Before there was “Lust for Life”, one of the greatest things to come from Iggy Pop’s collaboration with David Bowie, there was Iggy and the Stooges. They started with modest roots, excelling in a strange and eclectic mix of instruments that gradually gave way to the rock that would elevate them above their competition. After years of struggling to find success they recorded two albums before finally hitting upon the sound that would catapult them to stardom: Raw Power. It seems only right then that that album would be the focal point for their 2010 reunion where they played most of the Raw Power tracks along with a few off of Fun House and The Stooges. The show they played in Monticello was filmed, but to avoid making it just another concert film, the cameras were put in the hands of six Stooges fans who got to have a sit-down Q&A with the band. Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power Live – In the Hands of the Fans is their footage spliced together, and while it’s an interesting way to go about this musical tradition, the results aren’t always impressive.
The foundation of the disappointment with Raw Power Live is the venue in Monticello which has little aesthetic beauty if any. The backdrop is just a big white sheet and the lighting for the concert is nothing special. It makes you wonder why, if they knew they were filming, they chose a place that looked so bland. The fans with cameras do their best to get some interesting angles of Iggy and the Stooges playing, and they succeed for the most part, but the only way it works as a film is with a lot of fast cutting and the end result is a schizophrenic film that can’t decide if it’s trying to film a faithful representation of the concert or make an artistic point. It seems at one point that someone realized the production was visually stale and so a few saturation filters are added here and there, but that doesn’t fix the problem.
On the other hand, the audio is fantastic and what you get on the Blu-ray is probably a better audio experience than you got if you were actually at the concert because everything is equalized perfectly. Whereas if you were in that crowd, the music had to compete with the shouting of the crowd and if you weren’t at the optimal point where all the sound channels met, the odds are you heard one instrument louder than others or could barely hear Iggy at all. Not so in this audio mix. Everything is well proportioned and some songs, like “Open Up & Bleed” have great depth and clarity.
It would have been great if the sit-down session between the fans and Iggy Pop and the Stooges had been included as part of the actual film and not just random out of context tidbits during the credits, but the Blu-ray release fixes that complaint by including the full 44-minute discussion as an extra. It’s an artistic choice and in fitting with the film’s unfortunately low production values (at least in terms of the set) the editing got short shrift too.
If you love the music of Iggy and the Stooges though, this is all easier to overlook. As a fan of the casual variety, it rates pretty low as a concert film, but the interview afterwards is fantastic.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
As mentioned the included full-length interview might just be the true meat of the disc, but once you finish it and the concert itself, there’s not much else worthwhile to satisfy you.
"Iggy Pop and the Stooges: Raw Power Live - In the Hands of the Fans" is on sale September 27, 2011 and is not rated. Concert-Film. Directed by Joey Carey. Starring Iggy Pop.
