If the deaths of Lemmy Kilmister and
David Bowie showed us anything, it is this: we, as the listeners, should be thankful
for who we have left. While our heroes are still around, we should take the
time to treasure them not just for their music but for their character too. When
it comes to Iggy Pop, he is no exception. The Michigan-born rocker, who will be
69 before the end of the month, is currently on tour in support of his latest
album Post Pop Depression. On Friday
April 15, Iggy performed at the Kimmel Center/Academy of Music. Even at his
age, Iggy is an incredible performer and can still put on one hell of a show.
The
show began a little after 9 pm, with a recording of chanting Native Americans playing
on the speakers. The lights went out, the curtains opened and Iggy’s backing
band went into “Lust for Life.” Iggy’s backing band, which features Queens of
the Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme, were in fine form the entire night. Homme
and the band all wore red and black 1950s styled jackets. About a minute later,
Iggy Pop walked onto the stage to the rowdy cheers from the audience. Iggy,
wearing a suit jacket and pants with no shirt underneath, jumped around as he
sang the 1977 hit song. The band quickly went into “Sister Midnight”
afterwards. Iggy’s baritone voice was in fine form throughout the song. When Iggy
crooned the longer notes, there were small rounds of applause from the
audience. Sooner or later, the jacket came off and remained off Iggy for the
rest of the show. After the song, Iggy said hello to the audience. Holding his
jacket on his back, Iggy talked to the audience.
“At this point in my life, I’m starting
to ask questions,” he said to some laughs.
“One of my questions is this: for people
who are brave, for people who are willing to fight- where is American Valhalla?”
After
some applause from the audience, the band went into “American Valhalla” from
the new Post Pop Depression album. Iggy
and the band ended up playing every song from the new album- with the exception
of “Vulture.” When it comes to artists playing songs from their new album, it
usually tells some people that it’s time to use the bathroom. However in this
case, the audience stayed and seemed to enjoy the new songs. Some people seemed
familiar with “Gardenia,” as it serves as the album’s lead single. Like “American
Valhalla,” Iggy did a little stage rap for most of the new songs. Iggy moped about
employment before going into “Sunday” while for “Chocolate Drops,” he talked
about meeting Chuck Berry back in the 1960’s while on LSD. It should also be noted that Post Pop Depression is a great album and
fits in with his earlier work.
Speaking
of Iggy’s earlier work, there was plenty of it played at the show. Sadly, Iggy
did not play any songs by the Stooges. Given the deaths of the Asheton brothers
in 2009 and 2014, it seems that Iggy has decided to lay the Stooges name to
rest. With the exception of “Repo Man,” the set list was devoted to only the
songs from Iggy’s first two studio albums- The
Idiot and Lust For Life- along
with the aforementioned new Post Pop
Depression album. Although Iggy didn’t play any of his other solo work,
Iggy and his band performed the classic songs with a lot of heart and passion. While performing, Iggy is amazingly ageless. While
some might notice that the leathery skinned godfather of punk isn’t getting any
younger, it doesn’t matter: Iggy still has
it. The man can still perform. During some songs, Iggy had a child-like
approach to performing the songs. Iggy tossed his half full water bottle into
the audience during “Some Weird Sin, bravely attempted stage dives during “Fun
Time” and stayed classy while singing the jazzy “Nightclubbing” as he sat on a
stool. Iggy also left time for some audience participation during songs. When
it came time to play “The Passenger,” Iggy led the audience in singing along to
the “la la la” choruses. During “Fall in Love With Me,” Iggy managed to crowd
surf his way into the audience. It was there he walked up to several lucky
ladies and serenaded them with the song. The show ended with “Success” from the Lust for Life album. Iggy jumped around
some more until the show was over.
Seeing
Iggy Pop in concert was a great experience. It’s hard to believe that as he
approaches his 70s, Iggy can still perform as if he were himself back in the
day. He is a remarkable performer and fairly underrated singer. As he has
hinted with Post Pop Depression, this
tour might very well be Iggy Pop’s last tour. Seeing how the tour is focusing
on his first two albums and his latest album, I can see it happening.
If you can, try and catch Iggy Pop in concert while you still can.
Setlist
1. Lust
for Life
2. Sister
Midnight
3. American
Valhalla
4. Sixteen
5. In
the Lobby
6. Some
Weird Sin
7. Funtime
8. Tonight
9. Sunday
10. German
Days
11. Mass
Production
12. Nightclubbing
13. Gardenia
14. The
Passenger
15. China
Girl
Encore
16. Break
into Your Heart
17. Fall
In Love With Me
18. Repo
Man
19. Baby
20. Chocolate
Drops
21. Paraguay
22. Success
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