(DVD / NR / 2022 / MVD Visual)

Overview: Shot at the Camden Palace in London during September of 1985 this rare footage captures Wendy O. Williams and band during an epochal point in her career of which there is very little other footage around.

DVD Verdict: Having been called the Queen of Punk Rock in the early stages of her career, by this time known as the High Priestess of Metal, Wendy had gotten a Grammy Nomination for the Gene Simmons (of KISS) produced WOW album and had just released her speed metal album Kommander of Kaos.

In top form here, Wendy’s scorching vocals are punctuated by her famous back bend screams. The show also features Motorhead (Lemmy and Wurzel) joining Wendy onstage for Jailbait, and also includes a performance of You’ll Succeed, a crowd favorite that sadly never made it to an album of the Wendy’s.

The trouble for me here is that the real thrust of Wendy’s amazing erotic performance is constantly undermined by hyperactive editing with too many close-ups of bass player Greg Smith (as great as he plays and as cool as he looks), too many of the same audience reaction shot (the first row shown over and over again), and basically no closeups of the drummer.

Which leads me to reveal to you all that at no point in this near one hour live extravaganza do we get a head to toe tight shot (sad face). And sure, her most powerful voice is mixed too far back here, and whereas I cannot say she had any form of melodious voice, but that primal scream of hers always started at her heels, snaking up past that black string bikini, and erupting through her mouth, should be the loudest instrument on stage!

That said, overall, the audio and video quality is very good and the hour features songs from both Wendy’s solo career and older Plasmatics numbers. Wendy is seemingly really wired here and totally full of hot, sweaty energy throughout!

At one point, she is having a real hard time with one of her bra straps and just goes about fixing it as only WOW can do! Oh, and, of course, watching her saw a guitar in half and seeing her smash a TV, well, come on now, that’s just f**king awesome!

Personally, I love Wendy’s music and so now seeing this rare performance of the late rocker from 1985, meant it was a real treat for me (as I hope it is for you all too).

The show, originally broadcast throughout Europe on Sky TV was directed by Plasmatics creator, Rod Swenson, and Produced by Phillip Goodhand-Taite.