Almost a decade after seeing him in the same exact venue, I’m heading back uptown this evening to the United Palace in Washington Goddamn Heights (which, again, is kinda like travelling to fuckin’ Canada) to see what might be the final tour by Iggy Pop.
Now that all the original Stooges are dead (well, James Williamson is still with us, but he’s gone back to his post-Stooges life, “gone straight” a second time, if you will), Iggy will be largely showcasing material from his surprisingly excellent new album with the Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Post Pop Depression, along with re-visiting material from specific albums like The Idiot and Lust for Life (as previewed here). He’s also been gamely throwing in the long dormant title track to “Repo Man.” There’s a lengthy list of songs I’d love to hear him perform – from “I’m Bored” through “Wild America” – but I won’t be holding my breath. That’s cool, though. The new record is mighty good, so it should be an excellent time.
With the obvious exceptions of Killing Joke and Cop Shoot Cop, I think I’ve devoted more posts to Iggy Pop here than any other single artist. Though Michigan-born, Iggy spent a lot of quality time here in NYC over the years, much of it over in the Christadora House on Avenue B (the video of his 1993 tour of his Alphabet City neighborhood is already legendary). As I’ve mentioned before, I once spotted him having a beer at Sin-E (long gone) on St. Marks Place one night. That was unexpected.
Anyway, Iggy hasn’t lived here in New York for quite a while, having decamped to Miami in the mid-`90s. But he’s still all around, if you look hard enough. If you pop in for a pint at the Continental on St. Marks and Third Avenue, I believe their walls are still adorned with a poster from Iggy’s surprise gig there (back when they still featured live music) in 1993 (see pic at the top of this post, taken by Catherine McGann). You can also find framed pics of his Iggness hanging in the interiors of Automatic Slim’s in the West Village, Manitoba’s in the East Village and –- less surprisingly -– John Varvatos’ bespoke boutique at 315 Bowery … which used to be … oh you know.
But much like my favorite street art, my favorite Iggy-remnant totally took me by surprise. Walking to work about two weeks ago, ambling south on the west side of Thomspon Street, I spotted a familiar figure across the way, framed on a second story window just before that deli on the corner of Prince Street.
Yep, it’s a cut-out of ol’ Iggy, a promotional item for the New Values album. Here’s the original photo.
Anyway, watch this space for a possible full report about tonight’s gig.
Here's another song he won't be performing this evening...
Recent Comments