Index – Culture – Billy Idol’s concert in Budapest divided the village
The crowd slowly gathered in Budapest Park, drenched by persistent rain, to watch the Hungarian concert of one of the most iconic frontmen of the 1980s. The performance originally planned for spring was rescheduled for September 25, 2022, so the music-hungry audience waited to hear the legendary frontman’s songs live.
Arriving at the venue, there was a lot of bustle, but the space only slowly filled up.
No one wanted to hang out in the rain, and there was no one in particular for the front rows. The opening band started their show before half the house. The Foxies, the four-piece pop-punk band with a female lead, brought a late Avril Lavigne feeling, and the story had a certain Paramore effect in the visuals – except that the singer is much more theatrical, and only a bra remained on her upper body by the third song.
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Gallery: Billy Idol’s Budapest concert was divisive in the villagePhoto: Réka Szabó / Index
What does a backing band do?
The band brought decent energy to the stage, raging throughout. It was like a real backing band. Many songs thus brought the “I’ve heard it before” feeling. In the middle of the concert, one note at a time stood out from the others, but the band still couldn’t leave the American, school, teenage rock line. However, the musicians did everything they could, partying, clapping, and cheering the crowd. And the singer was especially grateful, because as it turned out, the American team did not visit Europe much, so they sent their Hungarian debut with full force.
While the rain poured down steadily.
Full after The Foxies the square, the lodges and terraces were sold out. You didn’t have to drown in his arena, but you didn’t have to move much either. Thousands of people were waiting for the blonde British rock star to walk in casually and with a smile. Mother Nature also relented, the rain let up a bit and allowed Billy Idol to rock the party.
The stage consisted of catwalks, ramps and a huge projector, but they didn’t stress too much about the technique. The inscription Billy in Doom font style was decorated almost all the way behind the band, the view was given by animated backgrounds. Because of this, each picture turned out really well, with the lights brought it the effect as if the musicians were in a hangar, a cyberpunk downtown, or in the embrace of old apartment buildings.
Fast onset, slow recovery
The concert started with a strong double, immediately one To dance with myself and one Cradle of love rolled in, but the fresh 2021 The Roadside single, and the songs of 2022 a The cage They didn’t wait long for an EP either. Regardless, the crowd moved slowly, and the atmosphere even more slowly. The first couple of songs were played with a mandatory character, for the punky trend a fleeting stop put an end to it.
Steve Stevens, the iconic glam and heavy metal guitarist of the eighties, gets some playing time. Technically, he did not exaggerate, he stimulated the crowd with his mere presence to roar. Then Billy Idol returned to finally get the people moving.
He’s visiting from his new album Running from the Ghost there was somewhere the answer line, when the singer also realized that his presence was not enough, he had to sweep the crowd away, that’s what the audience was waiting for. From there, there were more and more stage plays, roars, iconic grimaces, once he even licked his mouth sexily, and then laughed, since this is only part of the show, even if he is already in his late sixties.
A slower block came in the middle of the concert, the new album was played Bitter taste – with great success – and considered a true classic Faceless eyes. Here, Steve yellow Stevens again has a solo part, in which he finally showed why he is one of the iconic guitar legends of the eighties. He teased the people, played the guitar, appeared alone and filled the stage. At one point, he even played Stairway To Heaven for fun, which made the crowd go wild.
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Gallery: Billy Idol’s Budapest concert was divisive in the villagePhoto: Réka Szabó / Index
There are things that age does not change
In the meantime, Billy Idol changed his clothes several times, and twice we got iconic shirtless scenes. At such times, it seemed that despite his age, despite being a star of the eighties, he did not let up with his muscle building, if I may say so. As for the band, the young titans weren’t typical either. Most of the musicians came from the singer’s contemporaries, which is why, unlike Alice Cooper or Ozzy Osbourne, who look for stage power in young talents, Billy Idol prefers to play music with those who have been leading the way for a long time. This gave the band a bit of an old motorcycle feeling, but I write this in the best sense of the word. Although the British singer’s voice is worn and
the delicate, relaxed parts were not always successful, the screams were hot, the stage games were enjoyable.
The closing chord of the concert is, of course, legendary Rebel Yell was, which the crowd roared throughout. on occasion, the band retired, instead of the audience, they invited him back with whistles and shouts. A few more songs were played on the boards and the evening was closed White weddinggel. Before saying goodbye, Billy Idol introduced the band members one by one, giving everyone a small introduction, then thanked them for being here and left the stage.
The audience left Budapest Park in orderly, comfortable lines, wet and cold, but shaken up by Billy Idol. Of course, you could hear negative voices in the rows, that the party was anemic, or that Billy Idol can no longer sing like he used to, but meanwhile you could see a lot of people jumping, dancing, singing and shouting. So even if there were those who were disappointed, there are many who found it a fantastic experience: they finally got to see live the performer who, as an iconic figure of the eighties, put himself on the shelf among the greatest with a cheeky grimace.
(Cover photo: Réka Szabó / Index)