Back in 1986, the Dead Boys performed a one-off reunion show with their original lineup on Halloween. The DVD, if you haven’t figured this out yet, documents the reunion. The cover boasts an introduction from the legendary Joey Ramone, which lasts about fifteen seconds, and then the band enters stage left. They quickly play through a set list of hits, but their energy seems lacking until about five songs into the show. Stiv, in a full leather outfit, doesn’t really begin to move until he strips down to his pants. The rest of the show is mostly uneventful, but full of energy and fun to watch.
Now, I have a problem sitting still for an hour. Around fifty-five minutes into the show, I have to pee. I figure that I’m not going to miss much, so I go to the bathroom. I walk away for thirty seconds and there’s a naked Stiv Bators on my TV.
The bonus features aren’t much, but I guess that doesn’t really matter because the focus isn’t the bonus features, because the very definition of such means that they are superfluous. Anyway, all it is is an interview with Stiv and Frank Secich (I have no idea who he is) from 1980 that includes a rare video of “Sonic Reducer,” which is way better than any million dollar video I’ve ever seen just because of the intro.
I think band DVDs are pretty worthless except for two occasions: 1) The band is broken up and has no chance of getting back together or 2) There is no way in hell you will ever get to see this band live. Since the Dead Boys fit pretty well into category 1, I have no problem with this DVD. The quality isn’t great, but I don’t think anyone will really care if they want to see the Dead Boys handing out their brand of mayhem. –Bryan Static (MVD Visual, PO Box 280, Oaks, PA 19456, www.mvdvisual.com)