Iggy and the Stooges – August 6th, 2008

What a week for rock’n roll. I saw four shows in five days but this show in particular had me very excited. Legendary influential band Iggy and the Stooges were playing Massey Hall with rented equipment due to the robbery of their destined for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gear in Montreal. And just to make things even more interesting Toronto’s own Fucked Up were the opening act.

I really didn’t understand how Fucked Up was going to play Massey Hall. I mean designated seating. I have seen them play in record store basements, parking lots, skate shops, and other questionable joints on Queen Street, but Massy Hall! Come on how is this going to work?

Well it worked out just fine because Fucked Up’s front man Pink Eyes (Damian Abraham) used his big body presence to make their appearance at this legendary concert hall something to be remembered. Thanks to his wireless microphone he was able to leave his band mates on stage as he took his act to the second balcony singing as he hung off the railing and contemplated jumping off until he realized just how high he was.

It was crazy to see how the security was content to just watch and laugh as he screamed and hung off the balcony. If it would have been the steroid jock security force like at every other show, they would have shut it down for sure, so good on the Massey Hall security for letting punk rock thrive.

Once Pink Eyes got back down to the stage he invited Alexisonfire’s lead vocalist George Pettit to come out and sing a very charged version of Vivian Girls that got everyone up from the designated seating.

Fucked Up could have played it safe and low key, but in true punk form they pushed their show over the edge. Pink Eyes himself thanked security, and was genuinely floored for the fact they never got shut down. The crowd loved it except for a few New York Doll’s looking people who just didn’t get it, but you can’t impress everyone. Fucked Up proved to be an amazing opening act for the Stooges, and earned a deserved place in history at Massey Hall.

It was now time for the band of the hour to make an appearance. The crowd went insane as the foursome took the stage. Legendary bassist Mike Watt looked like he was ready to go to work with his one piece coverall’s on and the chiseled Iggy Pop grabbed the microphone and went absolutely crazy.

The Stooges opened with “Loose” from 1970’s Fun House album and the band started rocking like it was 1970 all over again. The sound was loud and intense with walls of feed back and crunchy guitars. With no banter between songs Iggy and the Stooges cranked out more classics like Be Your Dog, 1969, and TV Eye. An all star line up of Toronto rockers lined the side stage with guys like Ian from Billy Talent, Cone from Sum 41, Alexisonfire’s Dallas Green and George Pettit, and Fucked Up all watch the seminal act tear through their discography.

Now I know Iggy is 61, and you can say what you want, but that guy must have drank from the fountain of youth, He performed like a wild man throwing mic stands, doing stage dives, and screaming at the top of his lungs. I just can’t imagine what he must have been like when he was in his twenties. Aside from cutting himself with glass and rubbing meat on his body, his on stage demeanor was as outrageous as ever.

The highlight of the night was defiantly when Iggy invited everyone on stage to dance during “ A Real Cool Time”. Hundreds of people rushed the stage to dance and sing with the band. It was really beautiful to see everyone having such a good time. As the song ended Iggy wanted to keep the dance party going and instantly started playing “No Fun” which was a complete oxymoron, because more people rushed the stage to shake their Asses and rub their hands all over Iggy’s sweaty leathery skin. As the song ended Iggy chanted Fucked Up over and over as Pink Eyes threw his arms around him.

The Stooges continued to bring the noise with classics like Fun House, Skull Ring, Troll’n, I Got A Right, and an encore performance playing Electric Chair and I’m Fried. A limping Pop looked like he had enough and slithered off the stage a soaking wet mess.

Their van was found in Montreal last Wednesday, but no valuables were found. If this buzz saw aggressive performance was fueled by rage of being robbed, well then at least one good thing came out of this horrible heist.