The Stooges

August 29th 2005. Hammersmith Apollo. ATP Presents: The Stooges perform Fun House. Almost 10 years ago and it remains the best gig I've ever, ever been to. I was 16 years old, and I had been listening to Raw Power for a year or so on the recommendation of a cooler kid at school. He told me, "you don't want any of that hair metal stuff (I was listening to Guns N Roses a fair bit...), have a go at this", and sure enough, he was right, it was great. But then I got Fun House and it was just something else. I will probably go to my grave saying that 'Fun House' is the best rock record ever, or at least, joint first with 'Goat' by Jesus Lizard... But I digress, this isn't about the record. It was, after all, 35 years old at this point. In the time leading up to the gig I was incredibly apprehensive. I was looking forward to it for sure, but I'd seen photos of Iggy looking a bit worse for wear, and I'd seen videos where it seemed the sound was thin, and Iggy's voice not really holding it's own. But Ron and Scott (both of whom have sadly passed away since this show), were as great as ever, and Mike Watt of the Minutemen brought a kind of power, just at the point of boiling over, that Dave Alexander only hinted at. So they came out and the first notes of 'Down on the Street' rang cleanly out into Hammersmith Apollo and all fears were laid to rest. I felt like screaming and crying and tearing my skin off my body, instantly. It was one of the most cathartic moments of my life and it had only just begun. 'TV Eye' was even scarier than the recording. And even more excitingly, by the time 1970 came to the gear shift halfway through and Steve McKay came on, suddenly it all made sense. "BLOW STEVE", and he blew. And when he cried out "LET ME IN", the band let him in as best they could. Or didn't. Or even got louder, threatening to drown him out, before bringing it right down.
By the time 'LA Blues' came to its end, we were already all spent. Then there was an encore. Then there was a stage invasion. Then I vaulted over the barrier and ruffled Iggy's hair. Then I went home.