Jesus loves the Stooges

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The big ticket this weekend is without a doubt the Osheaga festival… duh. Some quality names are squeezed in the middle of the fluff, for sure, like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and Spiritualized on Saturday, and Gogol Bordello and the Black Keys on Sunday. Okay, I’ll admit that I’m not much of a fan of the majority of the bands on the bill, but Osheaga remains a solid bet due to just one band—IGGY and the Fucking STOOGES.

That’s right, children, one of rock ’n’ roll’s true greatest-of-all-time greats is finally gracing a stage in our fair city, to take all you youngsters back to school. With Mike “Holy fuck, I’m in the Stooges” Watt anchoring the bass while the Asheton brothers lay it down like a cement mixer, you couldn’t ask for a better band, but the golden calf at the helm remains Iggy Pop.

THE GREATEST: Funhouse

Although Mr. Pop’s post-Stooges work is generally held in high esteem, I was never really a fan, but the Iggy with cheap, black-tar heroin pumped into his hungry veins, and with eyes sparkling with nihilism and madness, was un-fucking-beatable. Want proof? Check out the greatest rock ’n’ roll record of all time, Funhouse. Now, actually naming “the greatest rock ’n’ roll record of all time” is biting off a huge hunk, but I stand by my words—it just doesn’t get any better than Funhouse.

Of course, there are going to be reservations as to whether the Stooges, having already hit their prime in 1972, can actually make lightning strike twice, given their advanced age and sobriety. But don’t be dissuaded by these mere trivialities. Recent YouTube postings, the Live in Detroit DVD, not to mention friends of mine who clocked in the miles to see them recently, all indicate that the current Stooges are indeed switched on kill mode and ready to take back what is deservedly theirs. Sure, they do squeeze in some clunkers off of their last record, The Weirdness, but you can expect all of the hits from the first two records, with Iggy as bloodthirsty, nihilistic and unhinged as ever.

GET LOOSE:
Vintage Iggy action

If people don’t immediately get up and leave during the Killers’ set afterwards—these guys actually possess the balls and ego to follow one of the greatest rock ’n’ roll bands of all time—then we all deserve nothing short of death. Don’t let me down, people.

Outside of Osheaga, there are some great shows happening this week. Tonight, July 31, you can check out the helmet-headed Bob Log III with Scott Biram and Devil Eyes at la Sala Rossa. On Friday, you can catch the real rockabilly of the Cockroaches with les Malleches at l’Escogriffe, or if you’re more in the mood for some old-school metal on Friday night, bang your head to Toronto volume dealers Cauldron, with Reanimator, Twisted Tower Dire and Aggressor at Katacombes. Sunday, you can see local (by way of Victoria) boys done good and recent People magazine subjects (I’m not kidding) Wolf Parade at Metropolis, but make sure you show up early to see Halifax’s Wintersleep. Finally, on Tuesday, Katacombes will have a special screening of the Dead Boys documentary with the incredibly imaginative title Dead Boys. Don’t miss this rare look at Cleveland’s finest when they were still young, loud and snotty.

SEARCH AND DESTROY…JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM