Iggy Pop and The Free Band + Mantova Chamber Orchestra

The Iguana presents himself at the court of the Gonzaga and, despite being triumphantly backed by the Mantova Chamber Orchestra, he certainly doesn't stand on ceremony. The crowd ignites from the very first notes of “Five Foot One”, which, after the cavernous tolling of the instrumental intro that seems to pour straight out of the vaults framing the exedra, comes barrelling in like a runaway train, wiping out whatever gravity the seating arranged for the audience was supposed to provide.

It's a truly special night, as the godfather of punk himself keeps repeating, with mysterious tracks from the recent "Free" sitting alongside the classics of the Seventies, in a back-and-forth between blazing guitar outbursts and majestic sonic structures over which he shifts effortlessly from rock'n'roll showman to vintage crooner. That's how the dark vibrations of "Loves Missing" first spill into the cryptic, sinuous "Sonali", then hand the stage over to the sing-along of the ever-towering "The Passenger", filling everyone with the purest joy.

The orchestrations by Enrico Gabrielli (Calibro 35, Mariposa, The Winstons etc.), always engaging but never excessive or intrusive (probably also due to the very limited rehearsal time with the Free Band), fit perfectly with the atmospheres of the aforementioned latest LP and with the magnificent setting chosen for the occasion, becoming the absolute stars of tracks like "James Bond", where thin strings soar, sharp as knives slipping between the song's ribs, and "The Endless Sea", carrying an immersive magic that plunges the audience into a contemplative, ecstatic silence.

The Detroit rocker's classics shine with their own light: "Sister Midnight" and "Mass Production" are still steeped in that alien charm and wave sensibility that saw them born at another court, that of the Thin White Duke, just as the sticky energy of "Lust For Life", "Gimme Danger" and "I'm Sick Of You" doesn't yield an inch to the passing of time.

The final stretch of the show, backed by the orchestra, offers great rewards, found in the incredible vocal depths of "Page", where he proves he has fully put behind him the vocal cord issues that forced the postponement of the July show, but also in the diseased elegance of "Nightclubbing" and in the free jazz excursions at the end of "Glow In The Dark", where he dons boxing gloves, limping perhaps but never tamed, sparring his way through the horn solos.

The four tracks of the encore make for an explosive finale in which the electricity of the Free Band and the Iguana brings the madness of the Stooges back to life, leaving no room even to catch a breath, branding the audience for good — who, regardless of age (from children to eighty-year-olds), dance non-stop from start to finish. An experience, as this troubled summer draws to a close, that we'll hardly be able to forget.

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