It was on this very day (29 June) in 2012 that Lou Reed stepped onto the Kunstrasen stage as the first main act on the new festival grounds down by the Rhine. No one knew if the concerts would continue, and indeed, there have been plenty of changes and comprimises made to keep the music going. But keep going it most definitely has, and 13 years later it’s ’70’s punk/pop legend Billy Idol who brings in the crowds. Astoundingly, there were barely 2000 people here to see Lou Reed, whereas tonight there are c.6000 for Billy Idol and support band New Model Army. Indeed, by the time that the doors opened there was a queue going far back down the pathway, well past the ticket offices.
During the American stint of this tour Billy Idol’s support was Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. That would have made for a dream double bill this evening. That said, it’s likely that a lot of those 6000 people are here to see support band New Model Army. They play regular sold-out concerts in Cologne every year and, over the 45 years since forming, have built up a large and dedicated fanbase (The Family). I’m not yet a part of ‘The Family’ as this is the first time I’ve seen the band, and I’m surprised. I envisioned, with their name based on a British Civil War army that they were a punk inspired bunch of hard rockers. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are in fact much more than that.
Singer and only original band member from the groups formation in 1980 (in Bradford) is Justin Sullivan. I have trouble catching his vocals early in the set, but it’s clear that lyrics are an important part of the bands popularity. ‘Never Arriving’ is introduced with the reference that we Brits have a saying that the journey is more important than the destination and is borne out by the lyric:
“And for cowards like me, the safest place that we know Is here between departing and arriving – but never arriving”
‘Here comes the War‘ is an old song (from 1992) but very relevant currently as Sullivan laments. Again its closing lyric is poignant: ‘Here comes the war – put out the lights on the Age of Reason’.
I was already warming to New Model Army when they added a violin to the mix and took everything off in a fresh direction more reflective of Irish Folk Rock with it’s swirling fiddle solos that probably got their first inspirations from Dave Swarbrick except that the lady playing, Shir-Ran Yinon, is probably too young to have heard the name. The music is swirling as it switches rhythm and topic. ‘Stormclouds’ particularly puts the hammer down as Ceri Monger switches from bass to add extra drum beats to what Michael Dean is already laying down with a vengeance. ‘Do You Really Wanna Go There?’ is a title and a half in itself and the nearest NMA get to a love song – “I’m gonna kiss the girls and say goodbye!” sings Sullivan.
Even on a sweltering evening like tonight the audience was happily swirling and dancing in front of the stage. “We recently played with Billy at Wembley” says Sullivan. Typical of the band though, this doesn’t become a statement about ‘How good we are that we played Wembley’ because he finishes by saying “It was all f*ck’ng seated! I mean, would you believe it?!” NMA are definitely a band that stretches musical boundaries and are very much worth a listen, especially live.
So, a sweltering start to the evening at Kunstrasen, and if it was already hot in the City, it was about to get hotter still as Billy Idol stepped onto the stage at exactly 8 pm. There was no photography from the photo-pit, but you really would have needed a very long lens to see that Idol is 70 this year. If anything, the lines on his face give the songs more gravitas than they had as erstwhile late ’70’s pop tunes. He has a brief break for a guitar piece from the wonderful Steve Stevens who stitches ‘Over the hills & far away’, ‘Eruption’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’ seamlessly together, but otherwise the opener ‘Still Dancing’ really describes Billy Idol this evening, crossing from one stage side to the other, urging the band on and clearly enjoying being on a stage playing his music.
The hits are played of course, but newer and lesser known songs hold up to them well. A particular favourite for me was ‘Too Much Fun’ from the new disc. It really is a musical Wikipedia of Billy’s crazy life as a pop star, including a motorcycle accident that almost cost his life:
“Half a line turnеd into five
I flirt with death to feel alive
Fеll off stage, but didn’t dive
Crashed my bike, but I didn’t die
Too much, too soon
Almost led to my doom
I looked into my tomb
And walked away“
That rocky road started with Billy in the Punk band Generation X, and it’s fascinating to hear a rocked up version of Gen X’s ‘Ready Steady Go’ played all these year’s later with it’s references to old UK tv music shows like Juke Box Jury and the admission that nothing beat the show, and particularly it’s iconic, every teenage boys musical dream-date, presenter Cathy McGowan:
“I’m not in love with Juke Box Jury
I’m not in love with thank your Lucky stars
I’m not in love with T’T’T’Twiggy
Because I’m in love with Cathy McGowan“
Other highlights and blasts from the past included ‘Love don’t live here anymore’ with vocals shared between Billy and backing singer Kitten Kuroi. ‘Moni Moni’ was also an enjoyable evergreen.
The hits were played of course, practically book-ending the end of the show proper (‘Rebel Yell’) and the end of the encore (‘White Wedding‘). To all you aging rockers out there: Billy Idol is still singing as powerfully as ever, and ‘still dancing’.
Changes in this year’s Kunstrasen? There’s an additional VIP stand opposite the established one, and a cocktail booth near it, the combination of which narrows the audience view considerably and creates a crowded slightly narrow corridor with sightline to the stage. It also creates a couple of ‘dead’ areas where no-one stands. Not a major concern with 6000 people, but when the place is full… A Kölsch will set you back 6 Euros + 2 Euros ‘pfand’ and a Bretzel is 4 Euros – or 4.50 Euros with cheese added. Refreshment choices have been simplified with big red signs saying ‘Wine Bar’, ‘Cocktails’ etc so you can at least see where to go before you set out from that crowd. The sound barriers have also been improved which is definitely a plus for louder rock bands now and in the future. Hopefully this will mean more hard rock/blues bands? If you’re reading this Mr Jagger and Mr Daltrey…
