Iggy and the Stooges

Just got home from this show -- Iggy and the Stooges, who performed at D.C's 9:30 Club. Another one of those legendary bands that I never thought I'd get to see live.

There are very few performers who have the stage presence of Iggy. For this show, the drums and guitars were backed up near the back of the stage, giving Iggy what must have been 80% of the available stage space to run around on. He arrived on stage, shirtless, wearing only a pair of tight jeans, which by show's end, were riding very low on his hips. He never stopped moving, and he used at least several cases of bottled water - some to drink, but mostly to pour over and cool his body.

For the first half of the show, I was right up front - close enough to lean over and touch him, if I wanted to. I later moved away from the stage and up to the balcony, so I could get a better overall perspective of the stage and audience. Iggy never did pour a jar of mustard onto his body, but it was neat to see scenes similar to those seen in those classic early 70's concert footage. Iggy did jump into the crowd, and wasn't afraid to lean into the surges and sing portions of some songs. For a couple of songs, he pulled up and had perhaps 12-15 audience members jump and be on stage with him. He puts a lot of energy into the show, isn't afraid to interact with the audience, and it was definitely appreciated.

The other Stooges - Ron and Scott Asheton, mostly stayed in the background, with most eyes focused on Iggy. I really appreciated seeing these two perform though - especially after reading and seeing them featured in the book 'Please Kill Me' It is so nice, to see some of the survivors from these legendary bands, still making good music. (Mike Watt also played guitar for the night)

The music was cranked to 11, and I am sure my ears will be ringing tomorrow. While driving home, I was hearing this weird whooshing sound, kind of like a jet plane. I realized that it was the heater/fan on my car, which I was now hearing so loudly because some of my other normal hearing frequencies were all messed up. Fortunately, I will have a couple of months to get things back to normal, before I go to the other side of the musical spectrum to hear the subtle melodies and sounds of Drasnin at Hukilau.

I know Bamboo Ben has tickets to see the Stooges in CA - hopefully others of you will also be able to see them perform.

Vern

I've seen Iggy perform three times solo and twice with The Stooges. He never ceases to amaze me. You could look at that classic footage of him from Cleveland, 1970 where he goes out into the audience and smears peanut butter on himself, and go see him tomorrow and nothing about his performance has really changed. He has managed to keep the same level of insane energy all these years. He is and always will be the true rock and roll animal (take that Lou Reed!). The first time I actually saw or heard Iggy was during his appearance on the Dinah Shore show back in '77 or '78 when he was on with David Bowie promoting 'The Idiot'. I was 11 or 12 years old and was blown away. Truly mind boggling, scary, and intriguing all at the same time. The weirdest part of the show was watching Iggy and David being interviewed by Dinah and her 'co-host' that day, Rosemary Clooney. Back then the mainstream were confused by people like Iggy and the message was that this guy was weird and important. But back here in the present day it's good to see that Iggy keeps going, and get this...later this month, he will be celebrating his 60th (!) birthday. We should all hope to be as energized when we get to that age. Happy Birthday Ig!!!!

Oh yeah... a word of advice on dealing with the loud volume: do yourself a favor before you go to a loud gig like that and stop off at Walgreen's or wherever and get yourself some of those foam ear plugs. I never go to a show without using them. It will save you a lot of grief in the aftermath.

In the 80s punk rock days here in Knoxville, there were a lot of local bands. The Circle Jerks would come to town and play at the deli (yes, they played in the dining room of the deli) and any number of local bands would warm up. On other nights, 6 local bands would play. The one common factor was the drummer. Each band would leave and he would stay. I guess the Knoxville punk scene was low on drumming talent.

Wel,, it paid off for our local boy. He has been Iggy's drummer for probably 15 years. Seen the world. You guys have probably seen him and never noticed.

Upcoming TV appearance by Iggy and The Stooges
May 4, 2007

Henry Rollins on IFC

On 2007-04-06 09:03, King Bushwich the 33rd wrote:
Upcoming TV appearance by Iggy and The Stooges
May 4, 2007

Henry Rollins on IFC

Thanks for the heads up on the Rollins TV. I love his show. I have also been lucky enough to see him perform live, unfortunately never with Black Flag. I saw him at Lolapalooza in '91 and this past summer when he opened up for X. As a performer he is as intense as Iggy. As a commentator and philosopher he is also amazing. I think I can say that I actually have pretty high respect for the man.

The Washington Post did a review of the recent Stooges concert. This is how they described Iggy .....

"Sleek, shirtless and a bit simian"

..... which seems about right.

The full concert review can be found here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040602080.html

Vern

You could look at that classic footage of him from Cleveland, 1970 where he goes out into the audience and smears peanut butter on himself, and go see him tomorrow and nothing about his performance has really changed.

Correction: it was Cincinatti, 1970

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD_XCECbAEU

Cool!

Thankx Vern!

LA is gonna go nutz!

Mrs Boo and I have pit tics for the Wiltern.

Yee Ha!

Missin the 1 year anny for FI for ol' Iggy

the Godfather of Punk!

