Iggy Pop
Post Pop Depression Tour
Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Denver, Colorado
April 2, 2016
It was a night of anticipation. Iggy Pop was returning to Denver. In an opera house, no less. Considering he invited hundreds of fans on stage with him the last time he rolled through the town with The Stooges, this was a surprising choice, if from nothing other than a damage deposit standpoint.
This was not a Stooges show. This was not an Iggy solo show. This was a whole other beast entirely. This was the Post Pop Depression tour. An album completing his unfinished Berlin trilogy that started with 1977's The Idiot and Lust For Life. The album was a secret collaboration between Iggy and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and it was a doozy, with the songwriting keeping the Berlin aesthetic while at the same time being its own completely unique creation.
So when a brief 20 date tour was announced, featuring Iggy, Homme, his QOTSA cohorts Dean Fertita and Troy Van Leeuwen, Chavez's Matt Sweeney and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Sweeney, its safe to say expectations were high.
Expectations were high, but quickly met. Then exceeded. Then blown to smithereens. As the drums beat out the familiar stomp of Lust For Life and the curtain rose it was clear from the start that we were in for one hell of a show. With a simple, but elegant black stage with a white accent down the middle, Iggy came out dancing, jumping and grinding like it was his last show on earth.
The band was in beyond top form and despite their impeccable pedigree, it became very clear by the second song, Sister Midnight, that Homme and company were there only to serve the man of the hour. Not that he has ever needed any help looking good, mind you. His jacket was shed early on and the famous Iggy torso was on full display. The signs of age are there, yes, but we're talking about a man who has the energy of you, me and everyone you know, including that bastard kid of your best friend whom you no longer invite to dinner because he'll bring the little terror that has zero ability to sit still for just two fucking seconds.
The band played for almost two non-stop hours and was the tightest set these fading eyes have ever seen - comprised entirely of songs from Post Pop Depression, The Idiot and Lust For Life, with the only exception being the title theme from the 1984 film, Repo Man. A standout in a set of standouts.
After all these years, Iggy Pop remains a force of nature and a sight to behold. If the rumblings are true, and if this is indeed his last set of live performances, there isn't a better way for the man to go out. I mean this with the utmost sincerity - if you only have plans to see one tour this year, this is without a doubt, the one to see.
All photos: Kevin Fitzpatrick
Setlist
Lust For Life
Sister Midnight
American Valhalla
Sixteen
In The Lobby
Some Weird Sin
Funtime
Tonight
Sunday
German Days
Mass Production
Nightclubbing
The Passenger
China Girl
Encores:
Break Into Your Heart
Fall In Love With Me
Repo Man
Baby
Chocolate Drops
Paraguay
Success
Gardenia
