Billy Idol Brings the Chains, Leather, and Hits to Ravinia Festival

Jul 13

By Christopher David

The Hunter Pavilion at Ravinia was treated to a ninety-minute blast of pure rock n’ roll on Sunday night as iconic punk rocker Billy Idol strutted and snarled his way through a catalog of hits, deep cuts, and killer new material, and it proved one thing beyond doubt: after nearly fifty years in the game, Billy Idol is a certified badass of the highest order.

Opening the show with “Still Dancing” from 2025’s stellar Dream Into It—a fist-pumping anthem that immediately felt like a classic—Idol was every bit the image the he’s projected since first appearing in the late ‘70s as the frontman of Generation X, clad in black leather, chains, and his signature blonde hair. Backed by a six-piece band showcasing the immortallycool Steve Stevens on lead guitar, along with backup singers Kitten Kuroi and Jessica Childress, both of whom enjoyed a few moments on the main stage playfully teasing Idol through the chorus of “Mony Mony,” Idol and Co. delivered a fourteen-song set that mostly stuck to the first few records. “Eyes Without a Face” sounded just as lush and eerie as ever, and “Flesh for Fantasy,” with its punchy chorus and racy imagery, sounded even heavier in a live setting than on record. “77,” Idol’s duet with Avril Lavigne from the aforementioned 2025 record, was a bouncy throwback to the bright choruses of the Generation X era—and speaking of those years, it was easy to see how “Ready Steady Go” (which Idol introduced as the first song he ever wrote) could have influenced everyone from Green Day, Blink-182, and any number of other alt-rock and pop-punk outfits over the decades that followed it.

“Thank you for giving me a great f***ing life!” Idol shouted at the end of the night, as the band tore through a raucous “Dancing With Myself” and, of course, the slithering guitar melodies of “White Wedding.” Clad in a long, black leather duster with a triumphant fist in the air, the capacity crowd at Ravinia got an important reminder: rock n’ roll never dies, and in the case of Billy Idol, it barely ages at all—he sounds just as vibrant and sharp as he did when his particular blend of pop, punk and new wave hit the air in his early days.