It Was Hot In The City As Billy Idol Took Command Of The Pinewood Bowl

May 17, 2024 Robert Chadwick Concert Reviews Comments Off

20240516081456_6J9A7032 — Billy Idol at Pinewood Bowl in Lincoln, Nebraska on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Photo credit: Dean Birkheimer)

DEAN BIRKHEIMER | Go Venue Magazine

“Never take counsel of your fears” (From the book REBEL YELL by S.C. Gwynne)

If you’re going to put on an outdoor show, you could not have picked better weather to have it in. If you could handpick a venue to showcase an outdoor concert, you cannot choose better than Lincoln, Nebraska’s premier open air theater, The Pinewood Bowl. Established in 1947, the 5,500 capacity amphitheater can easily accommodate any touring artists requirements. On May 16th, 2024 the Bowl would host international musical icon Billy Idol.

First up, The Effect. Guitarist, Trev Lukather (son of Totos, Steve Lukather) Drummer, Nic Collins (son of Phil Collins) and Vocalist, Emmett Stang (son of Mr. Stang) make up this rocking three-piece band. The band caught the attention of Journey’s Steve Perry and was specifically asked by Steve to cover Journey’s “It Could Have Been You” Emmett certainly has the chops to cover any Journey song. We are still waiting for this band to drop a full length LP, but the wait will be worth it. A new band with a classic rock sound and feel. They closed with Unwanted, but I wanted (to quote Billy Idol)…MORE, MORE, MORE!!

Billy says in his bio that he is “hopelessly divided between the dark and the good.” Well, I can attest that in the darkness of tonight’s performance, Billy Idol was fantastic. William Michael Albert Broad, a.k.a. Billy Idol, confidently moves about the stage like the punk and rock and roll icon that he is. Billy and his lip curling sneer were one of the first truly MTV mega-stars. 40 million records sold, and he is still as fresh as ever. The voice is still strong and virile, and he moves with the ease of a teenager. From the opening song, “Dancing with Myself”, to the closer, “White Wedding” and everything in between, Billy and his spectacular band reminded us that good old-fashioned guitar driven music is still king. Speaking of the band. Enough cannot be said regarding the quality of these musicians. Steve Stevens on guitar is as fabulous as anyone I’ve ever seen behind a Gibson or Fender. His solo after “Eyes Without a Face” was a joy to witness. Stephen McGrath, Billy Morrison, Erik Eldenius, and Paul Trudeau, form an ensemble that would rival any band on the planet. The one and a half hour show was packed to the gills with hits, covers and crowd sing along. If you feel the need to scream, then what better way than with a Rebel Yell at a Billy Idol show. I promise you when the show is over you will want MORE, MORE, MORE!!