Iggy on stage at Los Jardines de Viveros, Valencia, 9th July 2011. Picture by Brian Hickey
I first saw Iggy Pop perform live at the Edinburgh Playhouse on 6th July 1981. Having survived the wreckage of the original Stooges in the late 60′s and early 70′s the “godfather of punk” was still riding high on his mid 70′s acclaimed albums ”The Idiot” and “Lust For Life”. The moment he walked on stage and before he had uttered a single word he made straight for a security meat head who was aggressively restraining a fan on the front row and swung his boot at him. All hell broke loose around him as he strolled to the microphone and broke into a Stooges classic, Search & Destroy. It was an unforgettable experience and one that prompted my desire to hear live music.
- The ticket stub from the 1981 concert at Edinburgh’s Playhouse.
I saw Iggy on a few more occasions with the last one being way back in 1988 at the Reading Festival where I photographed him for the newspaper I worked on at the time. He was still crazily energetic and had lost none of his passion for live performance. I even got to photograph him backstage where he said to me: “Does taking my picture get you excited?” Those are not the exact words he used though. Replace “excited” with the male state of excitement and you will get the gist of it. I was as excited as any heterosexual male could be at meeting his one and only hero.
Almost 30 years to the day I turned up at Los Jardines De Viveros in Valencia to see Iggy once again. This time he was performing material from his days with The Stooges. I approached this gig with more than a touch of trepidation. In fact the only reason I bought tickets was so that my wife would get the chance to see the world’s greatest ever live performer for the first time. Iggy is now 64 years old and I expected him to have slowed down and was fearful that he had turned into some rock and roll has been like Mick Jagger, David Bowie or John Lydon. Then of course there are those car insurance advertisements on TV! I needn’t have worried. From the opening chords of James Williamson’s unfeasibley loud guitar Iggy dived onto the stage and burst into “Raw Power”. The hour and a half that followed in the 30 degree Valencian night saw a performer giving every ounce of his effort and passion to his art in the same way he did way back in the beginning in 1969. Such was his inspiration that one slightly balding and overweight 50 year-old photographer had to show his support by slam dancing down the front for a couple of songs! No winner of Pop Idol could ever make me do that.
Iggy performs at the reading festival, 26th August 1988. Picture by Brian Hickey
