It's now just over 45 years since I went to my first ever concert at Wembley Arena back in May 1980 to see 10CC, in the intervening years I've probably been to less than 20 shows at the venue, as it will never be a favourite place to see anyone.
This show was all seated and we were not near the front, so I couldn't see loads of what was happening on stage during New Model Army's opening set, the current 5 piece line-up opened with White Light that sounded suitably epic for tonight's setting, with a huge drum sound that echoed just enough. Echo November was the first song that saw some of the band's fans throwing shapes in the audience in the traditional manner.
First Summer After had ripples of recognition and some cool folky guitar, Justin made sure you could hear all the lyrics while they whipped up a storm. It may have been one of the hottest days of the year so far, but they were still going to sing about Winter with its theme that we are in the age of consequence seeming even more crucial than when it was originally released eight years ago.
Justin then offered us the Devil's Bargain that for tonight was opening for Billy Idol and hoping everyone could remember how good New Model Army sounded afterwards, Justin could certainly call that fate. Never Arriving didn't appear stuck in a loop, with the colossal drum sound essential in adding depth.
Here Comes The War still has that Celtic folk rock edge, the message that our so-called leaders only ever want to lead us to destruction and not peace was a message we all currently need to hear, especially on a day that one war was allegedly concluded.
Stormclouds were brewing along with cascades of guitars. Justin and the band have now been singing Before I Get Old for 35 years, not sure he can still get away with it, but of course it's a huge hit that got all the NMA fans going for it.
Purity is now as much about the bands long term vision, with the guitar and keyboards intertwining this was rousing. Wonderful Way To Go had few regrets at a life well lived and was greeted like an old friend. They closed with Green And Grey that built to one final peak before Justin thanked us and said goodnight.
After the break it was time for Billy Idols 8-piece band to deliver a greatest hits set, that made clear just how poor Generation Sex were when we saw them two years ago at dog Day Afternoon. This was Billy at his best, from the opening Still Dancing the band were super tight and had his classic 80's sound just about perfect, with the backdrop and staging helping, along with the large screens meant we could see a lot more. Cradle Of Love went down a storm and Billy was flashing what's left of his cheeky grin as he introduced Flesh For Fantasy that almost everyone sang along too.
He took us back to his youth for an impassioned 77, from his most recent album, before he made it absolutely clear that he's spent his life having Too Much Fun and he intends to carry on the same way until the end, the backing vocals really helped bring the fun, they shook and shimmied. Steve Stevens then took his first guitar solo of the night on his 12 string, thankfully it was shorter than this solo used to be, the band quickly came in for a great version of Eyes Without A Face.
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We hadn't got off that easily as Steve Stevens then played a very Spanish influenced solo on his acoustic guitar, that thankfully was only a couple of minutes long, unlike the 8 to 10 minute solos of yore. Still with this band a massive hit is never far away and Mony Mony is a song Billy has done his best to make his own over the years, pretty much the entire audience sang along with this Tommy James & The Shondells classic.
Billy having thanked us all for giving him the life he has, explained he got what he wanted by working on making his dreams into reality while introducing Dream Into It, he also apologized that he wasn't being joined by Avril Lavigne like he is on his current album. He then duetted with backing singer Jessica Childers on a rather blowsy version of The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter that was nowhere near louche enough, no matter how great Jessica's vocals were.
Billy told us that the People I Love are all the fans that keep turning up to see him live, nearly 50 years into his career, this felt like he meant every word. It had to happen he had to let Steve Stevens play a long electric solo while revving the band up to go cruising down that Blue Highway again, with Billy making sure we knew how much he still loves riding motor bikes, as long as he doesn't fall off again.
Billy then told us a story about being at a party with the Rolling Stones and noticing they were drinking some Bourbon with a name he thought ought to be a song title, he checked that Mick and Keef didn't want the title and then wrote Rebel Yell to celebrate that Amber liquid and ensure the place went nuts when it ended the set.
They came back out for the encore and Billy Introduced his old song writing mate Tony James from Generation X to play the song they wrote about a TV show Ready Steady Go that sounded miles better than Generation Sex mauling it a couple of years ago. Tony also co wrote Dancing With Myself and his bassline on this version was spot on. After Tony had left the stage, they went into a steamy version of Hot In The City. Before as Billy put it they played one last huge hit and closed the show with a brilliant version of White Wedding before Billy completed the evening by introducing the band.
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