For folks of a certain generation, the image conjured inside their head when punk music is mentioned is a young, snarling, spiky-headed gent. For an artist such as Billy Idol who has become the face of an entire genre, it may surprise some that his initial foray into the punk rock scene was as a guitarist. It wasn’t until the band Chelsea splintered, that Billy and some follow bandmates formed Generation X in the late 70s. The collective had the foresight to put Billy front and centre, and the group enjoyed a modicum of success having released a trio of studio albums, but the band disbanded in 1980. That dissolution paved the way for Idol to embark on his solo career, and in 1982 the eponymous debut album was released.
That solo debut included a Generation X track “Dancing With Myself” that Idol repurposed and became one of his most recognizable recordings. That debut record also included Billy’s biggest hit “White Wedding”, which took MTV by storm and found itself in high rotation on the network. Hot on the heels of that debut record, came the sophomore effort Rebel Yell which solidified his rock n’ roll superstar status and saw him embark on a world tour which included a date in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the then Halifax Metro Centre.
Billy Idol may not have achieved the same level of success as his first two records, over the subsequent 40 years the rock icon continued to be a fixture in the pop culture making film and television appearances, and continuing to release albums sporadically during that time. But for the past number of years, Billy Idol has been enjoying a career resurgence, embarking on a tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his sophomore album Rebel Yell. The world tour included a Canadian leg which tapped Canadian rock legends Platinum Blonde to open the tour in the same way they did back in 1984, and as a proper Canadian tour want to do, it actually went coast to coast, returning to Halifax for the first time since that initial Rebel Yell tour.
As this writer kicked the evening off at his son’s little league game out in Grand Lake, I managed to catch the tail end of Platinum Blonde’s set and from what I heard, they still sounded fantastic after 4 decades. 
In looking around the concert venue, it was a room packed with fans spanning generations, grandparents, parents, and kids young and old ready to revel in the music that has provided a soundtrack to their lives for decades. First out was Billy’s band which included his longtime collaborator and songwriting partner Steve Stevens, then the punk rock icon hit the stage to an enthusiastic welcome from the Halifax crowd, which included a fair contingent of folks who were in attendance for that initial Billy Idol visit back in ‘84.
The show worked through Idol’s discography in a fashion that could only be likened to a roller coaster, climbing up that first hill with his ballad-leaning material such as “Cradle of Love”, “Flesh for Fantasy” and “Eyes Without a Face”, which led into a searing guitar solo from Stevens which featured a nod to fellow guitar great Jimmy Page. From there the show picked up the pace moving into a rousing rendition of “Mony Mony” with the Halifax crowd pumping in those not-so-secret lyrics. By the time the main set reached “Rebel Yell”, the coaster was speeding down the track, as Billy and his crew closed the night out with a top-notch trio of tracks “Dancing with Myself”, “Hot in the City” and “White Wedding”. It was a night loaded with nostalgia and memories, which left the packed Scotiabank Centre with smiles on their faces and music in their hearts.
