"I'm a street-walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm
I'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb
I am the world's forgotten boy
The one who searches and destroys!"
- Iggy Pop, "Search and Destroy"
Iggy Pop will turn 78 years old next month. But you would not know it from his energetic performance Monday night at Chicago's Salt Shed. The aging punk rocker marched onto the stage, ripped off his shirt, and then screamed and danced for nearly two hours before a sold-out venue.
He whipped the mostly-standing crowd into a frenzy with songs like "Raw Power," "I Wanna Be Your Dog," and "Search and Destroy." When he slowed things down, it wasn't by much, introducing "Gimme Danger" as "something dark."
He engaged the audience between songs, briefly introducing songs or telling their history. He spoke of how David Bowie found a secret poem of his and set it to music so that it became "Some Weird Sin." Near the show's end, he shouted his gratitude to the audience: "F*cking thank you so f*cking much for f*cking coming!"
His backing band consisted of heavy, thrashing guitar, driving bass, and pounding drums. It also included a horn section, which was irrelevant for most of the evening but came to the fore in "Lust for Life" and "The Passenger."
Fans have always known Iggy for the sexual energy of his shows, and he continued this tonight. The crowd cheered when he thrust his hands down his pants, held the microphone like a phallus, and humped the stack of speakers.
Iggy released his first album in 1969 as a teenager in Ypsilanti, MI. Decades later, his voice is still powerful, and his body - although curved with age, still possesses impressive stamina. He spent the frenetic evening dancing, posturing, gyrating, and punching an invisible enemy in the air before him. Multiple times, he jumped off the stage to sing to the crowd.
When I grow up, I hope to have the same energy.