Concert Review: Billy Idol (PNC Music Pavilion)

BY CHRIS HOCKER

On May 16th, Billy Idol brought his It's A Nice Day To... Tour Again! tour to Charlotte's PNC Music Pavilion and we were there to soak in the glorious sights and sounds.

This was Idol's first North Carolina show since the 2018 edition of Carolina Rebellion. Since then, he's put out two EPS, 2021's The Roadside and 2022's The Cage, as well as the most excellent album Dream Into It, which was released back in late April. Fans of Dream Into It were treated to five tracks from that album, "Still Dancing, "77," "Too Much Fun," "Dream Into It," and "People I Love."

Of course, Idol sampled from his huge catalog of hits from his solo career and days with Generation X. Billy and the band performed "Cradle Of Love," "Flesh For Fantasy," "Eyes Without A Face," "Mony Mony," "Ready Steady Go," "Blue Highway," "Rebel Yell," and a four-song encore which featured "Dancing With Myself," "Hot In The City," and "White Wedding," along with the aforementioned "People I Love." Hell, they even threw in a cover of The Stones' "Gimme Shelter!"

I'm sure you're wondering how the band sounded. Steve Stevens still knows his way up and down the fretboard and had a great guitar solo midway through the show that included the solos from Led Zeppelin's "Over The Hills And Far Away" and "Stairway To Heaven," as well as Van Halen's "Eruption." As far as Billy Idol? He sounds great! He still has the sneer and the Rebel Yell. It was a great concert for fans of Billy Idol and Steve Stevens' careers.

The It's A Nice Day To... Tour Again! tour has a few more dates until it moves overseas before returning to America in mid-August and wrapping up on September 25th in Inglewood, CA. If you have the chance to catch Billy Idol during this tour, do it!

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CHRIS HOCKER, Editor

Strange Carolinas started as a hobby for Chris Hocker who often dragged his family to offbeat detours on family vacations. Hocker decided to start photographing and writing about these roadside attractions and in June 2014, launched Strange Carolinas with a story on Myrtle Beach's KISS Coffeehouse. In addition to chronicling over 400 attractions across the Carolinas, Strange Carolinas has also become an impressive music blog.