Billy Idol In Super Overdrive – Live (Soundstage/2009/Eagle Vision Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: D     Concert: B-

 

 

When Billy Idol first arrived on the scene as a solo performer, he was walking a line between Punk and New Wave that was leaning towards Punk, including the more soulful than expected Hot In The City.  Formerly from the band Generation X, he would go on to have hit like White Wedding, Eyes Without A Face, Cradle Of Love and a successful remake of Mony Mony.  Still going almost 35 years later, Idol appeared on the series Soundstage and that show is now out on DVD under the title Billy Idol In Super Overdrive (2009) on Blu-ray.

 

His work always surfaces on compilations of the era, including Music Video sets like this one:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8992/Freddie+DeMann%E2%80%99s+Music

 

 

Seeing him in concert is interesting in itself just because his image is most often associated with Videos, but here, he holds his own well for the 70 minutes this lasts.  Songs include:

 

1)     Super Overdrive

2)     Dancing With Myself

3)     Flesh For Fantasy

4)     Touch My Love

5)     White Wedding

6)     Scream

7)     Eyes Without A Face

8)     Cry

9)     Blue Highway

10)  Ready Steady Go

11)  Rebel Yell

12)  Kiss Me Deadly

 

 

He is still in good shape, not looking as old as most of his contemporaries and the voice is still there for the most part.  The audience seems happy with him and he is not lacking in energy; something we cannot say of too many of his contemporaries of the time.  Better than you’d expect, the show is shorter than it should be and does not feature all his hits (maybe he wants to forget a few?), but it is not a bad show and if you like him, you might want to catch it.

 

The 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is good, but not great, with some detail and depth limits.  Color is good and the shoot is good, but this is not demo quality.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo here, but the soundstage (no pun intended) is limited and could be better.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo