DETROIT — Iggy Pop returned to Detroit on Friday, Aug. 21 with ferocity and playfulness as he loudly kicked off the night at My Chemical Romance’s performance under the nighttime sky at Comerica Park.
Pop, the forever shirtless Michigan legend and punk icon, hit the stage at 8 p.m. with an unkempt burst of raw Motor City rock and roll energy.
He kicked his set off with “TV Eye,” one of several Stooges classics he dipped into over the course of his 45-minute performance, and midway through the song he had slammed his microphone to the stage floor.
He was given a replacement mic which took a few seconds to start working properly, and you get the picture he was more comfortable in the moments of discomfort, even if he had to create them himself. What fun is it if everything goes according to plan?
Backed by a collective that included Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner on guitar, the band’s sound was an assault, a churning, swirling dirge of noise.
The 79-year-old was in full control of the stage, his appearance itself confrontational, as he moved across the stage on a hip that seemed to dislodge itself and then slip back into its socket with every step he took, and his skin on his torso looked like it was ready to fall clean off his skeleton.
Pop strikes a mean mic pose, and looks absolutely incredible holding himself up with his mic stand in the center of the stage. At times he threw punches in the air like he was willing to fight anyone that came within his airspace, but then in between songs he smiled and waved to the crowd with the cheerfulness of a theme park mascot.
“Hey f—ers, it’s good to be back, same as it ever was,” Pop said after “I Got a Right,” the third song in the set. It was his first Detroit performance since a 2016 show across the street at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, and age hasn’t done a single thing to dull his raw punk edge.
Nearly every time he addressed the crowd his banter was sprinkled with profanities, and he seemed to be having a ball pushing whatever buttons he could. He popped down to the front row of fans during “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” climbing back up to the stage for a raucous “Search and Destroy.”
“This is my favorite song! It’s only got two f—ing chords!” he said leading into “1969,” the set closer, which he brought to a rousing finish, recalling decades of loud, in-your-face Detroit performances. It wasn’t his first, and let’s hope it wasn’t his last.
“Hey thanks for having us! Thanks a lot! We love you and all that,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said as he exited the stage.
The feeling is mutual, Iggy.
agraham@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Iggy Pop blasts crowd with raw power opening for MCR at Comerica Park
Reporting by Adam Graham, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Graham, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
