by Monday night marked the first night of the much awaited Post Pop Depression Tour by the legendary Iggy Pop. It was only fitting it started in Seattle’s historic Paramount Theater with no seat free. The night opened with Noveller taking the stage around eight, and then the curtain came down for the final touches.
As that red curtain lifted and I got my first glimpse of Iggy Pop, I was immediately pulled into him, maybe it was “Lust For Life.” The band all wore black suits while Iggy was missing the tie and button-up. His blazer came off by song 3 while he took his signature shirt off for the rest of the night.
He was going back and forth on stage a lot of the time, interacting with Josh Homme, who was standing with his guitar on his left side as his band leader. I’m a fan of Queens of the Stone Age, so when I heard Iggy was working on an album with Josh Homme, I was pretty excited to listen. Then they announced they were touring with QOTSA’s Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, who also contributed on the record. It was huge for me to see Iggy live, but the fact that he created a super band on top of that made the night even better.
He played a little over an hour before his encore; the main set included “Nightclubbing,” “The Passenger,” “China Girl,” “In The Lobby,” and “Tonight.” I liked the fact that every now and then he would start telling a story about his journey that would lead to the introduction of a song. Everyone would sit silent to hear what he would say keeping the attention focused on him waiting for the next story to begin.
He played almost another hour after his encore, playing new songs “Break Into Your Heart,” “Gardenia,” “Chocolate Drops,” and ending the night with “Success.” The night was filled with great music and poetic lyrics, and at 68, Iggy admirably still owns the stage better than artists half his age.
