounds like the Top Of The Pops Post-Punk ditty that it is while ‘Blue Highway’ motors smoothly along. The roof is raised and then removed for the classic ‘Rebel Yell’ and suddenly it all becomes quite surreal. A sea of middle-aged gig-goers, arms aloft bellowing out “More, more, more”, it’s a bizarrely beautiful sight and one that brings an unexpected lump to the throat. Because children, this is it, this is what we are left holding onto, songs from our halcyon youthful days gazed at through rose-tinted Specsaver glasses while drinking a six pound pint of Carlsberg and standing on a sticky floor but it feels so uplifting that the imperfections of life are briefly forgotten as everyone gets lost in the moment.. Finally (for me) comes the song that turned William Broad into a global superstar, ‘White Wedding’. The chart monster is given an acoustic start and every word, break and lip curl is celebrated like a World Cup winner. The timeless “Start agaaaain” segment cause earthquake-like vibrations as Brixton surrenders it’s soul and vocal chords to Mr Billy. The voice is still there plus the hits and almost hits are all strangely back in vogue. Idol’s look is only something someone with his broad star-studded shoulders could carry from youthful Generation X exuberance to bus pass blues. London’s prodigal bombshell returned home to find the city is once again hot for it’s dirty blonde Idol.