Iggy & The Stooges
Live In Detroit

Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
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  Iggy Pop (AKA James Newell Osterberg)... the name itself denotes a bit of irony. The fact that his music has never been any where near pop is what makes it so funny, and I am sure that is why he chose the name to start with. He is widely known as the Godfather of punk rock. I have pointed to Lou Reed more than once when referring to the one who holds that crown, although let me say they both were just as important, and to say either one was more prolific than the other would be unfair in my estimation.

When Iggy was pumping out Detroit City punk rock with the Stooges, he produced a prototypical musical style that every band was looking for, that gritty loud tough garage/punk rock sound. Iggy cannot be denied his place in rock history. To this day, he makes some of the most vital and important rock music recorded.

Boy Howdy! is back, yes, Creem Magazine is ready to find its place back on the newsstands after a long vacation. The good news is, there is more than just the magazine coming out, they have decided to put out DVDs of many artists from the classic rock period.

Live In Detroit is a Stooges reunion in their hometown of Detroit. With the exception of Mike Watt (bass), the original band members Iggy, Ron (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums), perform the songs from first two Stooges albums (1969 & 1970). The band sounds great, Iggy is his energetic bouncing self, jumping around the stage, and hollering out to the crowd "I Fucking Love You!" frequently. He loves them so much in fact; he invites them on stage with him to dance. It is a wild scene, out of control, just the way Iggy would have it. During the course of the concert, there are always people from backstage and guards on hand to throw exuberant fans off the stage. Of course, Iggy never bats an eyelash and keeps right on performing as if it was a normal event.

Many times during the course of the concert, Iggy steps into a spot on stage without any light and all you see is his shadow, its kind of weird and I don't think it was planned that way, but who knows? I think the camera work could have been better, but what the hell, this was an Iggy Pop concert and everyone gets crazy, even the camera crew.

"I Wanna Be Your Dog" is on the DVD twice, how often does that happen on disc with 14 tracks? It is one of the greatest punk songs ever written, so simple and brash... just basic chord magic, and it always worked. It sure did on this night, twice. Man, this guy has been around a long time and to see him on stage rockin' out is amazing. He used to abuse himself in front of an audience by cutting himself and literally beating the shit out of himself; it is amazing he survived everything over the years. The closest thing to any of that you see is when he slaps himself in the face a few times; I guess he outgrew a lot of the insane stuff and that is why he is still here alive, well, and able to record new albums (Skull Ring) and do reunion concerts with the Stooges. The in-store gig is fabulous as well. This is a restrained Iggy however; he actually sits on a chair, but not for long during the performance. The Stooges songs are performed in their basic raw form without any bass, just Iggy and the Asheton brothers cutting loose. The Creem photo gallery is pretty cool as well. You get more than you could possibly bargain for on this DVD. It’s time for fans of Iggy and punk rock to rejoice!

Lookin' for danger little stranger? Have I got some raw power for you.

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