Iggy Pop! Live San Fran 1981 (DVD)

If you’re a fan of rock and roll, then you must at least appreciate the contributions that Mr. Iggy Pop has made over his illustrious career. From his early days of mayhem in The Stooges, to his successful solo albums, he has always brought a lot of energy and just a bit of insanity to his music. His live show is, of course, where this could be seen the most. Now Target Video has given us an opportunity to see Iggy on stage in the prime of his career with “Iggy Pop! Live San Fran 1981″.

This DVD contains a concert from 1981, during a tour in support of his solo album “Party”. His bandmates at the time included Blondie drummer Clem Burke and guitarist Carlos Alomar (a future member David Bowie’s band). Of course, the performance is pretty much everything you would expect from Iggy Pop. He prances around on stage wearing a garters and stockings, looking simultaneously dazed and maniacal. The sound quality is quite good, although Iggy’s vocals are sometimes a little hard to discern in the mix. The video is also decent, and the erratic lighting from the venue washes the band in interesting colours, from pink to green to orange.

The set list includes a lot of songs from “Party”, but also a good variety of songs from his other earlier solo albums as well. Yes, there is a performance of “Lust For Life”, the song that became a mega-hit thanks to the movie Trainspotting. There are no extra features on the disc unfortunately, but I’m not sure any supplementary materials are really necessary here. — Sean

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