If you’re not covered in sweat, you’re doing something wrong. Sunday night Iggy and the Stooges tore apart the Riviera Theatre in Chicago proving once more that they are a force of nature at any age. Pushing nearly 65, Pop and the boys puts on a show that would put most 20 year olds to shame. My ears are shot, my body is sore but it was worth every minute.
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Iggy and the Stooges
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Riviera Theatre
Chicago, IL
August 29, 2010
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I’ve seen The Stooges once before at Lollapalooza a few years ago but it was nothing like this. At the fest people are far more spread out and the sound has room to move. At the Riv it was every man for themselves as The Stooges cranked the amps and let anarchy reign.
The Stooges chose not to have an opening act this time around and it was probably a good idea. In the end no one, no one, can compete with his stage presence. Within seconds of coming on stage and all hell broke lose. Starting off with the intense “Raw Power” just amplified what everyone was feeling and took it to a whole other level. With no real transition between songs The Stooges tore into the show playing every song like it was his last.
The line between audience and musician is always a little blurred at a The Stooges show. Within the first three songs Pop’s tight, leathery body is covered in sweat and there’s a good chance so is yours. More than once in the show Pop dived into the audience letting anyone close enough put their hands on him. A real love of his fans comes through in moments like that. The result is half the crowd is not only covered in sweat but covered in Pop’s sweat too.
Although it was one of the shorter concerts I’ve been to, he was only on stage just over an hour, it felt like a much longer show. It is the experience of the show that transcends everything. Iggy and the Stooges, one of the pioneers of punk rock in 70s still has a tremendous amount of power to his music that is almost universal. The audio might not have been the best at the venue (I had a hard time hearing much of what was said or sang) but there’s not a single person there that didn’t have the time of their lives.
All of us at the show embraced the chaos. It is our love of pure punk that brought us there in the first place. Everyone’s soul exploded midway through the show as The Stooges performed their classic “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” I’ve never seen a musician get into a song so much. Pop barked and yelled and screamed eventually leading the entire audience in a chant of the chorus. By the end you don’t just listen to the music you feel it in every bone of your body.
Pop comes from the school of performance rock, much in the same style as Alice Cooper or Ozzy Osbourne, posing and jumping around all over the stage. It was great to see him after the lights came up and music ended still dancing on stage all on his own. Pop is a natural born rebel and should stand as a role model for the musicians of today. Very few musicians, even those that call themselves punk, put their entire body and soul into every performance. They do the gig and they get paid. Pop gives a thousand percent at every performance tearing down the wall between musician and fan. That’s how it should be. In the end it’s about the music, not the fame. He might be getting old but Iggy Pop, along with The Stooges, will always have a lust for life.
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Petey P.
Written by Guest on 2010-09-01 00:29:14
Best show ever!!!!!!!!!!!!  Iggy forever. |
Great review!
Written by Guest on 2010-09-01 13:09:55
Cheers,
AF |
Awesome!
Written by Guest on 2010-09-01 23:59:27
I felt like I was at the show and damn it would've been tasty to see Iggy go!
Thanks for the details and perspective!  |
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