April 14, 1996
Iggy's still a cool pop icon

After all the wearing and tearing rock shows James Jewel Osterberg -- stage name, Iggy Pop -- has kicked out over the years, each song he played at The Warehouse Friday felt like a victory lap.

It wasn't long after the show began that the 49-year-old singer took his first stage dive of the evening.

Considering how cool he looked while crowd-surfing, the manoeuvre pretty much wiped out any questions as to whether or not Iggy is past his prime.

As a performer, Iggy is ageless. A punk icon frozen in his prime.

Wriggling spasmodically on to the stage and kicking into I Wanna Live, from new disc Naughty Little Doggie, he gave us the Iggy seen on the cover of Raw Power, a record he made 23 years ago with his legendary band The Stooges.

He pulled off the vinyl pants well -- figuratively speaking, that is. His sinewy torso made him look like he'd just lept from the pages of a Marvel comic book.

It was hard to imagine this guy is practically my dad's age.

Sounding like vintage Stooges with a metal finish, Iggy and his four-man band, The F---ups, kept things simple.

The new, goofball throwaway tune P---- Walk was a bit too simple, to be sure, particularly when held up against serious crooners like Look Away.

But the band spent little time on Naughty Little Doggie, opting instead to rip out cult classics that spanned Iggy's 27-year career.

Versions of Raw Power and Search & Destroy upped the 1700-strong crowd's adrenaline level early in the set.

Iggy never looked back.

An unstoppable string of surefire tunes followed: I Wanna Be Your Dog, Lust For Life, The Passenger, plus pleasant surprises like 5 Ft. 1, Sweet Sixteen In Leather Boots, and The Stooges' No Fun.

It was a fan's field day. No doubt conscious of this, Iggy raised the house lights, and the stage, during a gloriously loose encore with oldies Death Trip and 1969.

Pandering to the audience? Maybe. But, admirably, the singer wasn't just up there for his own kicks.

After an hour-and-a-half, it felt as though we owed this Mr. Osterberg a big thank you.

Just for being Iggy.

Sun Rating: 4 out of 5