Dog Day Afternoon
Featuring: Iggy Pop | Blondie | Generation Sex | Stiff Little Fingers | Buzzcocks | Lambrini Girls
Crystal Palace Park
first July 2023
Known in your area for its television transmitter and stone dinosaurs, on a bright Saturday in July, Crystal Palace Park changes into Dog Day Afternoon – Phil Ross reports from the UK’s most significant punk outside celebration in recent years.
Headlined by the godfather of punk himself, Iggy Pop, the celebration takes its name from the 1975 film including Al Pacino as bank burglar John Wojtowicz who held up a Chase Manhattan Bank to money male-to-female, gender-affirming surgical treatment for his other half. Nominated for 6 Academy Awards, it was chosen in 2009 for conservation in the National Film Registry as ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ – so optimal regard to Iggy Pop for keeping the LGBTQ+ program to the fore.
Today, nevertheless, this Dog Day Afternoon is a testimony to Iggy’s story and his influence on punk. My bus provides me a couple of hundred lawns from the park, which like some fantastic sea of studs, leather and hair color should be 25,000 individuals deep today.
There’s consentaneous chatter about how incredible the Lambrini Girls’ efficiency was, specifically the great crowdsurfing. And I’m likewise happy to report that Buzzcocks and Stiff Little Fingers were on top of their video games. Burns remained in especially great voice – Roots Radicals actually protruded for me today with Burns’ deft guitar work, and McMordie skanking like a teen in a Harry Belafonte Tee Shirts.
However, I’ve been especially delighted for months at the possibility of seeing Generation Sex the supergroup amalgamation of Generation X and Sex Pistols. There had actually been rumours of a trip for many years, even a nascent program at The Roxy in West Hollywood in 2018, today I’m edging excitedly to the front as Billy Idol presents the band and Tony James says “Well well, who’d have thought we’d make it!” There’s some teasing onstage, they’re undoubtedly delighted, prior to Jonesy releases into Pretty Vacant and the sea of studs appears with smart phones and cheers. The big screens left, right and behind the phase relayed a collage of fast-moving movie from both the bands’ early days looking young, upset and energetic, all combined in with the live-action camerawork these days’s onstage shenanigans. The visual production is emotive and exceptional. Sadly, nevertheless, the sound quality is a portable banquet, changing unpredictably even eliminating totally when somebody someplace pushed a mute button and the whole PA goes quiet. A thousand heads turned at the same time to the sound desk and the engineer rapidly whipped off his earphones and depressed whatever button his finger had actually come across!
Idol’s vocal is lost in the mix sometimes under the downing Jonesy guitar of Ready Steady Go and Wild Youth which doesn’t discourage the ocean of ecstatic fans from singing along, stimulated by the driving rhythm area of Tony James and Paul Cook. The band burglarize Bodies, ‘She was a girl from Birming ham!’ I shriek, and numerous happy individuals around me shriek ‘She just had an abortion’.
With Generation Sex, you get what it says on the tin – a biggest hits anthology gig of 2 fantastic bands, played by initial members. Although for me Black Leather, composed by Jones after the Pistols separated, simply isn’t strong enough to be in this set. There are plenty more tunes they can bring into play – I hear they do an outstanding variation of Problems, and I’d enjoy to hear Valley of the Dolls.
It may seem like I didn’t actually enjoy their set, however no – despite the fact that Jones and Idol killed Kiss Me Deadly – among my preferred tracks of perpetuity – the reverse holds true. It’s tough to explain the belief – these tunes are over forty years of ages. I’m so knowledgeable about them and with the men on phase who composed them – I feel completely bought Generation Sex like I’ve enjoyed and grown with them given that I was at school. Truth be informed, they’re a bit rough, however it doesn’t matter a jot to me or, I’m sure, thousands here with me.
Just like Idol sings about ‘a hundred good mates you know you can trust’ in One Hundred Punks – I seem like these are a lot of mates who’ve formed a band, who’re gonna take a little bit of time to get actually good. And even if they don’t, fuck it! I don’t care, I’m completely behind them and I’ll come and see them once again and once again.
Jonesy redeems his guitar synthetic pas with the stylish introduction to My Way, much to the pleasure and teasing of Tony James. Idol does too, completely taking command of the park for the legendary Sid Vicious number. There’s fantastic chemistry on phase as James and Jones bounce versus each other. Jonesy the composite entertainer duck-walks backward and forward, pressing a mic stand over prior to bringing the tune and the program to a climactic end with drummer Paul Cook. They knock the ball out of Crystal Palace Park with My Way and my beliefs are intensified.
