Billy Idol’s Roadside UK Tour 2022 has not been an easy ride getting, with the singer’s own health resulting in the dates having to be rescheduled from June to October, but those of special guests on the tour also, but with a rebel yell, fans will be shouting from the rooftops that the tour is still going ahead as of Thursday 13th in Manchester.
Idol will be returning to the UK with new music and a stack of timeless classics. For his first appearances in the UK since 2018, he will play six arena shows with the rescheduled dates listed below.
Discussing the reasons behind the seasonal tour date changes, Billy Idol explained: “As many of you know, this year has dealt me some health challenges which are nearly, but not quite resolved.” Continuing he said, “While my recovery is almost complete, I have been given doctor’s orders to stay off the road until August – and so it is with great frustration that we must reschedule the UK Tour for October of this year. Thank you for everyone’s understanding and support. These shows will be worth the wait!”
The Roadside UK Tour was never about skimping on all-round entertainment either. The Go-Go’s were orginally announced as tour special guests, but were unable to commit to the dates changes, and legendary US band Television were announced alongside the iconic character that is Toyah Wilcox, and things just seemed to get better, only for things to go awry once more, with Tom Verlaine’s band having 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.“
Fortunately, Idol appears to have a sterlingly professional team surrounding him, for in the same breadth as that bad news they reclaim glory for the tour with the announcement that the mighty Killing Joke have stepped up to the mark and will be on board for the tour.
“Just when you think it’s all over, I’d been missing my brothers in Killing Joke and then this opportunity came up,” remarked the band’s frontman Jaz Coleman, adding “Looking forward to seeing everyone next week, one day’s rehearsal and a secret gig somewhere in the U.K. Lets get stuck in.”
“We’re looking forward to having Killing Joke and Toyah join us in the UK,” said Idol. “This is going to be an epic show!”
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.
Furthering her acting career by leaving her native Birmingham for London and enjoyed a parallel musical career fronting her own band, Toyah Wilcox began to establish herself as a solo artist. She 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.Wilcox’s hit albums include the 2021 top 25-charting Posh Pop, The Changeling and the gold-selling Anthem (a remastered reissue due in September 2022).
Along with husband Robert Fripp, Wilcox has scored over 110 million of hits on YouTube with their racey Sunday Lunch series of weekly musical shorts.
“I am thrilled to be opening for Billy Idol on The Roadside Tour,” Wilcox said excitedly. “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.
Returning back to the headline act, the global lockdown of 2020 gave Idol time to reflect and thoughts turned to his near-fatal motorcycle accident of 1990, how he dealt with it and how it related to the current crisis. “It seemed quite logical and natural to write something about my motorcycle accident,” he said. “I may have been saying, well, this is what people go through when they are in trouble. I think I was unconsciously making that connection.“Certainly, the motorcycle accident was the catharsis, the wake-up moment. A little bit of me got left by the side of that road. Maybe I left behind the irreverent, youthful Billy and opened the door for a more attentive father and more sensitive musician. Something did get left by the roadside, but it was not necessarily a bad thing in the end.”
His reflections are captured in the lyrics of ‘Bitter Taste’, one of four tracks on his 2021 EP The Roadside, and was his first new music for seven years.
His touring band will feature 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.
Billy Idol’s The Roadside Tour 2022 dates are listed below and all existing tickets will be valid for the revised dates. They can also be purchased from here.
