While fans who want a more or less definitive document of the Stooges' famed reunion tour of '03 are advised to pick up the official "Live In Detroit" DVD that came out in early 2004, this 16-song set, taken from a relatively good audience recording (some distortion in loud spots), is still a reasonable bet. I found a detailed review on the web which I'll copy below.
The inclusion of 6 bonus tracks adds to the collectibility. Recorded in Rennes, France 12/5/2002 (also from a good audience tape, if slightly lacking in high end), it features none other than The Stooges Project -- both Ron and Scott Asheton from the original band, plus ex-Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt (who eventually became a real Stooge when the reunion went down) and ex-Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J. Mascis on lead vocals. That latter does a credible Iggy, and it's fun to compare, say, the Project's versions of "No Fun" and "Real Cool Time" to the ones that Iggy & Co. proper perform. It's also interesting to note that this is the "project" that directly led to the Stooges getting back together, first to record some tracks for an Iggy solo album and then for the actual tour.
Ganja did a great job with the packaging: 4-panel booklet, 2-sided tray panel, with some of the photos appearing to be taken at the actual gig.
Here's the review I mentioned. -- OSWALD
IGGY AND THE STOOGES: Bol d'Or, Magny-Cours, France, September 13, 2003
Forty-eight hours have passed since the Stooges concert and there's still a big smile on my face.
Finally Iggy put on a decent performance again. I've been to over a dozen Iggy solo concerts but actually hadn't seen a superb Iggy show since the brilliant Instinct tour. It will probably remain a big question why Iggy toured with such lousy backing bands since the late '80s.
But last Saturday, we could finally forgive him. Last year we had the incredible Stooges Project concerts (the Ashetons plus J Mascis and Mike Watt), now, with Iggy back as front man, it was just amazing.
I had to drive 860km to see the show, 12 hours in the car. But who fucking cares, it was all worth it.
The band played at a 24-hour motor race event. Many people thought the audience would be crap as predonminantly bikers would just turn out for the race and not for the band. Those people were wrong; many
Stooges fans showed up and the audience was superb. Pogoing, crowd-surfing, bikers with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand...it all made for a fantastic atmosphere.
The band loved it, Iggy asked the light man to put the lights on the audience so he could see how many people were enjoying the show. The band was very pleased.
Steve McKay is a full-time Stooges member again, playing the phantastic saxophone plus maracca's on some tracks. All tracks from "Funhouse" were played, except for "Ann" and "We Will Fall", plus one new song called "Skull Ring".
During "Dirt", a crowd surfer was treated pretty bad by the security and Iggy stopped the song. What could be a personal disaster for this fan turned out to be his biggest dream. Iggy invited the guy on stage and he stayed there during the restart of "Dirt".
During "Real Cool Time", more fans were invited on stage to dance with Iggy. The singer of the Australian Stooges Tribute Band (who is British, BTW.) copied some of Iggy's moves and showed him and the audience his arse.....
"I Wanna Be Your Dog" was played twice, first as fourth track in and also to close the set. No encore was given. The show ended after 65 minutes. An encore would have been nice but in a way, it was not necessary. The band had given it all.
Stooges Project concerts, Stooges reunion shows, an MC5 reunion show, a Birdman tour - Europeans have been very spoiled over the last two years.
