Be forewarned: If you buy this DVD for your family’s resident punk fanatic this holiday season — and you most definitely should — he/she may spontaneously combust from excitement, and this fiery film may just set off ol’ Tannenbaum, as well.
Live at CBGB’s is the stuff punk-rock dreams are made of: a three-camera, full-color, stereo video of a Dead Boys gig during the band’s peak. The performance is super, and it’s nearly as much fun to watch the odd mix of befuddled squares and coked-up groupies who packed CB’s at its zenith.
The extras are fab — post-show quickie interviews with the band, a cool local-TV commercial, and new interviews with CB’s owner (and former Dead Boys manager) Hilly Krystal and guitarist Cheetah Chrome. Seriously, it’s the first indispensable punk-rock DVD. Just keep it away from the Chanukah bush.
This article appears in Dec 1-7, 2004.