Billy Idol: The Roadside Tour Las Vegas Residency, Chelsea Room, Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV, 16th November 2022

I never know what people think of Billy Idol. Friends of mine that I thought would razz me for going to see Billy Idol say they love him. While people I thought would be jealous of me going to see him scoff at the idea of spending money to go see Idol sneering in concert. I’m sure many would say seeing Billy Idol at the swanky Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, as part of a residency, is about as far from punk rock as you can get.

I always found it fascinating how America just fell in love with Billy Idol in the 80’s while his native England kind of snickered at him. I was 14 years old watching the video debut of Eyes Without A Face when my father, who exclusively listened to classical music, turned and said to me, “I really like that guy’s voice, he has a really nice voice.” This was the only compliment my father would ever give to rock music.

You can say what you want about Billy Idol, the fact remains this man is more punk rock and knows more about punk, and its history, than you will ever know. Just listen to his show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Idol knows everything about every band, not just from punk, but from every genre of music from the 1950s or 60’s until the present. Plus guitar guru Steve Stephens is back with Billy. 

I never thought about seeing a Las Vegas residency. I’d never been to Las Vegas. But after seeing Def Leppard’s Las Vegas residency concert on Axis TV, I became intrigued at the concept due to the incredible live sound they achieved by perfecting it night after night in the same venue. So for the wife and I’s ten-year wedding anniversary it was time to fly to Vegas for night 3, of a 5-night stand of Billy Idol’s Roadside Tour at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is no longer ruled by gambling, slot machines, Elvis, hookers, or buffets. It is now ruled by the mighty marijuana. People are smoking weed everywhere. On the strip, in the casinos, everywhere you go: Weed. Dispensaries are everywhere, selling to everybody. So the one mile walk from our hotel, the pyramid shaped Luxor, to the swanky Cosmopolitan, was spent smoking a pre-roll. I also may have ingested some Panaeolus Cyanescens (shrooms), but who knows. After drinking the giant frozen alcohol-infused drinks I was already in Sid Vicious mode.

Before the show started a mix of 60’s sounding rockabilly played, but in the middle of it America Rules by Murphy’s Law came on. Further proof of Idol’s punk background. Billy Idol and band hit the stage promptly at 8:30 p.m. for this only mid-week show of the residency, a Wednesday night. Hey, we can’t afford Vegas weekend prices! They open with the Generation X cover of Dancing with Myself. There is another guitarist on stage-opposite Steve Stephens and he is as loud as Steve and he sounds as good. Is that Idol’s other guitarist Billy Morrison (Ozzy Osbourne / The Cult)? Yes It is! Wow I didn’t know I would be getting a double-dose of guitar greats. This residency must be paying well.

The sound, as expected, is top notch. You can hear every nuance of the hi-hats, the tone of the guitars, the low end of the bass, all in perfect sync. The visuals behind the band are incredible. They filmed a lot of new videos of Idol for this show. I don’t know if it’s for the residency or for the Roadside Tour, but the visuals are spectacular. This is not a nostalgic tributary night to the 1980s, this is the now and modern Idol.

The band play some new material from the recent Cage EP; the songs Cage and Speed particularly are really catchy and strong. Idol candidly tells personal stories of addiction, failures and triumphs. This residency show seems quite personal. Classic tracks like Flesh For Fantasy, Eyes Without a Face, Cradle Of Love and Blue Highway, are all played with a new fresh take. Extended versions with added parts and grooves really are musically superb. This is punk rock taking to the highest level of musicianship. The band is punching punk rock above its weight. I was getting my money’s worth and what I expected. And btw my good floor tickets, with ticket fee, were only about 89 bucks a piece. However drinks prices at the Cosmo were not quite as kind. Special concoctions, an Eyes Without A Face or Blue Highway drink were $24 a pop. Let me translate the math: pre-war that’s about 17 quid. Post war about 150 quid.

Idol tells stories of playing shows with Johnny Thunders, The Clash and Buzzcocks before playing Born to Lose by Thunders’ band The Heartbreakers, which seems lost on the crowd. At one point Idol laughs at some younger bored-looking members of the audience there with their parents. He told them, “life may be moving by very slowly for you right now, but one day when you’re our age it will go by like a flash, like a flash”.

Steve Stephens rocks the guitar solo portion of the evening with nods to Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. He is allowed to express himself with shining new intros to all the classic songs. Idol really lets Stephens shine in this show whether it’s with the acoustic guitar or electric. Billy Morrison plays the role of ‘best rhythm guitarist ever’ for the entirety of the show.

The band launches into Rebel Yell and the crowd starts to jump and bounce. And so does the floor of the Chelsea Room at the Cosmo. The Chelsea Room is located on the 3rd floor of the hotel.  I didn’t know whether it was the room or me! I was flying a we-bit high by now. I had to turn to my wife and ask if the room was bouncing or if it was just me. Sam assured me it was the room and that I was not tripping that hard yet. 

The crowd, which looked like the casino just opened up into the venue, was pretty tame on this Wednesday night. It wasn’t a punk crowd or a rocker crowd. It was a casino crowd enjoying a show. It could have been Wayne Newton up there I think and he would have gotten about the same reaction from this crowd and myself. I couldn’t tell a Wayne Newton from a fig newton by about halfway through the show. 

By the time the band was finishing with White Wedding I was so in true Hangover movie Vegas mode and didn’t know what was going on. I could decipher Billy Idol thanking the crowd and Steve Stephens for giving him such a wonderful life. The show producers, Billy Idol and his band all deserve 5 stars for this evening. However the meek Wednesday night crowd, the scary bouncing venue and my own ingestions of one too many embellishments made this a 4.5 star experience.