Live at the Marquee: Billy’s still an Idol in Rebel County

The Verve were clearly not describing Billy Idol when they said the drugs don’t work.

If the hedonistic tales of gnarly narcotics in Idol’s new biography, Dancing With Myself, are in any way true, then this sometimes bare-chested, ripped, leathered and lathered 58-year-old really is a living advertisement for the age-defying powers of backstreet chemistry.

Voice as good as ever, and a show jam packed with fun, charm and tales connecting with his fans in a near capacity Marquee.

The title track of his album, Kings and Queens of the Underground, revisits the hazy memories of injected backstage excesses that evidently accompanied Idol’s 1980s glam punk megastar years, basically his autobiography put to music.

He said 'rebel county' and 'grand' and the place went nuts! @BillyIdol @LATMofficial #Cork pic.twitter.com/GXvgWpqGpH

— Greg Murphy 🤓 (@TheGregMurphy) June 17, 2015

Good music? Well, not too bad actually. In fact, most of the new material is pretty good. A bit more mellow, though he’s clearly a few years off the auld pipe and slippers just yet. ‘Rock The Cradle Of Love’, ‘My Sweet Sixteen’ and ‘Can’t Break Me Down’ certainly worked.

The new stuff is good, but maybe not as vibrant as his old hits which still excite the biggest response from this audience. When he strikes up the chords of ‘Rebel Yell’, ‘White Wedding’, ‘Eyes Without A Face’, ‘Ready Steady Go (Generation X)’, ‘Flesh For Fantasy’ and ‘Dancing With Myself’, resistance really is futile.

Clodagh and Jodie O’Donoghue from Kinsale at the concert of Billy Idol at the Marquee, Cork, last night. Idol’s voice was as good as ever and

the show was jam packed with tracks, fun, charm and stories but it was the old hits that got this crowd going. Picture: Miki Barlok

And this band rocks. None more so than guitarist Stevie Stevens, playing a solo with the guitar flung behind his head with a swagger that has survived every bit as well as Idol’s chiselled chin and six-pack, a washboard Brian O’Driscoll would be proud of. And he wouldn’t be the only one proud for Idol.

“It’s great to be in the Rebel County,” says Billy of his mother’s home town. Yes, his mammy – nee O’Sullivan – was originally from these parts. “I used to come to Cork when I was 9 years old to visit my cousins, the O’Sullivans, Coffeys, and Duggans. Well I’d like to thank you Cork for making my life so fucking fantastic.”

What a gig, my ears are still ringing. And yes that is a @CorkCityFC jersey on @BillyIdol! @LATMofficial #Cork pic.twitter.com/TSURH5vku4

— Greg Murphy 🤓 (@TheGregMurphy) June 17, 2015

Well, glam punk fan or not, Mrs Idol could only be proud of her boy’s triumphant return to Leeside last night.

And there was an added colloquial resonance to the chorus of Rebel Yell being sung in The Marquee. Did we cry out for “more, more more”? Eh, yes. Billy, dowtcha boy, like a bleached Jimmy Crowley, you’re practically one of our own.

"With a rebel yell, she cried - more, more, more" #Cork was yelling for more from @BillyIdol tonight @LATMofficial. pic.twitter.com/oCNoEQunIw

— Greg Murphy 🤓 (@TheGregMurphy) June 17, 2015

And, speaking of our own, Cork band The Vincents also put on a good warm-up show.