Next on are Blondie, who boast a likewise era-defining although bigger brochure of hits and albums. Naturally, tunes from their platinum-selling Parallel Lines comprise a terrific part of the set, opening with One Way or Another. It’s her 78th birthday today, and she waves and acquiesce areas of the crowd singing ‘Happy birthday’ near the front, prior to shouting ‘I’m in the phone cubicle, it’s the one throughout the hall’ into the mic’ introducing the band into Hanging on the Telephone.
Currently with Blondie is Pistols’ Glen Matlock forming a powerful rhythm area with the vibrant Clem Burke on drums. Combined with the proficient Kessler / Blacksugar guitar collaboration and Katz-Bohen on keyboard, the noise is huge, rich and absolutely pop-punk-tactic. Hits keep rolling in – Atomic, The Tide is High, Maria and Harry’s sulking efficiency is excellent – dancing, strutting throughout the phase engaging the far corners of the park.
Rapture actually grooves to Debbie Harry’s rapping and Blacksugar’s gothic rock guitar solo – rising and coming down is especially outstanding, as Burke tosses his drumsticks in the air and captures them. They bring the set to a marvelous end with the fantastic guitar sweeps and significant drum rolls of Dreaming. Glen Matlock and Tommy Kessler form rock god presents together as Debbie informs Dog Day Afternoon that “Dreaming is free – we are free!” Blondie, absolutely in command of their craft, the phase and the crowd form a line to take a bow, Clem shouts ‘Happy birthday’ into the mic, and it’s all over too rapidly.
Born in 1947, 2 years after Debbie, a vibrant Iggy Pop bounces sprightly and gently onto the phase. Dispensing rapidly with his waistcoat, his energy is raw, driving and immediate – powering through Five Foot One and into TELEVISION Eye.
“This is from the new album Every Fucking Loser”, he screams and the guitar starts Modern Day Ripoff. He’s presently on trip promoting Every Loser, his significant and extremely collective 19th solo album which includes many rock pantheon composing and carrying out looks from Guns ‘n’ Roses, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Blink-182, Foo Fighters in addition to Grammy Award-winning manufacturer Andrew Watt.
The amount and quality of the artists lining up to deal with him is a testimony to his historical and long-lasting impact on music. The Pistols, Siouxsie, Blondie, Sonic Youth and the Chilli Peppers are amongst those who have actually covered his tunes.
In 1983 David Bowie had an around the world hit with China Girl, a track that he and Pop had actually composed together as part of a veteran cooperation when cohabiting in Berlin. Their collaboration produced numerous highlights such as Lust For Life and The Passenger which include in tonight’s program much to the pleasure of the jam-packed park audience.
The enormous rich and stabbing horn sounds from the extra brass area tonight provide every tune a body and depth that we never ever understood we required in Pop’s rough garage hostility. It’s transformative, and together with the significantly enhanced sound production (compared to earlier), and perfect artists – the wall of noise is enormous as the septuagenarian Stooge welcomes us to participate and sing “La la la la la la” – “I fucking love you” he informs us.
Naturally, Stooges product is greatly included in the set – “Woof, Woof, Woof, Grrr” barks Iggy, twisting his body to the dark cascading riff of I Wanna Be Your Dog sending out the crowd into blissful bouncing and shouting as he tosses himself bare-chested to the phase. “Alright un-Loose mutherfuckker!” he calls as they burglarize Loose from The Stooges 2nd album. He has such an abundant back brochure to hire, however he plainly has both one eye on, and one foot in the future as he closes the night with Frenzy, a kickin’ number from the brand-new album. “So give me a try before I fuckin die”, he sings, “my mind is on fire, when I oughta retire?” Retire? Iggy, all of us need to pass away at some point, however please godfather, don’t retire – ‘cos we are your kids, and we enjoy you.
Stumbling back to the bus stop, happy and material from Dog Day Afternoon – Godfather of Punk? That doesn’t cover it – he’s a lot more than that – he’s the Fully Fledged Fuckin’ God of Punk!
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For Iggy Pop trip dates and album information: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Words by Phil Ross. More composing by Phil can be discovered at his Louder Than War author’s archive.
All images © Paul Grace. For more of Paul’s composing and images go to his archive. Paul is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and his sites are www.paulgrace-eventphotos.co.uk & www.pgrace.co.uk
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