Maybe Lux will show up ???

Who needs to hear anyway!?!

Rock on!!!

I'm going to catch them at The Warfield in SF on Thursday the 19th!! Ed "christ on a crutch" is coming up from San Diego to join me.

I can't wait! I saw Iggy a few times in the 1980s and he was the best performer I've ever seen to this day. The first time was at the Bacchanal in San Diego before I was 21 but I managed to sneak in without getting caught and saw the whole show for free! The next time he was with Gang of Four somwehere in LA. And then I saw him at the old Roxy theatre in San Diego. And I saw him a couple of years ago when his last solo album came out. But I expect this may well be the best show of all because he's with two of the Stooges.

Hey Ben, I have tix for the Wiltern too! They are for the floor, not the balcony but I don't know if that qualifies as "pit" though...

I caught Iggy's show 3 times in my lifetime (never w/ the Stooges unfortunately). 1977 in San Diego, the Idiot tour. I had a front row seat about 15 ft away from David Bowie (keyboards). At SDSU's Backdoor (Solder tour) and at the Catamaran Hotel with the Damned guitarist and a guy from the Patti Smith Band (Ivan Krahl I think). The Stooges, the MC5 and the New York Dolls are America's rock contribution to the world! Greatest lyric of all time "I'm a street-walkin' Cheetah with a heart full of napalm, I'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb" - Search and Destroy from the Stooges' xlnt 3rd album Raw Power (still my fave).

The Stooges, the MC5 and the New York Dolls are America's rock contribution to the world!

I spent years reading about the above three bands, never expecting I'd get the chance to ever hear them play live. Then 2005 comes around, and the remaining members of the MC5 got together and gave a short tour. Later that year the New York Dolls also came to D.C., and this year it was Iggy and the Stooges. I don't know what is happening to cause all of this to happen, but I hope all that good mojo keeps on working!

The MC5 (now known as the DKT MC5) toured last December in Europe, and I am hoping that they do a U.S. tour this year.

Vern

On 2007-04-15 21:45, ikitnrev wrote:

The Stooges, the MC5 and the New York Dolls are America's rock contribution to the world!

I spent years reading about the above three bands, never expecting I'd get the chance to ever hear them play live. Then 2005 comes around, and the remaining members of the MC5 got together and gave a short tour. Later that year the New York Dolls also came to D.C., and this year it was Iggy and the Stooges. I don't know what is happening to cause all of this to happen, but I hope all that good mojo keeps on working!

The MC5 (now known as the DKT MC5) toured last December in Europe, and I am hoping that they do a U.S. tour this year.

Vern

And both the revived MC5 and the New York Dolls played great shows. Way better than I expected.

I just heard that Iggy is turning 60 this Saturday!

Hey Iggy fans in SOCA...want to meet up after the Stooges show at the Pirate Restaurant, The Crazy Hook just down the street from the Wiltern?

Let me know!
Lee
[email protected]

The Stooges, the MC5 and the New York Dolls are America's rock contribution to the world!

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH!!!! 3 of my ALL-TIME fave bands, and I can count myself in as also being lucky enough to see all of these bands play in the last few years. They should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame right now!

I saw the Dolls and The Stooges both play at Little Steven's Underground Garagefest a few summers ago on Randall's Island in the same night! That was the first time I saw the Dolls perform (just a few weeks after Arthur Kane passed away) and they were fuckin AMAZING. David Johansen is one of the most charismatic front men ever. Better than Jagger!!!!!!! About a year or so later I saw the Dolls at Irving Plaza and they were equally amazing. (please see the documentary on Arthur Kane, "New York Doll" if you haven't done so already.)

I saw DKT-MC5 at The Bowery Ballroom about 3 years ago. I LOVE the MC5 and I was really impressed with Brother Wayne and the boys and how they gave more than a fitting tribute to their own music. That night I also discovered that Brother Wayne is probably one of the most unsung guitar heroes of the last 40 years. His playing is second to none of his rock contemporaries. A real master of the Chuck Berry school of rock players.

These guys haven't retired because they can't help but rock. To all of the nay-sayers I ask, 'what will YOU be doing when you're 60 years old???!!!!'

The Stooges were amazing last night! Best show I've seen in a long time. Iggy and the crowd were ecstatic! Iggy had everyone from the pit come up and dance on stage, despite the bouncers' protests. And Iggy did a lot of crowd surfing. They did most of the songs from Funhouse plus some other songs from the first album like 1969 and I Wanna Be Your Dog. They didn't do much from Raw Power, but even the new songs sounded good live.

On 2007-04-17 13:27, DJLee wrote:
Hey Iggy fans in SOCA...want to meet up after the Stooges show at the Pirate Restaurant, The Crazy Hook just down the street from the Wiltern?

Let me know!
Lee
[email protected]

The reviews of this place look awesome!

People puking out front as you walk in!!

Exclusive performance of Iggy and the Stooges courtesy of the Henry Rollins Show

Stooges on the Henry Rollins Show

click on THE STOOGES PERFORM "I'M FRIED"