Festivals

The Stooges were a cult band before the idea of cult bands even existed, and the fact that they’re playing festivals today is a cause for celebration – thrills don’t get more visceral than watching The Stooges in action. Frontman Iggy Pop, primitivist powerhouse drummer Scott Asheton and his brother, original riffmachine Ron Asheton are outstanding live.

Most excitingly, you won’t even have to leave London to see them, as they’re one of the headliners at the outlandishly super-awesome Get Loaded In The Park Festival on Clapham Common on August 24. And we’re not just saying that because we’re sponsoring it this year. Oh no. Let’s face it, most of the other bands you’ll see at festivals will be trying to copy The Stooges, so you should check out the originals.

‘It’s funny,’ laughs Pop, ‘there’s a kind of cunning that runs through our group. We wouldn’t be so gauche as to trot out a giant cyclops or wear platform heels and funny facepaint to make the point, like, “Look at me! I’m a social problem!” We’re a little harder to pin down than that.’
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The Stooges didn’t so much split up as dissipate a quarter century ago. Some rock bores will obviously tell you that they can’t be as potent now as they were back in the day, but if you ask the band, they’ll tell you that being apart for so long gave them the artistic equivalent of blue balls, something they’ve worked hard to relieve since reuniting.

‘We’ve pumped a whole lot of sperm,’ laughs Iggy. ‘We really did. In the interim there was quite a build up. So we’ve let fly with quite a bit recently.’

After years of dithering, the band were finally brought back together in 2006, after some cajoling from Minutemen, Firehose and now The Stooges bassist Mike Watt. Most people expected them to perform a few ‘greatest hits’-style gigs – but that isn’t the way The Stooges play. Instead, they wrote and recorded a whole new album of material, ‘The Weirdness’, a CD that won’t be their last.

‘We’re writing new material right now,’ says Scott. ‘So this year will be different from last – we’re not gonna be doing the same thing. So anyone who saw us last year is gonna see a different show.’

Although ‘The Weirdness’ had a more polished, almost catchy edge than the band’s early material, it was still The Stooges. As Iggy explains, The Stooges were always more easily expressed as an attitude than a sound.

‘It’s in the way it’s played,’ says Iggy. ‘I think it’s fair to say the two brothers have deep wells of disturbance on which they can call. But, then, they have other things too – the drummer’s just a swinging cat, and Ron is a strange and witty character. So they’ve got some good talent. I think they’re getting more respect as musicians now.’

Back in the old days, the band’s stage shows were generally greeted with fear and confusion, rather than the reverent joy which they inspire today. Although the boys appreciate being appreciated, they do miss messing with people’s heads.

‘It was also fun in the beginning,’ says Ron. ‘I remember one show especially, we opened for Ten Years After. It was all their crowd, totally. There would be silence after each song. The only people clapping were our fan club president and her associates. That was cool! There was a point where you hated us, or you really liked us. There was never any in between. People would come to see what the hell would happen next, because it was so unpredictable. We didn’t even have songs – we just had whatever sounds we came up with.’

Of course, the best thing about seeing the The Stooges is that you don’t just watch the band, you get to be part of it – the audience are the fifth Stooge.

As Ron says, ‘When we’re on stage, everything just jives so well, we just perfectly work like a great machine together. And the audience kicks back all that energy, it’s a great feeling. You’ve seen Iggy – the audience drives him, it’s his new drug now that he does no drugs.’

For more information on Get Loaded or its sister festival, SW4, visit www.getloadedinthepark.com.
For tickets see www.ticketmaster.co.uk (0844 847 2467).