The Stooges final classic era performance
Although they weren’t as widely adored as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop and his formative band, The Stooges, were arguably just as vital in the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. In the late 1960s, Iggy catapulted to global fame and notoriety as The Stooges’ frontman. Thanks to a primitive and violent rock sound and an onstage demeanour to match, the band are noted as a pivotal precursor to the 1970s punk movement.
The Stooges’ live shows were infamous for their wild and outrageous antics, with incidents ranging from indecent exposure and self-mutilation to property destruction and assault. Shockingly, on a few occasions, the band even donned Nazi uniforms, leading rock music blissfully down a path towards the anarchy that would shape punk and hard rock music of the latter 20th century.
Although The Stooges reformed in 1972 for a couple of years and their acclaimed third and final album Raw Power, their first run began in 1967 and ceased in July 1971. The band’s final live show of this first chapter occurred almost a year earlier, on August 8th, 1970. The Stooges had just released their second studio album, Fun House, noted for the introduction of saxophonist Steve Mackay to the group.
The performance, which took place at Goose Lake Festival in Leoni Township, Michigan, was among The Stooges’ most influential. The rip-roaring set reached the ears of around 200,000 attendees, the biggest audience the band had graced to date.
The iconic show was recorded from the soundboard at the time, but the tapes, labelled “Goose Lake”, were only recently discovered in a Michigan farmhouse. In celebration of the festival’s 50th anniversary, the tapes were committed to vinyl in 2020 on an LP titled Live at Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970.
Most intriguingly, these tapes brought closure to a longstanding myth. For decades, Iggy claimed that the bassist Dave Alexander was sacked from the band following the Goose Lake gig because he “froze” on stage and didn’t play a single note. As the recording, heard below, concludes, Alexander did play through most of the set but did, admittedly, neglect his duties in ‘1970 (I Feel Alright)’.
Allegedly, Alexander suffered from a bout of stage fright before stepping out to greet 200,000 fans. In an attempt to settle the nerves, he had a few drinks, smoked some cannabis and snorted an undisclosed substance. Ostensibly, this cocktail evoked a glazed countenance and lack of musical coordination for sections of the performance.
Listen to The Stooges’ iconic performance at Goose Lake Festival, Michigan, and watch a clip from ‘1970 (I Feel Alright)’ below.
