Billy Idol is bringing his The Roadside Tour 2022, to the UK from 13th October. Killing Joke are delighted to be announced as special guests for the tour, after Television were forced to make a late withdrawal, alongside Billy’s other tour guest Toyah.
Television are disappointed to announce: “Unfortunately due to illness, we have to cancel the forthcoming UK tour with Billy Idol. We send our deepest apologies to any fans who have bought tickets.“
Billy will be heading out with some new music and a stack of timeless classics for his first appearances in the UK since 2018 and will play 6 Arena dates. Tickets are available from www.aegpresents.co.uk/billy-idol.
“Just when you think it’s all over, I’d been missing my brothers in Killing Joke and then this opportunity came up. Looking forward to seeing everyone next week,1 days rehearsal and a secret gig somewhere in the U.K. Lets get stuck in” Jaz Coleman, October 22”
The ever-popular Toyah will bring an extra sense of fun to the tour. Alongside a flourishing acting career, Toyah carved out a successful musical career with three top ten UK hit singles in the 1980s and the Gold-selling album Anthem.
“We’re looking forward to having Killing Joke and Toyah join us in the UK,” said Billy. “This is going to be an epic show!“
“I am thrilled to be opening for Billy Idol on The Roadside Tour,” an excited Toyah commented. “Billy is an icon whose music has thrilled millions worldwide and continues to do so. Billy has created a style of rock that has gone on to inspire generation after generation. ‘Rebel Yell, ‘White Wedding’ and ‘Mony Mony’ are up there with the all-time greats.
Billy’s touring band features his long-time guitarist and collaborator Steve Stevens along with Stephen McGrath (bass, backing vocals), Billy Morrison (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Trudeau (keyboards, backing vocals) and drummer Erik Eldenius.
Interview (courtesy of Mick Burgess):
On 13th October you start your latest UK Tour. Are you looking forward to playing here again?
I`m so excited. The band is all played in now so all we have to do is learn some of the new stuff and we`re off. It`s been a while since I was last here so I`m really looking forward to it. I have a big connection with the UK and have missed playing there.
Have you had any thoughts as to the setlist yet?
I should think that we`ll be doing several of the new songs. They`ll be mixed with the Idol classics so you should get it all. It`ll be a great mixture.
Will there be a Generation X song or two as well?
We usually play a different Generation X song on each tour. We did “Your Generation” recently so might do that but we are pretty well played in on most Generation X songs so could throw anything in. A lot of people know the ‘Valley Of The Dolls’ album so could do anything from that like “King Rocker”.
You have added Toyah to the bill?
Yes, she`s going to be joining me on the tour. I love Toyah, we`ve known each other for years. She`s great!
In September you`ll release ‘The Cage EP.’ How do you feel ahead of its release?
Very excited and this is part of the impetus behind us coming to the UK. Finally, we get to show people what we`ve been doing. We`ve got some new Idol classics to play for everyone. We`re looking forward to share the excitement. “Cage” is something of a pandemic anthem. We`d all lived through the pandemic and had experiences through it and felt that now we could write about that. I`ve been locked up with my demons for so long that they`ve become my friends. It` a song that can also be about any time that you feel that society is holding you in and not letting you be who you want to be. We`ve done a great video with Steven Sebring for it too.
With the release of ‘The Roadside EP’ last year, that`s two EP`s in the space of a few months. Did you feel that you wanted to put something out at these points in time rather than wait longer to do a whole album?
With the EP`s we`ve been able to be more timely with the releases. It`s also a case of being focussed on just doing four songs instead of trying to do 12 or more. I think when you listen to it, it just makes you want more. The song “The Cage” is 2:50 and there`s something about that, that makes you want to play it again. It`s very contained so I think these small increments aren`t such a bad idea. We are planning on doing a third EP and then we`ll put them all together on an album.
