CBGB Festival

I’m more of a new waver than a punk rocker, even though I played at CBGB in 1983. So I debated whether or not it was worth paying $179 to go to the CBGB Festival at Under the K Bridge Park in Brooklyn (especially considering I once paid $3 to go to the actual CBGB on New Year’s Eve). I waited until the last minute and finally relented because I thought it might be my last chance to see Iggy Pop live.

You see, I was supposed to see Iggy Pop (and Siouxsie Sioux) two years ago at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, but his set was cut short because of so-called “dangerous weather” (i.e., a thunderstorm that never actually materialized) and Siouxsie didn’t get to perform at all. (Yes, I’m still pissed off.) To their credit, they came back the next day to do a makeup show, but I couldn’t afford a $90 Uber round-trip to go back and, besides, I had plans to have lunch a friend of mine.

Another reason I decided to go is because Iggy Pop is a major inspiration for my screenplay, All the Bands in the ’80s.

So I entered the CGBG Festival at about the halfway point. The first act I saw was Johnny Marr, formerly of the Smiths. Much to my surprise (and delight) he tore through a number of Smiths songs: “Panic,” “This Charming Man,” “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” “How Soon Is Now?” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” as well as “Getting Away With It” by Electronic (the group formed by Marr and Bernard Sumner of New Order).

I was in ’80s heaven!

Next up was the Damned. I’m not as familiar with their music, except for the vaguely new wave-ish “Eloise.” I like Damned guitarist Captain Sensible’s song, “Wot,” but they didn’t play it. Oh, well…

Then came guitar virtuoso Jack White, another performer I’m not that familiar with apart from the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” which he closed with and whose riff the audience sang. White’s like a cross between Jimi Hendrix and Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin. He doesn’t sing as much as yelp, but boy can he play guitar!

Finally, it was time for the man, the myth, the legend: Iggy Pop!

After two years of waiting, I was a little bit taken aback. How can I put this delicately? Let’s just say, he’s a 78-year-old man performing shirtless. (I guess I wasn’t that close to the stage two years ago.) Nevertheless, his hair is fabulous and his voice is intact. And the songs! “Lust for Life,” “The Passenger,” “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Even if you haven’t followed his career closely, you know those songs!

But for me, the importance of Iggy Pop is more symbolic. The fact that he’s still rocking out is an inspiration.

As his character says in my screenplay, “Sometimes you just have to grab life by the balls.”

Now I just need Siouxsie to do a show in New York City.

Johnny Marr

Captain Sensible from The Damned

Jack White

Iggy Pop