Photo Credit: Steve Trager

The musical career of Billy Idol has been nothing short of greatness from his early days with Generation X, to the limelight of his commercial success as a solo artist. Fans of Idol have watched him gracefully mature while he built a catalog of timeless classics throughout the years. Idol prides himself on his legacy of being a true pioneer in rock and roll.

Billy Idol is no stranger to selling out venues in the Philly area. He’s packed small venues throughout his career and he played multiple times at the legendary Spectrum in the nineties. With that being said, it is evident that Billy Idol has no plans of slowing down any time soon. He is currently selling out shows at popular casino venues across his recent run of tour dates.

There is nothing like sitting in the first few rows at a small intimate show to gaze at the stage while one of your favorite performers truly shines during an “unplugged” setting. A fantastic venue to see any talented artist up close would be The Xcite Center inside the Parx Casino nestled in Bensalem, Pennsylvania just outside Philadelphia. The setting was nothing short of fantastic.

For nearly two hours, fans of Billy Idol and guitar axe-slinger Steve Stevens were treated to a trip down memory lane. They played many of the cult classics spanning thirty years worth of Idol’s career while giving fans some insight story telling segments of how many of these legendary songs came into fruition and molded into mega hits for Billy Idol. Idol covered a lot of ground during this performance with a few covers, stories of his life as a performer, and how some of his songs become a staple in his career.

When we think about any major artist performing “unplugged” in the back of our minds we tend to visualize a few stools and a few acoustic guitars and a very relaxed show from start to finish. However, it was just the opposite the minute both Idol and Stevens walked center stage. In fact, they didn’t sit down at all.

Surprisingly enough, Idol left out “The Cradle of Love”, not an over rated song, a song that reigned on MTV for weeks in the top ten back when MTV truly stood for Music Television. Although overall, it was a stellar evening full of hits, “Eyes without a face”, “Dancing with myself”, and sealing the evening with an excellent acoustic version of “White Wedding”.

At that point the venue went from a relaxed typical sit down show to a full-blown “everyone on your feet because it’s time to rock out!” vibe. Nothing could compare to the fan to artist interaction, especially with the grand finale of “White Wedding”, to end an unforgettable evening such as this rare intimate performance. A packed house? Yes. A great acoustic show? Absolutely. And above all else, an outstanding performance from Billy Idol and Steve Stevens who never sat down once. Now that’s a rock star show.

Written by: Steve Trager

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