Royal Albert Hall

He came, he crowd-surfed, he conquered: on 13 May, godfather of punk Iggy Pop made his Royal Albert Hall headline debut as part of his Post Pop Depression tour – an electric, energetic evening, and surely one of the stand-out highlight shows of 2016.

This concert, his only Post Pop Depression tour show in the UK, was a one-time opportunity to see Iggy perform live with a supergroup lineup of Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme, Homme’s band mates Dean Fertita and Troy Van Leeuwen, and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders.

‘From the moment the curtain went up, Pop bounced and contorted like Mick Jagger after a session of electroconvulsive therapy, writhing and twisting while a swaggering five-piece band in matching red-brocade smoking jackets stirred up his 1977 anthem Lust For Life. The sentiment of the song was the theme of the evening.’
★★★★★
The Telegraph

The two-hour set was packed with Pop’s biggest hits drawn from the three albums that represent his finest work – Bowie-produced The Idiot and Lust for Life, and his most recent album Post Pop Depression (co-written and produced by Homme). From Lust for Life to Success, via classics including The Passenger and China Girl, a relentlessly energetic 69-year old Iggy Pop powered through the set at a blistering pace.

‘This is a live experience that transcends beyond the confines pop music. It’s sexy sounding, but dangerous, authentic and poetic. More like a life changing event rather than just a rock concert.’
★★★★★
thesenseofdoubt.com

‘Tonight is as downright brilliant a rock n roll show as it is possible to see. Whether it proves a full stop or not remains to be seen, but treasure him regardless: we’ll never see his like again.’
★★★★★
The Independent

‘Crowd-surfing and rollicking about the lower tiers, Iggy spends as much time off stage as on, doing everything in how power to make the vast hall seem intimate, not at all phased by the opulence of the setting… tonight’s was a show that with all the combined charisma and character was only ever going to be the live event of the year. ‘
gigwise.com

‘The rocker capers, crowd surfs and struts half naked across the stage in a five-star spectacle that proves just how peerless Iggy Pop is.’
★★★★★
The Guardian

All photos © Christie Goodwin