Soundwise, it`s unmistakably Billy Idol with “Cage” and “Rebel Like You” being classic head-down Rockers? When you started writing the songs was it the plan to capture that essence of what everyone thinks a Billy Idol song is like or does it just come out like that when you all get together?
We always did a Doors song like “L.A Woman” where me and Steve traded off each other but we never had our own song like that so “Rebel Like You” is one where I sing then Steve plays this Blues lick so now, we have that song where Steve answers me. It`s actually a song about my granddaughter Poppy Rebel. She`s only a year and a half old but she came to my show in Vegas and was dressed up like me in my “Dancing With Myself” video with pleather trousers, Dr. Martens and spiky hair. She looked just like me so funnily enough “Rebel Like You” is actually about my little granddaughter. She came to the show to see what her grandad did for a living and she loved it. We gave her a little microphone so now she`s always picking it up and singing into it. That`s a nice song for me as it has a personal meaning but it could be for any fan in the that comes to a gig dressed like me.
Looking ahead, what do you have planned when you finish your UK shows and what have you lined up for next year?
Once we finish the UK tour, I have some shows booked in Vegas in November. We`ll also start work on the next EP so there`s plenty going on. I hope to have an announcement to make very soon about a really exciting project for next year, which I think my fans will love, so watch out for that.
Billy Idol The Roadside Tour 2022 dates:
Thursday 13 October Manchester AO Arena
Monday 17 October Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Wednesday 19 October London The SSE Arena, Wembley
Friday 21 October Glasgow The SSE Hydro
Sunday 23 October Birmingham Resorts World Arena
Tuesday 25 October Leeds First Direct Arena
Tickets for The Roadside Tour 2022 can be purchased here. All existing tickets are valid for the revised dates.
About Billy Idol
For forty-five years, Billy Idol has been one of the faces and voices of rock’n’roll, with an artistic resume to match the brilliant light of the image. First as the camera-ready front man for Generation X, between 1977 and 1981 Idol emerged with three albums that made positivity, emotional depth, and high pop synonymous with punk rock. In 1982, Idol embarked on a remarkable transatlantic/trans-genre solo career that integrated clubland throb, wide-screen depth and drama, rockabilly desperation, the bold and simple lines of punk, and rock’n’roll decadence.
Embracing the new MTV music channel, videos for White Wedding, Rebel Yell and Eyes Without A Face established Idol as one of the iconic performers of his generation, a position he still holds today.
Twitter – @BillyIdol
Facebook – BillyIdol
Instagram – @billyidol
About Killing Joke
Killing Joke emerged in the post-punk early 1980s, their eponymous debut album exhibiting funky heavy rock influences before electronic and synth-pop styles also filtered through their music. They would, in turn, influence later generations including Metallica, Nirvana and Soundgarden.
Love Like Blood would give Killing Joke their greatest commercial success, a hit across Europe, peaking at #16 in the UK singles chart in 1985. Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards) and Geordie Walker (guitar) have been ever-constant members of the line-up and have been reunited with fellow founder members Paul Ferguson (drums) and Youth (bass guitar) since 2008.
Facebook – Killing Joke: Official
Twitter – @Killingjokeband
Instagram – @killingjokeband
About Toyah
In furthering an acting career, Toyah left her native Birmingham for London and enjoyed a parallel musical career fronting her band, named Toyah, before establishing herself as a solo artist. Toyah had three UK Top Ten hits with It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains and won Best Female Singer in the 1982 British Rock & Pop Awards, that later went on to become The Brits.
Her hit albums include the 2021 top 25-charting “Posh Pop”, The Changeling and the gold-selling “Anthem” which receives a remastered reissue in September 2022. Along with husband Robert Fripp, the couple have scored over 110 million of hits on YouTube with their racey Sunday Lunch series of weekly musical shorts.
Facebook – @toyahofficial
Twitter – @toyahofficial
Instagram – toyahofficial
Photo Credit: Stephen Sebring (Billy Idol)
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