Billy Idol - Super Overdrive (DVD)

Whew! Billy Idol live and rockin' from a hot Chicago summer night at the Congress Theater. Eagle Entertainment's new DVD release of the punk rock icon's show is pretty fun. I mean, c'mon, how many of us have pumped and waved that fist during "White Wedding" ("Start AGAIN!") or "Rebel Yell" ("She want more, more, more")? Ok, well, I have!

This DVD “In Super Overdrive Live” was filmed at the Congress Theater, Chicago for the US TV series Soundstage and originally broadcast in America in July 2009. The DVD includes live workouts of a couple of old Generation X songs - the always energetic 'Ready Steady Go' and what Billy calls probably his favorite Gen X song 'Kiss Me Deadly'. That was a cool treat. Plus, there's alll the 80s hits from 'Dancing with MySelf', 'Flesh for Fantasy' and 'Eyes Without A Face'up to tracks from his most recent album “The Devil’s Playground”.

Guitarist extraordinaire Steve Stevens and Idol look great - it's really the Idol and Steve Stevens show. Billy's 54 yr. old torso looks a heckuva lot better than most of us, and Stevens plays that guitar inside out, upside down, in his teeth, around his head and more. It's guitar showmanship! A few distractions abound, though - the band's rhythm section, while competent, look like heavy metal band refugees, which looks a little out of place in Idol's stage playground. And while Billy does a few pump-up-the-crowd exhortations, his in-between chatter is pretty low-key - either he's catching his breath or he's pretty shy guy out of the front stage spotlights.


'Billy Idol in Super Overdrive' is a fun DVD - clean sound, great angles and a babe heavy front row for the camera guys. One commetor on Amazon wrote: "The one huge problem is that several of my favorite Billy Idol songs are not included. "Hot in the City," "To Be a Lover," "Sweet Sixteen," "Mony Mony" and "Cradle of Love" were all performed the night this show was recorded but were left off!" Well, dude, you can't have it all, can ya! Buy one for your ex-punk uncle and score some beers at the family Christmas party.