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Mischievous Iggy Pop still a riveting spectacleBy GINA VIVINETTO © St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Iggy Pop brought his own brand of mayhem to Jannus Landing Friday in an powerhouse hour-and-a-half performance that had the fierce and fit 54-year-old Godfather of Punk dazzling a crowd of several hundred. Midway through Pop's set, during the classic 1977 Lust For Life -- a song enjoying more popularity than ever thanks to those Mitsubishi Galant television commercials -- the singer, who began the show shirtless, invited fans onstage. About a dozen or so took his offer, dancing, pogoing and singing along with Pop. One young man, a bit overzealous, if not a bit inebriated, grabbed Pop's mike and screamed into it. Security guards scrambled to stop him, but the fan resisted and several men fell to the ground trying to restrain him. Pop regarded the scuffling behind him, admonishing the guards in between verses, "Easy! Easy!" In typical punk fashion, all four members of the band kept playing, finishing the tune with nary a missed beat. That, in a nutshell, is what makes Iggy Pop such a delicious rock 'n' roll character: despite three decades of self-destructive stage antics and naughty behavior, you get the feeling Pop, born Jim Osterberg in Ann Arbor, Mich., is, at heart, a decent, sensible fellow. Perhaps a bit more expressive than the rest of us, but an okay guy, really. Pop certainly showed that he's in rare form as a performer. Though he no longer rolls around in broken glass or smears himself with foodstuffs, as he did in the heyday of the 1970s punk with the legendary Stooges, he still mesmerizes. Pop was manic and mischievous on Friday, cranking up the speed and ferocity of classics including Raw Power, Search & Destroy, I Wanna Be Your Dog and The Passenger. He is the consummate showman, dishing out his signature move of clasping his fists above his head and quickly sashaying to each side. He's a riveting spectacle, gyrating and shaking his fanny like a dirtier, grittier Mick Jagger. Indeed, watching Pop at work is a lesson in rock 'n' roll history: You can see his moves -- and style -- in stars who followed. Think Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis is coincidentally a shirtless, ripped, wild child onstage? Think again. Pop treated fans to speedy new tunes from the upcoming Beat 'Em Up before encoring with No Fun and T.V. Eye. Locals The Gotohells took advantage of the much-coveted opening slot by delivering a quick, no-nonsense set of feisty punk rock.
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From the wire |
