Despite the delay of more than three quarters of an hour, when he came on stage, the Detroit Iguana showed that time has not made him lose viscerality or connection with the public
a fireproof Iggy-Pop has broken into this Saturday San Sebastian Jazz Festival with his wild and visceral rock to show that he is still “la Iguana”, able to defy time, survive excesses and continue to excite their unconditional fans despite the monumental anger that the delay of their concert has caused in the public.
When there was no longer a seat left to occupy in the Kursaal Auditorium and the performance was about to begin, a voice over the loudspeaker announced that first a movie of about fifteen minutes would be shown and then there would be a break.
The projection on the avatars of an Iggy Pop fan does not seem to have interested the audience too much, who whistled loudly for a delay that has finally lasted more than three quarters of an hour.
Iggy Pop has finally come out on stage after 7:15 p.m. and he has not said a word about the incident, a detail that, however, does not seem to have mattered much since as soon as “the Iguana” has grabbed the microphone, the anger has been forgotten and the attendees have only wanted to listen and even, those in the front rows touch their idol.
The dark sound of an instrumental theme served as an appetizer for what was to come at this first Iggy Pop concert in Spain, included in the tour that this pop legend, who turned 75 in April, is making through 13 countries.
Leron Thomas (horn), Sara Lipstate (guitar), Corey King (trombone), Florian Pellissier (keyboards), Gregorie Fauque (guitar), Sylvian Ruby (bass), Thibaur Brandalise (drums) have accompanied James Newell Osterberg, real name of Iggy Pop, who has appeared dressed in a jacket and without a shirt.
A few minutes later, has drunk water that immediately afterwards has spit out onstage in a faint reminiscence perhaps of those more dangerous appearances of decades ago.
From the first moment, “the Iguana” has flaunted his characteristic contouralthough less intense than in the past, and that has even caused him a small fall for which he has required the help of staff from the Auditorium to get up.
For almost two hours, the veteran rocker, who has taken off his jacket for the third song, has deployed his arsenal of musical milestones, from his beginnings with The Stooges the group that with its three albums released between 1969 and 1973 anticipated punk.
“TV Eyes”, “Death Trip” and “Gimme Danger” have been some of the songs from the early seventies that have provoked the delirium of the public, which has gone up a notch with “Lust for Life”, a song resulting from the collaboration with David Bowie in his Berlin stage and that was used in the soundtrack of Trasporting.
“The Passenger”, another of his great successes, has also been part of the repertoire along with songs from his latest album “Free” (2019)with which he decided to give his career a swerve to delve into more intimate songs, with a jazz touch.
“I wanna Be Your Dog” has been reserved for encoreswhich have followed one after another at the same rate as the level of decibels and greetings and hugs to those who occupied the front rows increased.
The day that marks the halfway point of the Jazzaldia has continued in the Plaza de la Trinidad with the performances by Steve Colemanwhich is visiting the San Sebastian festival for the sixth time, and the unclassifiable Louis Cole.
Coleman has offered a manifestation of the most hermetic jazz with Five Elementsthe band that has accompanied him since 1981 and is currently made up of Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Anthony Tidd (bass), Sean Rickman (drums), as well as rapper Kokayi, who joined in 2018.
Kokayi has rapped at breakneck speed the themes that suggested Cuban or African airs that emerged from the sax, the trumpet or the bass in a recital marked by repetitions and improvisations.
He has been succeeded on stage by the singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Luis Cole, one of the founders of the Knower groupwho has starred in a performance close to “performance”, accompanied by keyboards, drums and the voices of Genevieve Artadi and Fuensanta Mendez.
With a curious staging, Cole’s music is a musical melting pot in which everything seems to have a placefrom ballads, to danceable funky, rap and jazz.