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Concert reviews Music

The Iggy Pop experience takes over Sony Centre

IGGY POP with U.S. GIRLS at the Sony Centre, Saturday, April 9. Rating: NNNN


There was a heavier than normal security presence at Sony Centre as fans waited for Iggy Pop to take the stage.

Security staff looked nervous as they scanned a restless crowd ahead of the 68-year-old rock legend’s set time. Maybe they had the metal detectors out because of bad memories of when Clash fans trashed the place in 1979 – back when the venue was called the O’Keefe Centre. At one point a security guard screamed in my face that he’d kick me out if I didn’t stop taking notes in my phone, in case I tried to sneak a photo.

It felt strange to see Pop in a soft-seat theatre, especially after his wild 2010 NXNE show at Yonge-Dundas Square, but the formal venue suits the material off this year’s introspective Post Pop Depression album and allowed the Stooges main man to put on an approximation of the Iggy Pop Experience while ensuring his personal safety when he inevitably went out into the crowd.

“Fucking thank you for fucking coming!” he screamed as he lunged across the stage during show opener Lust For Life.

Pop still has an enormous amount of energy and presence despite moving with a more pronounced limp and occasionally needing to take breathers on a stool while the guitarists did their solos.

He wore a nice suit with no shirt, and soon threw off his jacket too. His Josh Homme-led band also wore suits but kept their shirts on. They proved to be pretty adept at taking on older material, as well as the songs from Post Pop Depression. Classics like Nightclubbing, The Passenger, Repo Man and Success all punctuated a set that was mostly focused on the new album.

The five-piece band traded various instruments to get the sounds pretty close to the studio versions, but also took lots of extended solos, which occasionally veered a little close to beer-commercial blues rock territory.

Pop played up his manic clown persona, and hammed it up by doing things like borrowing a white fur coat from an audience member and making dick jokes, but there was also a layer of sadness and anger underneath all that. You could really hear the influence of David Bowie on both the new material and the old, and Pop’s voice handled the more sensitive songs great.

If this does end up being his farewell album and tour, he can be happy with this finale.

Pop’s opening act, Toronto-based U.S. Girls, featured an expanded version of Meg Remy’s sometimes solo show, with a guitarist and backup vocalist in addition to her electronic rig. Slim Twig’s fuzz guitar freak-outs leant some of her art-pop more of a Stooges feel than usual. Their performance was intense and focused, but too short.

benjaminb@nowtoronto.com | @benjaminboles

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