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## CULTURE:Iggy and the Stooges

On the evening of September 28, a small park in the middle of San Jose was over run by punks of all ages. From the aging rockers down to the budding music lovers, all were on hand to witness what the announcer stated as “The most exciting event to happen at St James Park since 1933.” An event so epic that Shepard Fairy was called in to design a poster for it.

At the end of the C2SV tech conference (which also incorporated 3 nights worth of club and coffee house musical performances), the godfather of punk rock and his band of aging misfits took the stage and reminded us all how Iggy and The Stooges started the punk movement nearly 40 years ago.

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Once the lights went low and the band was ready, Iggy Pop danced from the darkness and made his way to the front of the stage. With an eruption of cheer from the crowd coupled with the familiar bass licks of Raw Power, Iggy kicked off the 90 min set of old school mayhem.

Working with a collection of classics such as ‘Gun’ ‘Search and Destroy’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ Iggy took command of the night with his signature brand of intense gyrations and worm like motions. Working the crowd with his irreverent banter and taking a jab at the “Rave” party going on the same night, Iggy commented to the crowd “I hope nobody here took Molly tonight, You are at the wrong concert, you’d be fucked up for weeks…”

After a brief game of “We are making you think we are done”, the band reappeared from the shadows. With the drums and guitars working furiously in time, The Stooges set off on a 3 song encore including ‘I Got a Right’, ‘Cock in My Pocket’ and ‘Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell’ (complete with naked body painted dancers in Native American headdresses).

When everyone had thought The Stooges were finally done, they surprised the crowd with a second encore and a rendition of “Louie Louie” that only Iggy could have performed. Packed with passion and undecipherable vocal groans, Iggy led the crowd to a punk rock sing a long during the chorus, of which even the 5 year old girl on top of her dads shoulders was belting out.

With the lights finally up, the crowd slowly dispersed, only to converse about the show they just witnessed and how well deserving Iggy Pop is of earning the nick name “Godfather of Punk”.