20 things you will see at a Billy Idol show
Billy Idol: the man, the myth, the hair. A wildcard going into the fest (especially for anyone at a certain age threshold), what one would see at the Samsung stage at 4 p.m. Friday was anyone’s guess. Here are 20 things that snarler-in-chief brought to Zilker Park last week and presumably will again (perhaps minus No. 15):
1. A 59-year-old man with comfortingly peroxided hair who is completely swaddled in leather.
2. The exact level of snarling, screaming and fist-raising you would expect to see at a Billy Idol show, based entirely on your secondhand pop culture knowledge of Billy Idol.
3. Guitar god and 1980s rock avatar Steve Stevens containing the sum total of hair metal/arena rock fashion within his jet black plume of hair.
4. Stevens playing his guitar behind his head.
5. Idol strutting down the catwalk like a supermodel eligible for the early-bird discount at Denny’s as soon as “Dancing With Myself ” got rolling .
6. Idol replacing “I’d ask the world to dance” with “I’d ask *death-rattling scream* AUSTIN TO DANCE” in the lyrics to rapturous screams.
7. Idol doing that lyric swap at least three more times.
8. A cut called “Can’t Break Me Down” from the singer’s new album that fit surprisingly well within his beloved back catalog, unlike other legacy acts’ new material.
9. A waistcoat with a bedazzled skull on the back.
10. The familiar, meanstreets synths of “Eyes Without a Face” and Idol slithering like a king cobra to same.
11. A “Doctor Who” TARDIS joke from Idol when he introduces “Ready, Steady, Go” from Generation X, and a noticeable energy boost as the bleach-blond punk seemed gleeful to play the old stuff.
12. Stevens playing his guitar with his teeth.
13. “L.A. Woman” becoming “Austin Woman,” because Idol noticed how well that worked on “Dancing With My se lf.”
14. A really awkward introduction to “Rebel Yell,” where Idol says that it will be instantly recognizable “especially down south with the rebel spirit.” British rock legends must not keep up with American racial politics?
15. Three — count ’em three — starts for “Rebel Yell” as Idol points to pitch problems. Stevens says it’s “the most punk rock thing” the crowd will see at the fest. On try No. 3, from the rebel yeller: “One more go, and if I can’t do it this time, I’m retiring.” The crowd really does get more ... more ... more.
16. A beautiful, stripped down first half of “White Wedding” featuring only Idol and Stevens.
17. Drum sticks and Frisbees flying into the audience, because it would not be a Billy Idol set without party favors. whose torso looks far
18. A 59-year-old man too well-preserved flinging his shirt off for a profane rendition of “Mony Mony.”
19. Tarzan yells and Robyn-style air punching
20. An impossibly large audience that rushes to the front as soon as the star hits the stage, screams with appreciation, does not jeer at a rocky start to a hit song and stays until the very last moment, proving that a legacy act (and a peculiar one, at that) can pull a crowd that any headliner would be happy with.