News

James Williamson will deliver the keynote music address at the C2SV Technology Conference and Music Festival in Silicon Valley at noon on September 28 before he performs with Iggy and the Stooges at St. James Park later that evening.

Completing a world tour that’s taken The Stooges from Australia to Europe, the legendary band will play its final show of its triumphant sweep on Williamson’s home turf in Silicon Valley. Williamson is an ideal icon for a conference and festival celebrating “Creative Convergence,” the fusion of information technology and the creative arts. In February, he’ll be inducted into the Engineering Hall of Fame at California Polytechnic University. “To my knowledge, I am the only holder of a Rock n Roll HOF and an Engineering HOF,” Williamson says.

…Williamson’s keynote will be open to badge holders of the C2SV Technology Conference and VIP ticket holders for the Iggy and the Stooges concert later that day in St. James Park. The concert ticket is sold in combination with a wristband that enables concertgoers to experience three days of music at more than 12 venues in Downtown San Jose.

Read more at Metroactive.com.

Iggy and the Stooges will perform at this year’s C2SV Technology Conference & Music Festival, previously known as the Silicon Valley Sound Experience, on September 28th in San Jose, Calif. The band will play at St. James Park. More information and tickets can be found at C2SV.com.

C2SV, held at 12 downtown San Jose venues from September 26-29, also will feature The Lemonheads, The Limousines, The Coup and Dam-Funk among 70 acts expected at the festival.

As most of you know, it would’ve been Ron Asheton’s birthday today. You are sadly missed with all your stories and little quirky ways.

Photo from private archives.

From CNN: The early reviews of the show at London’s Meltdown Festival (curated this year by Yoko Ono) speak of Iggy Pop’s boundless, youthful energy as he bounds on to the stage like a jack-in-the box who’s just escaped the confines of the toy cupboard, cajoling, teasing and captivating his audience with the skills of the consummate showman.

“There’s a lot of craft,” he says. “Everything from learning the different parts of the room to reading the reactions to ultimately. You’re like a funnel or a vacuum cleaner. You’re a transformer between all the energy of the group and its music and the different energies of all the people in the different parts of the room. What’s really happening when it’s good is that everybody’s flowing into each other’s presence, maybe through the medium of a particular riff or a particular chorus but also a monkey — a well-rehearsed monkey,” he laughs.

Read the Iggy Pop interview with CNN.

Former Texas journalist Steve Miller has made use of his musical background with a new book called Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Five Decades of Rock ‘n’ Roll in America’s Loudest City. The book includes contributions from Iggy Pop, Grand Funk Railroad, the White Stripes’ Jack White and Kid Rock, relayed to Miller, a Michigan native and journalist.

Read more at CultureMap.

We haven’t posted it for a while but Mike Watt spills the beans about life on tour and that it’s not a bowl of cherries (nor beans).

http://hootpage.com/hoot_stooges-wattdiary2013.html

The Ron Asheton Foundation will be giving away a Reverend Ron Asheton Signature Guitar once they hit 5,000 “Likes” on their Facebook page! All you have to do is “Like” the Ron Asheton Foundation on Facebook for a chance to win. GO FOR IT, STOOGES FANS!

Reverend collaborated with Ron for the Reverend Ron Asheton Signature Guitar. Based on the popular Volcano model, the guitar melds three Reverend CP90 pickups with a korina body for a raw, yet fat tone with a percussive attack. The perfect guitar for edgy rock tones, but also versatile enough for just about any situation. Unique features include: lightning bolt body logo, and Ron’s signature silkscreened on the back of the headstock.

Read more at the Ron Asheton Foundation.

Iggy and the Stooges’ acclaimed live album Sadistic Summer taken from their Isle of Wight Festival set in 2011 is being launched as a digital album through Concert Live’s new digital store today! As a special introductory offer, fans can download the whole album for 50% off — that’s only £3.99 and individual tracks for only £0.34. This offer will run until Sunday June 30th so don’t miss out on reliving this great performance. Go to www.concertlive.co.uk/downloads/ to get your album at 50% off! Just use the code HALFOFF at checkout.

There are few like Iggy Pop. More than four decades into his career, he is still a frantic ball of quivering, stage-diving energy whose Raw Power instantly turns his gig at Yoko Ono’s Meltdown Festival into the closest you’ll ever get to a 1970s East Village punk club with a royal box. …Punk is rooted in the primal powerhouses of Search and Destroy, 1970 and goth incubated beneath the skin of Open Up and Bleed, but Iggy is more concerned with lust than legacy, driving I Wanna Be Your Dog and No Fun to such frantic extremes that the crowd throw bras. “Rebels come and rebels go,” he yelps on Sex and Money, from the Stooges’ pessimistically titled new album, Ready to Die. There’ll be no replacing this one.

Read more at The Guardian.

Iggy and the Stooges have been announced for Riot Fest Toronto and Denver! Stay tuned for more details.

Click thumbnails to view at full size:

Hollywood Records will release a soundtrack album on July 2nd for The Lone Ranger featuring songs inspired by the fim, recorded by artists including Iggy Pop, Ben Kweller, Shane MacGowan, Lucinda Williams, The White Buffalo, The Rubens, John Grant, Sara Watkins, Pete Molinari and Gomez. The film will star Armie Hammer in the title role and Johnny Depp as Tonto.

Read more at FilmMusicReporter.com. Here’s the track listing for the album, available for pre-order now at Amazon.

1. Holy Water – Ben Kweller
2. Devil’s Train – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
3. Poor Paddy on the Railway – Shane MacGowan
4. So Long Gone – Pete Molinari
5. Central and Union – Sara Watkins
6. The American Dream – The White Buffalo
7. Lonesome Whistle – Dave Alvin
8. Sweet Betsy from Pike – Iggy Pop
9. Rattling Bone – Iron & Wine
10. Cowboy – The Rubens
11. Everything but the Truth – Lucinda Williams
12. The Truth Lives On – The Aggrolites
13. Butch’s Ballad – Gomez
14. Saddle the Wind – John Grant

This incarnation of Iggy and the Stooges has nothing to lose. The proto-punk gawds have a new album they are touring, Ready To Die, and a lineup that is mashup of the Fun House one and the Raw Power platoon. Missing the late great Ron Asheton, the Stooges are now playing in tribute of their fallen guitarist.

Saturday’s set saw the first Houston appearance of Pop in decades, and the lusty crowd welcomed him with open sweat-laced arms. Pop, wearing skinny black jeans when men his age should be in sensible slacks and loafers, was vicious and playful. The band was in the pocket.

Read the complete review and a new interview with James Williamson at The Houston Chronicle.