That’s not the shot that you think it is. All punks are cartoon punks, some are just more open about admitting it. Idol, who even in his early years never saw a problem with liking the Beatles and Stones while spiking his hair and wearing the requisite ripped clothes of the time, embraces it. Now at 68, he’s the amiable punk grandpa we never got with John Lydon, black leather jacket over bare chest, hilariously miming a pony ride to the chorus of Mony Mony and generally looking bemused to be here.
At Rogers Place on Thursday night for the Rebel Yell Canada 2024 tour, the singer and his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens took a six-piece band through a set of hits and deep cuts from the now 40-year-old album, interspersed with a few other notable songs from his career. Considering how nostalgia for the ‘80s is huge right now there weren’t quite as many people in attendance as you would think. That being said, the fans who did show up were vocal and enthusiastic.
Idol had no intention of giving up the goods right at the start. The band kicked off with (Do Not) Stand in the Shadows, an overlooked track from Rebel Yell, before dipping into radio standby Cradle of Love. Flesh For Fantasy was where the run of hits kicked off, the audience heartily singing along to the anthemic chorus. Cage, a more recent number that Idol explained as a reaction to the Covid-19 lockdown, was mind-numbing alt-rock landfill.
Idol’s voice has lost some of the depth that gave him that distinctive deep growl, and you could really hear it on the deeply ridiculous but undeniably catchy Eyes Without a Face. Rebel Yell, White Wedding and Dancing With Myself? Those were set-enders and encore numbers, silly. You think he wants you walking away mid-set?
He’s still got plenty of chutzpah and charisma, though, and by the time Idol brought the band into full lockstep groove with Mony Mony you could see hints of the young Idol peeking through. Stevens had his moment in the spotlight with the requisite solo guitar, plucking acoustic for a few flamenco exercises that felt like he was impressing everyone at the music shop. Genuinely a great guitarist, but you have to wonder what purpose this serves beyond allowing the singer a rest.
Openers Platinum Blonde were a perfect fit as the evening’s warm-up act.
Kicking around in various permutations since the late ‘70s, the band followed much the same trajectory as Idol, harnessing punk (or at least new wave) power to pop impulses. Now pared down to a three-piece with vocalist Mark Holmes taking on bass duties, they’re still happily dishing out their ‘80s hits, hooky chart blasts that barely cloak influences from The Police and Duran Duran.
If you were there at the time it seemed like they had an unending well to draw from, and Thursday night’s 40-minute show gave you every single inescapable song from Canadian radio: Situation Critical, Crying Over You, Standing in the Dark, Doesn’t Really Matter. From one perspective they all blended into a single song with endless choruses, but from another the band was tight, Holmes was a stage dynamo, and Sergio Galli a rock on guitar. Holmes is not only sounding great, he looks great. Local bassist and noted Doobie Brothers scholar Brent Oliver was vocally admiring of his stage attire, comparing his sparkly jacket over bare chest look to that of Ricardo Montalban in The Wrath of Khan.
Hey, if any of us can pull that off at the age of 63 we’d be doing it as well.