The Cavern, Liverpool – 02/03/23
I found myself at a packed Cavern Club in Liverpool to watch a celebration of Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life album; an album that, believe it or not is celebrating its 45th Anniversary this year!
The venue was pretty full when I arrived, even before the first support act had started. Walker and the Brotherhood of Grape kicked things off, native New Yorkers, their set was put together from requests from their fans ‘back home’.
An acoustic duo, rather than a full band, Walker Hornung and bass player Eddy Joe McCabe played an amazing set. A great opener and Walker’s voice is magnificent. ‘Something New’, ‘The Beekeeper’ and set closer ‘It’s Ok to be Happy’ were definite highlights and I’ve got to say, I’ve had the song ‘Walk You to the Door’ stuck in my head since I heard it at the Cavern. Another stunning vocal performance from Walker.
Next up were New Forest Punks ‘Ladies’ – sonically, the band were a mix of Dr Feelgood and Ian Drury and the Blockheads. Another very entertaining set and a band who I need to listen to more of. I really enjoyed their longer blues infused songs, great guitar work and frontman Waveney Wilcox delivered the songs with a great ‘punkish snarl’! Brilliant!
After the stage was cleared, we were ready to go. Kevin Armstrong entered first, followed by the rest of the band, Clem Burke, guitarist Luis Correia, Keys player Florence Sabeva and bass player Glen Matlock. Completing this star studded lineup is vocalist Katie Puckrick who bounces on stage and doesn’t stop smiling for the whole gig!
The band played the Iggy Pop album ‘Lust For Life’ in it’s entirety. And watching tonight, you forget just how good an album it is. Kicking off with the title track, Clem Burke and the band thunder through the album, with even more energy than the original! And that’s saying something.
Glen Matlock, a last minute replacement for Tony Fox Sales is the definition of ‘cool’, despite being a late addition to the tour, he doesn’t miss a beat and is truly locked in with his old pal Clem!
They blast through the album, really firing on all cylinders. Katie Puckrick is incredible. She really nails the Iggy material, ‘Success’, ‘The Passenger’ and ‘Fall in Love with You’ were especially good! The energy on that stage was cranked up to eleven!!
Once the band finished the album, they all came down to the front and a video played with their various bands introducing them, a reminder that we were in the presence of some pretty nifty players! The collective musicianship on display was very impressive.
The band were not resting on their laurels one bit, as following the introductions, they reassembled and launched into a ‘Greatest Hits’ set, playing not just the twenty minutes I thought they were going to do, but well over an hour!
‘Sister Midnight’ kicks the second part of the show off, followed by ‘Nightclubbing’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, Katie is well and truly nailing this Iggy Pop material and just as I’m thinking ‘I wanna hear some Blondie’ the band launch into ‘Rip Her to Shreds’ from Blondie’s debut record. This is another treat, Katie and the band deliver a great rendition of this too! I was loving it.
A tribute to Tom Verlaine follows, with a stunning rendition of ‘Kingdom Come’ – a bittersweet moment as audience and band remember the late Television singer who passed away in January.
Then the attention turns to Glen Matlock who sings two songs; first up, a song he wrote for the Iggy Pop album ‘Soldier’ although Glen and the band play it ‘as it was meant to be‘, it has a slower, blues rock feel to it and it really worked! Can I say I preferred it to the original? Next up, he plays his new single ‘Head On a Stick’ – a real treat to see a song that I’ve been championing on the radio make it into the set!
Katie returns to the stage and the band change gear once again for some more Iggy; ‘Five Foot One’ and ‘No Fun’ bring the main set to a close. The band disappear for a brief moment, before Kevin Armstrong returns and asks if we want some more! Of course we did!
The songs kept coming! We get a great rendition of Bowie’s ‘Be My Wife’ before Katie introduces Kevin Armstrong, who played on the Iggy Pop album ‘Blah Blah Blah’ amongst others. ‘Wild One’ follows, and the crowd quite literally go wild! This is a great opportunity for Kevin to show off, getting down onto the floor during the solo, brilliant! One of the many highlights of the night. Then an old English folk song is introduced as the opening riff to ‘Pretty Vacant’ kicks in. And what a riff it is.
I was briefly transported back to the 70’s as the sole punk who had spent all night waiting for a Pistols song ‘slam danced’ his way to the front, much to the annoyance of me and the rest of the crowd. The crowd was bouncing by now. It was so exciting to be in the thick of it, the atmosphere was electric!
How can they top that I hear you ask, well, that’s easy: Iggy Pop’s ‘Search and Destroy’! What a way to finish!
This was a fantastic night, celebrating the music of Iggy with a few subtle nods to Blondie, The Sex Pistols and Bowie. I left on such a high, I will definitely be re visiting the Lust For Life album and the wider Iggy Pop back catalogue. It was an absolutely incredible night.
This show is a show you simply can not miss. Go and see it and experience the energy! Katie will blow you away. Not to mention the Rock Royalty she shares a stage with. It was so good in fact, I have to see it again and have just booked myself a ticket for the final night of the tour at the Lexington in London on the 12th March! See you there!!
