POP MUSIC REVIEW : The Rude Dude Returns : Idol in First Southland Appearance Since Cycle Crash

Billy Idol is back all right.

It didn’t take long Wednesday at the Forum to see that the peroxided rocker with the sexiest sneer since Elvis has lost little of his spunk. It was the opening show of Idol’s first Southern California concert swing since his right leg was crushed in a near-fatal motorcycle accident in February in Hollywood.

The first thing that caught your eye as you entered the 18,000-seat arena was a massive, mechanical fist above the stage. Painted across the fingers were the words, “R-U-D-E D-U-D-E.”

When it was time for Idol to come on stage, the fist began slowly rotating until it was palm up. The joke was obvious by now.

Still, the crowd roared with laughter as the strategic finger in the prop slowly started rising into the symbol that is perhaps second only to the stop sign in terms of international recognition.

With the fans still cheering, Idol walked on stage in his black leather finery, supporting himself with a cane. The immediate suspicion was that Idol had overestimated his recovery powers and gone on the road too soon after his extensive surgery.

Within seconds of starting the first song, however, Idol raised the cane above his head and eventually hurled it away--moving about the stage triumphantly on his own.

If Idol’s spirit was willing, however, the flesh was sometimes weak.

Idol didn’t appear to be fully recovered from the accident during the 90-minute performance. His mobility seemed limited--he often skipped or hopped, as if regular walking were too painful--and that took away from the energy and momentum.

Another factor contributing to the occasional coldness in the show was the absence of the old interaction between Idol and longtime sidekick Steve Stevens, the guitarist who left Idol’s band to form his own group.

Though the physical problem and change of band members clouded matters, the deeper suspicion is that this “Charmed Life” tour offers less celebration than past Idol visits because Idol is yet another veteran rock artist in transition: someone torn between having to do the obligatory old numbers (which leaves them a touch mechanical) and moving forward to more challenging material.

For several years now he has been talking about reaching beyond his colorful, if cartoon-like image as a rock hellion to explore songs with a wider range of personal emotions.

Accordingly, the most effective moments Wednesday were unaffected by pacing or physical limitations: the slower, more thoughtful material from his last two albums. Two of those songs, in fact, served as the evening’s artistic highlights.

The first, “Prodigal Blues,” is an affecting look at relationships and commitment, while “Trouble With the Sweet Stuff” is a moody, anxious reflection on obsession.

While Idol is unlikely to ever abandon his sheer rock celebration,this more probing side is likely to play an increasingly important part of his repertoire.

But it occupied a small part of Wednesday’s show, not enough to allow the tour--which continues with stops tonight at the San Diego Sports Arena and Saturday at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa--to live up to its promise of being the best arena double-bill since the 1988 Aerosmith-Guns N’ Roses combination.

But the blame wasn’t all Idol’s.

The package promised to be a battle of different rock generations and attitudes. Where Idol, whose own rock hero is Elvis and who subscribes to the larger-than-life tenets of rock-star tradition, opening act Faith No More laughs at rock-star tradition.

Faith No More is part of a growning number of bold and important bands that explore rock from so many angles--an imaginative mix of punk independence, metal aggression, rap insistence and art sensibilities--that they are virtually reinventing the music.

Thanks to “Epic,” a song that is one of the best expressions of teen frustration since the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” Faith No More has made impressive strides toward reaching the same mass rock audience that Guns N’ Roses found after “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”

But FNM’s manner at the Forum was largely indifferent, possibly because only a fraction of the crowd was in the seats when the band started, and most of those fans, judging from the T-shirts, seemed totally in Idol’s camp. So Faith No More just seemed to get it over with. Not exactly the killer instincts you’d like in an up-and-coming group.

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