Iggy Pop
Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023
(Ear Music)
Iggy Pop is a walking miracle. It's a miracle that he is still here after all the abuse he has dished out to his body over the decades since The Stooges first fired up in 1967. It's a miracle that he has made consistently good music over that whole period, even outdoing Bowie in classic rock tracks. And it's a miracle that he can still totally smash it live, as is paid ample testament to by this album. Do I really need to list down the number of tracks here that simply ooze with raw power? Oh, go on then. Here is the full track listing:
- Rune (Blu-Ray version only)
- Five Foot One
- T.V. Eye
- Modern Day Ripoff
- Raw Power
- Gimme Danger
- The Passenger
- Lust for Life
- Endless Sea
- Death Trip
- Sick of You
- I Wanna Be Your Dog
- Search and Destroy
- Mass Production
- Nightclubbing
- Down on the Street
- Loose
- Frenzy
Backed by a seven piece band who, although way tighter than the Stooges ever were, really put everything into it, horns and all. Having such a bunch of energetic younger musicians behind him seems to have given ol' Iggy a few hundred thousand volts up his backside as he bounces, swaggers and shudders his way through every track. He may look as if he is made out of an old leather suitcase these days, but from the opener 'Five Foot One', through 'Raw Power', 'The Passenger', 'Lust For Life', 'Gimme Danger', 'I Wanna Be Your Dog', 'Sick Of You', 'Search and Destroy'...in fact, lets just say every single track on here, he barely pauses for breath, with just a few expletives separating each song, from start to finish. Purists may bemoan the sheer professionalism of the band, but hasn't he earnt that after all this time? After all, the rest of The Stooges are all either dead or have retired, Bowie too of course. Iggy is the last man standing and he stands pretty tall. 'Funhouse' was, and still is, one of my most frequently played albums and I have a feeling that 'Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023' may well be joining it, as it is a cracking live album.
There is a joy here for me in hearing 'The Passenger' performed as it should be, rather than the piss poor version he recently ill-advisedly recorded with Siouxsie for that damned ice cream commercial. That song was the soundtrack of every punk disco and between-bands PA tape of my mis-spent, gig-going youth in the grim concrete jungle of 80's Coventry. Any other song that boasted a chorus of "la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la" would be naff, but in this one, it's sublime. The fact it has been streamed over 425 million times tells you how embedded in the public consciousness it has become. The version here of 'Lust for Life', boasting one of the most instantly recognisable bass lines in music, is overlaid with horns but is as muscular as they come. Following up all that shouting and jumping about, the haunting 'Endless Sea' showcases the unique vocal skill and style Iggy undoubtedly possesses. To be honest, Iggy could read the ingredients out from a cake mix and it would still sound amazing. The opening chords of 'I Wanna Be your Dog', beloved of millions of bedroom guitarists, are so simple, yet so infectious, and proof positive that inspiration and simplicity will trump musical training and technical expertise every time. Anyone can learn this song in 5 minutes, yet you never get tired of hearing it.
"We are going to take a fuckin' trip together...a death trip!" screams Iggy before launching into that song. Thankfully, that trip still seems a way off for him and long may that remain the case. By the time he powers through a storming 'Loose' and 'Frenzy' to close the set, you get the certain feeling he has plenty of juice still left in the tank. For the last man standing, even at five foot one, Iggy towers above us all.
Essential Information: 'Iggy Pop - Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023' is released on Ear Music on January 25th, in time for you to spend what's left of your Christmas money on it.
