Kevin Bronson on February 19th, 2015

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The sneer was there, and so were the menacing guitars, the familiar hits and a room full of fans Wednesday night at the sold-out Wiltern. Billy Idol, a tick short of 60, brought his “Kings & Queens of the Underground” tour to Los Angeles, thrilling a mostly older crowd reveling in the memories of when they were “Sweet Sixteen.” (Idol performed that 1986 with an acoustic guitar, joking “Just to show you, I can play three chords. … And you only need three chords.”) Idol’s 90-plus-minute set was front-loaded with newer material, including songs from last October’s “Kings & Queens of the Underground,” his first studio album in almost 10 years. Most of the memorable hits — “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face,” “Cradle of Love” — came later, along with some extended jamming from guitarist Steve Stevens. Throughout, the crowd persistently held cell phones aloft, capturing for posterity what they only remembered from back in the day. And as you might expect, it was a celebrity-studded affair — and nobody was merely dancing with themselves.

||| Live: Billy Idol returns to the Wiltern tonight for another sold-out show.

Photos by Carl Pocket