Iggy Pop And Josh Homme Just Made Their Live Debut – Here’s What To Expect From The Post Pop Depression Tour

When Iggy Pop takes the stage with his new five-piece band at the recently opened Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles, the entire group are looking dapper but Pop’s ensemble is distinct in that he dons no shirt under his formal jacket. The slick get-up suits the band – which includes Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme, fellow Queens members Dean Fertita and Troy Van Leeuwen, Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders and Chavez’s Matt Sweeney – but shortly after Homme kickstarts their first show together by announcing “ladies and gentlemen, Iggy Pop,” Iggy returns to his natural, shirtless state. The jacket lasts only two songs.

But this outfit neatly represents Iggy’s new ‘Post Pop Depression’ project. Over 22 songs and nearly two hours, the 68-year-old is every bit as frenetic a performer as he’s been for 40 years, but is willing to dress his old songs up, be it ‘Lust For Life’ going from a playful bounce to a fierce strut, or ‘Funtime’ losing its inherent messiness in favour of a focus and harmony. The gig bodes extremely well for what will be Iggy’s upcoming world tour, and here’s what to expect.

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Heavy Doses Of Pop’s Bowie Collaborations

Though tonight is ostensibly to debut material from ‘Post Pop Depression’, Iggy’s first two solo albums, 1977’s ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Lust for Life’, are mined heavily too. ‘Baby’ is played live for the first time, while closing the main set with Bowie collaboration ‘China Girl’ evokes the memory of Pop’s recently departed friend and collaborator, even without saying so explicitly. Both albums were written and recorded with Bowie, and though Pop doesn’t speak about him, the setlist is an obvious tribute, his past collaboration seen through the lens of his latest partnership.

The New Songs Are Huge

While fans turn the the 600-cap room into a sweaty dance party during ‘Sixteen’ and bawl along to ‘The Passenger’, the live debut of nearly all of the upcoming new album provides the evening’s backbone. Ahead of a rousing ‘American Valhalla’ Pop tells the audience that the song asks “if there is a heaven for us,” while the dark, lurking ‘German Days’ (easily the most Queens-sounding of the new songs) comes over so well that Iggy freaks out at the end, claiming this is the best Los Angeles audience he’d ever played for and saying “it made my life.” ‘Sunday’ sees Homme’s lead guitar spar with Iggy’s throaty vocals, while ‘Paraguay’ features an outro that has Iggy coming unhinged in a monologue (“You take your motherfucking laptop/ And just shove it into your goddamn foul mouth/ And down your shit heel gizzard/ You fucking phony two faced three timing piece of turd/ And I hope you shit it out”).

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Josh Homme Puts His Stamp On Iggy’s Classics

Homme and the rest of Pop’s new live band aren’t just here to make up the numbers, and have rearranged and modified many of his hits to fit with the new material. From Homme’s monstrous solo during ‘Sister Midnight’ to a heavy interpretation of ‘Mass Production’ that evokes QOTSA’s murky stoner rock, the presentation feels completely collaborative. The hulking Homme revels in his role as bandleader too, during ‘China Girl’ Iggy leaves the stage to let the band jam out the conclusion. They’re tighter than a duck’s backside. Homme and Fertita meet centre-stage to let their chugging locomotive guitars play off each other, Bowie’s version getting a greased-up hard rock makeover.

Iggy Will Be Iggy

Iggy Pop can’t hide the pleasure of performing, but even more so, he seems to be reveling in his own survival. It isn’t a coincidence that ‘Lust for Life’ and ‘Success’ bookend the set. His banter is great too, recalling his poorer days in Los Angeles, spending time in jail and getting turned down for a job at McDonald’s. The journey that has brought Iggy to this point in his life is not lost on him, and even a stage invader during ‘Tonight’ can’t bring him down. “It’s all in the job description,” he jokes, when in reality, performing for Iggy Pop never seems like work. It’s as natural to him as breathing.

Philip Cosores

Iggy Pop played:

‘Lust for Life’
‘Sister Midnight’
‘American Valhalla’
‘Sixteen’
‘In the Lobby’
‘Some Weird Sin’
‘Funtime’
‘Tonight’
‘Sunday’
‘German Days’
‘Mass Production’
‘Nightclubbing’
‘The Passenger’
‘China Girl’

‘Break Into Your Heart’
‘Fall in Love with Me’
‘Repo Man’
‘Gardenia’
‘Baby’
‘Chocolate Drops’
‘Paraguay’
‘Success’

Check out Iggy’s upcoming live dates below:

Mar 15,16 Acl Live At The Moody Theater, Austin
Mar 28 Paramount Theatre, Seattle
Mar 29 Keller Auditorium, Portland
Mar 31 The Masonic San, Francisco
Apr 2 Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver
Apr 4 Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis
Apr 6 Chicago Theatre, Chicago
Apr 7 Fox Theater, Detroit
Apr 9 Sony Centre For The Performing Arts, Toronto,
Apr 11 Orpheum Theater, Boston
Apr 12 United Palace Theatre, New York
Apr 15 Academy Of Music, Philadelphia
Apr 19 The Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theater, Miami Beach
Apr 28 The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles
May 4 Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden
May 5 Falconer Frederiksberg, Denmark
May 7 Tempodrom, Berlin Germany
May 8 Mehr! Theater, Hamburg, Germany
May 10 Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam-Zuidoost, Netherlands
May 13 Royal Albert Hall, London
May 15 Le Grand Rex, Paris France

Iggy solo:
May 28 Rockavaria, Munich, Germany
Jun 4 Rock In Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Jun 9 Isle Of Wight Festival
Jun 17 Northside Aarhus, Denmark
Jun 19 Rock The Ring, Hinwil, Switzerland
Jun 30 Festivalpark Werchter, Belgium
Jul 1 Mainsquare Festival, Arras, France
Jul 3 Festivalpark, Rotselaar, Belgium
Jul 6 Jardin Public De Cognac, Cognac, France
Jul 29 Festival Les Escales, Saint-Nazaire, France

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