The Next Big Thing

The Stooges gig at the Hammersmith Apollo was everything you would want it to be. Between bands they pumped 60s garage rock over the PA (inc. a track by the Iguanas, Iggy's first band) which was damn cool to hear. The support band were bogged down with that big 80s drum sound and the music rather lifeless in my estimation. I cannot remember their name, it was something silly like Dead Goth Kids on the Block, anyhow, they are from Poland and my conclusion is that Count Peter Zaremba needs to get over there pronto and teach the kids a thing or two about RnR. In contrast, the Stooges exploded onto the stage and within the first couple of minutes Iggy had climbed on-top of the bass players amp. Amazing stuff and he did not stop there. The band delivered a pretty damn tight version of the "Funhouse" album (inc. "LA Blues") and even threw in a few tracks from their debut album. Suffice to say that during "I Wanna Be Your Dog" Iggy invited half the audience onto the stage for some good natured dancing. Hell, Iggy could have stood for Prime Minster last night and been elected by a landslide. In short, the Stooges did their reputation no harm at all. Easily the best gig of the year so far. Sadly I did not spot any MoJo readers on the tube home but did bump into a colleague from work who had been at the show with her husband. A great show that confirmed my belief that what is wrong with 90% of bands is that they are unable, or unwilling, to plug into the primal rush that ignited Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard way-back-when.