Iggy Pop Disability3/16/2021
Twenty minutes into Iggy Pop s Good Friday show at Bluesfest, we heard that iconic, thumping drumbeat that opens his most iconic solo hit, 1977s Lust For Life.But given that wed just witnessed the punk rock icon who turns 72 this weekend tear through I Wanna Be Your Dog, Gimme Danger and The Passenger, it was all starting to feel a bit overwhelming.How long could he keep this up Of course, Iggy was just getting started.
Across over 90 minutes, the Godfather of Punk whipped this audience into frenzy after frenzy after frenzy after frenzy. It was jam-packed with The Stooges most enduring proto-punk classics a mammoth Search and Destroy, an unrelenting TV Eye (during which Iggy pegs his microphone stand across the stage; the most beautifully brazen rocknroll move anyone will ever perform on this stage) and the almost unbearable double-play of 1969 into No Fun. Almost all of his biggest solo moments got an airing as well, which meant numerous nods to his close friend and collaborator David Bowie. ![]() Then a faithful rendition of Bowies The Jean Genie, and The Idiot highlights Nightclubbing and Mass Production, the latter a deep, dark, spooky-sounding cut that served as a middle-finger to anyone who doubted Iggys relevance at a blues festival. Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck he hollered into the microphone at one stage, as he sipped red wine from a crystal chalice. ![]() Keeping our eye on Iggy was as exhausting as moving to every beat of his incendiary songs. Id say it was all over too soon, but as he finished on Real Wild Child (Wild One), it felt astonishing that this force of nature was still in full flight. Looking at photos of his skinny, wrinkled torso writhing about, itd be easy to discount this as some kind of nostalgic novelty act. But this is not so. This was a rocknroll show as pure and exhilarating as they come. The kind of rock show that makes you realise why you fell in love with this music in the first place. As we breathlessly stumbled out of the Crossroads tent, it felt like wed witnessed one of the truly great sets of Bluesfests 30-year existence. To celebrate that with him is nothing short of a joy and a privilege. His set was a salient reminder that we need not grow old quietly and that quality rocknroll can sound as dangerous and refreshing 50 years on if its coming from the right place. Id say that we can all hope to be as cool as him at his age, but the truth is that we have never stood a chance. ![]()
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