Iggy Pop review: Punk icon unstoppable at the Salt Shed

A 75-year-old Iggy Pop plays to a sold-out crowd Friday night at the Salt Shed in Chicago.

Years from now, if the walls at Chicago’s Salt Shed could talk, they’ll still be gushing about Iggy Pop being one of the greatest musicmakers to take the stage at the Near North Side venue.

The quintessential godfather of punk was a smart choice for the new venue, showcasing the space’s capabilities for hosting top-line talent.

Pop was one of the earliest acts announced back in November for Salt’s Shed inaugural indoor series, and the show quickly sold out as 3,500 fans clamored to fill up on the 75-year-old banshee’s power moves.

“Thanks for f- - -ing showing up,” Pop said early in the night to a bellow of screams trying to talk back.

By song three of his concert at the Salt Shed on Friday night, Iggy Pop had shorn his unnecessary vest, giving his shirtless torso full rein to writhe in ways inhumanly possible. — By song three of his concert at the Salt Shed on Friday night, Iggy Pop had shorn his unnecessary vest, giving his shirtless torso full rein to writhe in ways almost inhumanly possible.

While often short on words, Pop’s body language — as it usually does — spoke volumes Friday night. By song three, he had shorn his unnecessary vest, giving his shirtless torso full rein to writhe in ways almost inhumanly possible at a certain age; at other times, Pop dropped trou and collapsed into fits on the floor and on speaker beds, giving the room license to let loose. The energy transfer was received by the fever-pitched crowd, on its toes all night.

It was the first time Pop has been back in Chicago since 2016, and the show came on the heels of his new album “Every Loser” (released Jan. 6), a polished collection proving that his legendary acumen for writing chaotically beautiful bangers will never die.

The 90-minute, 16-song set dangled a few of the new carrots, marking what appeared to be live debuts of the rebellious punk smash “Frenzy,” the harrowing junkie ballad “Strung Out Johnny,” and the electric shocker “Modern Day Ripoff.”

The career-spanning set also put a good deal of focus on Pop and The Stooges’ work of art “Raw Power,” which turns 50 years old this year (the same age as the show’s presenting sponsor WXRT-FM, among the first in Chicago to spin the tunes and start the wild love affair with Pop).

That album’s title track, “Death Trip,” “Gimme Danger,” and the set-ending piece de resistance “Search and Destroy” were high marks in the curated affair. They blended seamlessly with the new material, blurring the lines of time across a span of nearly six decades in which Pop has been a huge influence in every punk movement and has continued to steer the ship, anchored by a well-preserved canon of work.

Friday night’s concert was a rare one-off for Pop, a month shy of a few planned dates across the West Coast to promote his latest album, which will also debut his new backing army, The Losers — a group that includes Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, and Andrew Watt (the album’s mastermind producer) on guitar.

The famous ensemble was not present at the Chicago show, but it will be hard for even their star wattage to live up to the exceptional instrumentalists that supported Pop at the Salt Shed. Among them, guitarists Sarah Lipstate and Greg Fauque, bassist Kenny Ruby, drummer and percussionist Tibo Brandalise, Hammond/keys player Florian Pellissier, and horns players Corey King on trombone and Leron Thomas on trumpet.

Iggy Pop performs at The Salt Shed, Friday, March 10, 2023.

In particular, the accompaniment of horns was a defining part of the show, providing a jazzy undertone that added to the primal, chemical energy of the night and harkened back to the time in the late ‘70s that Pop spent with David Bowie, a period that birthed so much of Pop’s epic solo material. The set’s double stack of “The Passenger” followed by “Lust For Life” was a nice homage to the era and a high for the audience who hung on to the former song’s “La la la la la la la la” chorus like it was a personal oath. Pop goaded them on, frequently asking for the house lights to be turned on to see the throngs of people, waving repeatedly at them with a big grin on his face and turning the microphone out to amplify the thousand-strong voices.

By the encore, Pop turned reflective ahead of a two-part Stooges offering, taking a minute to think on his Midwest roots planted just a few hours from where he stood Friday night.

“A long time ago I was in a really special band just up the road in Detroit. We had a lot of great songs but one never made it on to any albums,” he said introducing the angry serenade “I’m Sick Of You.”

“It’s a personal favorite of mine and we’ll do it the best we can,” Pop added.

While it’s only March, the moment helped ink the night as one of the best shows to hit Chicago in 2023.