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The Stooges, Hammersmith Apollo, August 30 2005

added 05 September 2005 at 10.25

News that the reformed Stooges – second only to The Velvet Underground in the most-influential-band-of-all-time stakes – were to open the Don’t Look Back season of key albums played in their entirety and in order was met with barely contained squeals of delight and whoops of joy from those who return to the Michigan quartet’s seminal sophomore release 'Funhouse' in the way moths go back to light bulbs.

Understanding the power and legacy of 'Funhouse', The Stooges – gracing a London stage for the first time since 1973 – hit the Apollo with the determination and raw fuckin’ power needed to bring this masterpiece to life. Now in their late 50s, The Stooges play with a ferocity and energy that would leave bands half their age reaching for the oxygen masks and the audience exhausted but elated. As Iggy Pop bounces across the stage yelling and yelping, Ron Asheton fires off 'Down On The Streets’' distinctive riff and it’s obvious that this isn’t going to be a show for the faint-hearted. Brother Scott Asheton’s drumming is rudimentary yet unyielding while former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt underpins proceedings with a military precision that spurns Iggy on, his naked, sinewy torso barely breaking into a sweat as he dry humps the top of the bass amps.

And Christ, it’s extraordinarily loud. Barely pausing for breath The Stooges fire off 'Loose' and it’s interesting to consider what the peace’n’love brigade of 35 years ago would have made of the lascivious Iggy snarling, “And I’ll stick it deep inside”. Ron Asheton is astonishing; shaking off his reputation as a primitive guitarist, the portly, goateed figure to the left of Iggy is firing off one incredible salvo after another before launching into 'TV Eye'. His guitar on 'Dirt' actually shimmers as it reveals itself as a precursor to Joy Division’s 'New Dawn Fades'.

But it’s with 1970 where the stakes are seriously raised. As Steve Mackay enters the fray with his tenor saxophone, honking and squawking avant-garde blasts of near-white noise, the music takes on a more panoramic and daring edge as it sets the controls for the heart of the sun and segues into a demented reading of 'Funhouse'. Like My Bloody Valentine’s latter day sonic experiments, the aural pain threshold is crossed into something that simultaneously infuriates, mesmerises and exhilarates. By the time 'L.A. Blues' arrives it’s fair to say that, using the parlance of the time, minds have been blown.

'Funhouse' over, The Stooges return with even more classics; the primordial '1969' gives way to a breakneck 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' before Iggy goads the audience into joining him onstage for the nihilistic stomp of 'No Fun'.

Tonight, The Stooges relived an important chapter from one of music’s greatest ever stories. The very essence of rock’n’roll, The Stooges are still writing the rulebook in the 21st Century.

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