Billy Idol Screamed and Snarled His Way Through a Night of Revelry in Fort Worth

On an unassuming Wednesday night in May, the Dallas Observer music team had to divide and conquer. In Irving, Wilco performed before a sold-out crowd at the Toyota Music Factory. In Dallas, Paul Simon took the stage at Winspear Opera House for the first of a two-night run. And in Fort Worth, an ’80s rock revival was in order, with Billy Idol and Joan Jett at the helm.

People watching rarely gets better than the scene inside Dickies Arena, where thousands of middle-aged people dressed and danced through a reliving of their glory days.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts took the stage first, cramming a 15-song setlist into just over an hour of stage time. The set included songs from her time with The Runaways, covers of The Replacements and Sly and the Family Stone, and the classics, closing with “I Hate Myself For Loving You” and “Bad Reputation.”

With much respect to Jett and her unquantifiable yet undoubted influence on generations of musicians, especially female rock-and-rollers, her live product just didn’t do it for us. At 66, she still sounds and looks amazing, and certainly has her own unique brand of cool. But for better or worse, when you hear a Joan Jett song once, you kind of get the whole act. Hearing those songs live felt no different than hearing them from a dive bar jukebox, which is to say we’re not displeased, just unmoved.

Idol took the stage around 9 p.m. before a huge video screen displaying a laser silhouette of his iconic spikey hair and lip snarl. He opened with “Still Dancing,” the first of five cuts scattered throughout the set from his latest release, Dream Into It.

Dream Into It marks Idol’s first full-length album since 2014, but new Idol music is no surprise in the 2020s. He’s remained relevant in the 2020s streaming landscape, releasing two genuinely solid EPs, 2021’s The Roadside and 2022’s The Cage, plus a standout feature on “Night Crawling” from Miley Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts.

The crowd’s first pop came at the opening notes of “Flesh For Fantasy,” when Idol removed four layers of clothing to the audience’s loud approval. The move reminded us that Idol has received tenure at the school of pop stars that occasionally veer into borderline stripping, where New Kids on the Block received their degrees.

“Eyes Without A Face” was the first mega-hit played, and guitarist Steve Stevens brought it to life in an even more ethereal fashion than the original 1983 version. Stevens received a ton of attention throughout the night, including multiple solos and his own t-shirts at the merch booth.

Idol also covered the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” with backup singer Jessica Childress doing as good a job as anyone could sing the iconic Merry Clayton part.

It seems a little dismissive to call an artist in the midst of a well-selling arena tour underrated, but it does seem like Idol tends to be overlooked when discussing the great hitmakers of the last 50 years. There aren’t many artists that the average person can easily go four to five songs deep with on pure radio play and pop culture prevalence, and Idol is one of them.

At 69, Idol’s howl and snarl remain picture-perfect, and his singing voice still works for all his songs, even if in a slightly lower register. He closed the set with “Rebel Yell,” bringing the crowd at Dickies Arena to a complete fist-pumping frenzy.

But Idol came back only minutes later for a four-song encore, screaming as he returned to the stage so loudly that we could hear it from our seats without a mic. He performed Generation X’s “Dancing With Myself,” 1982’s “Hot In The City,” and a new track, “People I Love.”

At long last, animated stained glass windows flashed onto the video screens, and everyone in the arena knew what was next.

“Steve, show them what a hit song sounds like,” growled Idol before the opening riff to “White Wedding” played.

We appreciate aging rock stars all the time, but there’s something especially remarkable about the aging rock star that’s continuing to release music, collaborate with contemporary artists, and rip his shirt off like it’s still 1985. Over forty years into Billy Idol’s career, he remains just as remarkable as he started.