With almost eighty years under his belt – as well as his microphone at random moments – Iggy Pop absolutely delivered. In a viscerally powerful one-and-a-half hour set with exceptional arrangements from his stellar seven piece band, he dug right back to his early roots. A great communicator, he engaged the devoted crowd all the way through and, true to his performing persona, from the moment he ripped off his shirt, he played unashamedly to the gallery. ‘That you f—g turned up, it means f—g everything to me.’ And he meant it.
Setting the bar with the rousing barrage of TV Eye the band injected life, depth and intensity to classic songs drawn from the 70s era of Raw Power and Lust for Life. His spoken introductions bound the sequence of twenty songs with an air of narrative, hinting at autobiographical confession, a thread that has run through his output over the years.
Rich textures were added to the song structures. Urian Hackney, behind the drum kit, drove the momentum tirelessly, with Brad Truax’s bass adding resounding chunks to the rhythm. The two-man brass section – Leron Thomas and Corey D King, with their heavy duty jazz credentials, brought a bright, lyrical voice to the jigsaw chiming with Seamus Beaghen’s keyboard work. Nick Zinner threw in perfectly crafted, electrifying guitar bursts, thoughtfully structured, blisteringly powerful while Ale Campos held the line to add essential layering to the guitar sound.
Iggy Pop’s energy was remarkable, careering all over the stage, taking the audience of all ages with him – this was a physical performance with his voice holding up equally impressively – no concessions to his years.
On Gimme Danger and Down on the Street there were echoes of Jim Morrison in Iggy Pop’s vocals and delivery, an uncanny and not inappropriate connection with the aura and mystique of The Doors.
The poetry of Passenger, with lyrics inspired by Jim Morrison’s poem, The Lords, contrasted the beauty of the stars and the ‘bright and hollow sky’ with ‘the city’s ripped backsides’ and brought out a melodic break from Beaghan before the mike was held out to the audience to join in the ‘la la la’ chorus. The song was drawn from the mid-seventies Bowie era collaborations, a time of creative blossoming for Iggy Pop, and a memorable previous sighting with Bowie at the keyboards at Manchester’s Apollo in ’77. And it is worth reflecting that journalist Nick Kent stated that ‘Bowie’s main attraction to Iggy was the way he could turn lyrics in to a verbal form of jazz.’
After inviting the house to ‘feel you’re on a Death Trip’ he declared ‘I need to get f—g close’, and climbed off the stage to get amongst the crowd at the front. Theatrical play but from the heart. Then to the distinctive riffs of I Want to be Your Dog and the power of Search and Destroy. Grinning wistfully, he introduced 1970. ‘This is an old stager’s number … what it was like to be young in 1970,’ and shouting ‘I feel alright’, threw down the mike stand with faux defiance. Railing that ‘Today everything’s a rip off,’ he launched in to Modern Day Rip Off, something of a personal statement – ‘A respectable person / Would not do so much cursin’ / At least I’m still kickin’ – following Frenzy, two concessions to his most recent output.
Never to be understaged, following a power-drenched rendering of Real Wild Child, and the finale of Fun Time, Iggy Pop made his flamboyant, comic book exit in a red-lined coffin, throwing open its lid to wave farewell.
BAND
Iggy Pop: vocals
Nick Zinner: guitar (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Ale Campos: guitar (Las Nubes)
Urian Hackney: drums (The Armed)
Leron Thomas:trumpet
Corey D King: trombone
Brad Truax: bass
Seamus Beaghen: keyboards
4 responses
Nice review and summed up a great night perfectly. I think you misheard the comment before 1970 though. He said it was an old Stooges number not an old stager’s number as quoted above. Although arguably both are true!
Thank you for your positive feedback, Ollie. On ‘Old stager’s number’ v ‘Old Stooges number’ – it is what I thought I’d heard. As luck would have it, as you point out, both interpretations would work. In fact, ‘Old stagers’ carries with it a degree of reflection and humour which would, I’m sure, sit comfortably with the evening’s protagonist, even if that was not what he’d said! Many thanks, again.
I was there and it was definitely ‘an old Stooges number’. Incredible night.
Nobody did it better.
Nobody did it worst.
Nobody did it, period. For six decades, Ig has remained the last word in onstage performances. I saw The Stooges on Tuesday, August 30th 2005 at Hammersmith Apollo
I didn’t see another group for three years after that astonishing concert. He still remains in a field of one.
As for his marvellous radio show, he is the true heir to John Peel, which is fitting because John was the first English DJ to play The Stooges back in 1969 !