Pictured above: Iggy Pop, courtesy of Coachella/Pooneh Ghana
People always underestimate the Coachella kids. For years now, older musos have turned their noses up at the selfie and outfit culture, and assumed that it's all very vacuous and superficial. But we've known for years that the Coachella kids know their music. In previous years, we've seen the same people singing full-voiced to Beyonce and Blondie, to Tyler, the Creator and David Byrne. Genres be damned -- good music is good music
This year, the likes of Devo and Byrne (again) represented the punk/new wave worlds on Friday and Saturday. And unsurprisingly, both were awesome. But Sunday was the big punk day, and Iggy Pop is the Chairman of the Board.
With a set that leaned heavily on the Stooges era of his career, the bare-chested icon blasted through the likes of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Search and Destroy" with the fire and fury of a teen. Solo hits like "Lust for Life" and "The Passenger" tipped a hat to the Trainspotting fans. But there was no filler in Iggy's set. The man is a living legend!
Black Flag, meanwhile, is practically unrecognizable these days. Guitarist and songwriter Greg Ginn keeps rotating the lineup, and he's the only person from the current band who was in Black Flag two years ago. That said, it's cool to see the hardcore group fronted by a female--Max Zanelly. David Rodriguez plays bass and Bryce Weston plays drums, and this lineup has been together for about a year. Is it anything close to classic Black Flag? Of course not. But the Coachella crowd was happy to hear classics like "Nervous Breakdown" and "Rise Above."
Like Iggy, Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies won't let age get the better of him, and the Venice band kicked off their set with "You Can't Bring Me Down" with a manic energy.
"Send Me Your Money" could have been written last week. Later, Thundercat joined them for a magnificent "Institutionalized," and a couple more. Amazing stuff!
