There are a lot of Iggy live albums. Some of them are mind-blowing (i.e. the bonus live discs from the Bowie years box set), some are very gray market (anything on the Easy Action label), some are interesting for their uniqueness (TV Eye which is Iggy and Ziggy) and some are kind of a snap shot of him with a random backing band from the 80s (anything on the weirdly named Revenge label).

Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 is the best parts of Iggy’s live oeuvre snapped together. First of all, in true Iggy form, Iggy is coming to destroy. “TV Eye” find’s champ coming to rock- howling, jumping around, and really, it may be cliché to say, but Iggy represents the primal, soul shaking force of rock n roll. In fact, he whips so hard o tracks like “Tv Eye” and “Lust for Life,” I do wonder if his raw power (now in its 7th decade!) really is primal energy, or is it the result of mastermind at work that has systematically plotted how to expunge as much energy and soul force at once. I do love how his screams, at one point, out of his mind, “fuckin thanks! Fucking thanks! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! Fuckin’ thanks” as if lightening is jolting out of his body.

But also, the Jazz fest set is particularly notable as it finds Iggy slightly saluting the festival name sake. There is a whole swinging brass band behind him that gives the performance a once-in-a-lifetime angle- Iggy powered by guitar AND brass. I’m actually surprised at how well the merger works but I probably shouldn’t be- Iggy appears to be making the point that rock is indeed born from soul, folk, and jazz, and maybe people are forgetting that. The brass band here is trying to out do the electric band and vice versa, and in doing so, they lock together in a freight train of soul/rock power.

And Iggy really appears to be having a blast. I love how he really enunciates ”raw power is sure to come running to you” as a new swinging trumpet line undulates in the background. Just as I did above, rock is usually described as evolving from soul. Iggy bends rock back and shows that they are the same thing and he’s still ignited by that ancient power. An Iggy Pop comes along once in maybe… and a live album this good comes out a little bit more frequently, but not by much.