William Broad was a bespectacled Bromley schoolboy teachers dubbed “Billy Idle” before punk and contact lenses triggered his transformation. He became a Top of the Pops regular with Generation X and then an MTV-era global superstar. Now 66, he remains as indefatigable as ever, yelling “Manchester, England: let’s dance!” four times within the opening number alone.
That song – Generation X’s Dancing With Myself, which he turned into a solo hit – sets the blueprint for what follows: crunching riffs, a relentlessly chugging rhythm section and choruses built to yell along with. Idol’s image – curled lip, leather jacket, upturned collar, dishwater-blond spiky hair – has barely changed in decades but doesn’t need to when he has such lashings of old-school rock’n’roll charisma. His 80s hits such as Cradle of Love will probably be on a radio somewhere forever, but his two-hour show (ably supported by punk-era veterans Killing Joke and Toyah) isn’t just about nostalgic fun.
