We're no marketing geniuses or anything but if a company wanted to inject their brand with punk rock cool, they could do worse than to commission Iggy Pop & The Stooges to play an exclusive show in Williamsburg.
Sunglasses maker Ray-Ban feted their classic aviator shades (and introduced six new styles) with a two-city concert event. Wednesday's party featured sets by Philadelphia's Free Energy and indie darlings The Virgins. The second party, to take place in London, will feature the New York Dolls and a DJ set by Jarvis Cocker.
Now, we'll come clean: there were celebrities there (Kelly Osbourne, Juliette Lewis, Chloe Sevigny, Kate Bosworth and Justin Long among them) and while most A-listers skipped talking on the red carpet, they could be found in the VIP-section on the second level balcony. We easily could've talked our way up there, tape recorder in hand.
But here's the thing: We're unabashed Iggy Pop fans. And though some editors disagree with us, we think the AARP-eligible Iggy is still as sexy and charismatic as he ever was. Packs of screaming girls clearly agreed.
We staked out a spot in front of the stage where we were close enough to peek at the set list (1. Raw Power) and to shoot video that blew out the sound on the camera's mike.
It took exactly 2 minutes and 35 seconds for the rock icon to whip off his shirt. The singer proceeded to writhe, shimmy and occasionally stage dive, sending roadies after his heels like parents chasing a misbehaving toddler. When Iggy exhorted the crowd to jump onto the stage like a mob, fans didn't need to be told twice; there were too many people for security to boot off and several burly men in dark suits scowled.
The Stooges brought out musicians from The Virgins and Free Energy for the encore.
As the crowd milled around outside the venue post-concert, several concertgoers marvelled at The Stooge's frontman's energy. "64?" A girl wondered. "I think he's 63, something like that," her friend said. "Amazing," she said.
See footage from the show, and a performance of "Search and Destroy" below:
