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Record Company photos by Ana Gibert

The Record Company made a grand entrance with an unfortunate homage to the Napa fires of a year ago—an overzealous smoke machine drove photographers out of the pit and had the band literally dancing in the dark for the first couple of songs until guitarist Chris Vos went and told them to shut it off.

Finally everyone could concentrate on the music—including the headlining band The Killers, who showed up in the crowd to check out the Record Company’s set. The band’s first album, Give It Back to You, had the makings of a classic and earned them a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album (though in Elmore terms, it’s significantly more rock than blues), and their upcoming second effort, All of This Life, delivers shows no sign that the trio peaked early. An extended version on

Billy Idol’s band arrived all British punk  and  attitude. Idol’s hair may be legitimately gray now, but the hardworking, hard-living rocker looks as good as ever, and continues to challenge the prevailing music establishment just by being himself—along with his posse, including guitarists John Conte and Billy Morrison, whose I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude toward anything other than music compliments Idol’s own ethos like stars in a night sky. Starting off with “Shock To the System,” Idol screamed, the guitars screamed, the audience screamed, and none of them stopped until the last songs, which of course included “White Wedding.” Kudos to the whole band for knowing the importance of visuals. With a decidedly un-PC cigarette dangling from his lips, John Conte Grabbing his crotch, Idol made sure everyone knew what the lyrics to “Dancing With Myself” really meant, and later in the show, sweating from the workout, took off his shirt, a move which may or may not have sparked a significant brawl out in the audience. That’s rock and roll, baby. Deal with it.