Review: Iggy & The Stooges Live In Detroit DVD

Brought to you by Boy Howdy and Creem Magazine (!), this packed DVD is a treasure trove for fans of Iggy and The Stooges as a document of their reunion tour of 2003, featuring Mike Watt of Minutemen fame on bass in place of deceased Stooge Dave Alexander.

The Stooges were the best and most punk of the proto-punk bands, The Doors on a real death ride led by the world's forgotten boy, James Newell Osterberg. Barely eclipsed in numbnuttery by fellow Detroiters The MC5, they managed to release three incendiary studio albums from 69-73. Bowie gets the blame for the demise of the Stooges with his thin production of Raw Power, but it's not that bad. Their original run was short, sweet and ran its natural course.

Iggy and the Stooges - Live in Detroit contains two complete concerts: as a full band and with Iggy, Ron and Scott Ashton performing in a NYC record store. For drums Scott bangs plastic buckets and cardboard boxes. Both the plugged and unplugged shows are winners. Why they completely avoid Raw Power is beyond me.

The in-store show was filmed with a single, static camera and the sound is either mono or low-tech stereo. It works. The big show has multiple cameras and full stereo sound. The show wasn't lit for filming but it's good enough. The sound sincs perfectly and the camera catches everything it needs to. No muss, no fuss, no puss. It's a great show taped well.

By 2003 Ron Asheton aged and rotunded into Comic Book Guy. Scott Asheton looks like a behemoth zombie and Iggy is, of course, The Mummy.