I’ll be honest:  I went to this show to mainly see the legendary Iggy Pop (real name James Newell Osterberg Jr.).

I think My Chemical Romance is a good band, but if Iggy was not on this bill, I would not have been there.

Having said that, MCR were very good.

But first, let me get to the reason why I was here.

I’ve been an Iggy fan since I was a kid, but I just never saw him.

So when I found out he was opening for MCR in Detroit (He was born in Muskegon, MI.  Detroit is a huge place for him.), I had to go.

It was not cheap (I can’t afford these expensive tickets much longer.) but it was worth it.

Iggy is 79-years old as of this writing and still makes great music (been doing it since the late 1960s), but does not do a lot of shows these days, so this was a must see.

Anyway, Iggy and his great band, known on the road apparently as Iggy & Los Tropicanos (Ale Campos on guitar, Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on guitar, Brad Truax of Interpol on bass, Urian Hackney of The Armed on drums, Joan Wasser of Joan As A Police Woman on keyboards, Corey King on trombone, Leron Thomas on trumpet/horns, and Charles Moothart on guitar and additional instruments) did a solid and tight 46 minute set, including songs from his time as the singer of The Stooges and his lengthy solo career.

The sound was really good at the venue (Comerica Park where the Detroit Tigers play), and even though I was wayyyyy up in the stands, I could hear quite well and the video screens were nice. 

The view of the stage wasn’t the greatest where I was, but it was OK because I just wanted to be there.

And I’m glad I was.  I wish I could have seen Iggy do a headline show, but I had to take what I could get.

It’s all good.  Iggy and his band rocked, and according to the Detroit Free Press, this was the biggest show Iggy has ever played in Detroit.  Wow!!

And to quote Iggy at this show “It’s good to be back, same as it ever was”.

He still rocks and sings great.  He went out to the crowd during one of the songs and had some of them take the microphone a little bit for the chorus.

Thank you Iggy sooooo much for all your great music and keep on rocking as only you can do!!

Now to the headliner.  Like I said, I went to this show mainly to see Iggy, and I honestly contemplated leaving during MCR’s set, but even though it rained some during the show (rain literally makes me sick), I’m glad I stayed because they really gave it their all.

Before the show, they had these cryptic messages on their screens. It turns out these are rules that the band made up.  I don’t know all the details about this, but the band apparently have made up their own language, and these rules I’m guessing are part of a story or are they messages about a new album or something else?  Maybe if a bigger fan sees this post they can help explain it to me better.  Sorry I just know the music and I saw their documentary called My Chemical Romance:  Life On The Murder Scene Video Diary.

Also, fans were handed a postcard before the show too.  I don’t know anything about it either, except one of the actors during the show had the same postcard and burned it.  I’m assuming all of this stuff is part of a story.  Maybe The Black Parade story, which is their third album they played in it’s entirety.

Again, they played all of that album, then took about a 15 minute break and came out to a b-stage and played a bunch of other songs from throughout their career and some cool cover tunes.

The band still consists of singer Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way (Gerard’s brother), along with some other musicians to fill out the sound, specifically for their album The Black Parade, and some actors that perform throughout the show (like I said, it’s a concept album).

Aside from stopping for a bit, they have mostly been together since the early 2000s, and really have a rabid audience.  The fans were literally shaking the rafters during their show.

I’m not going to say I love MCR, but I do think they are very good and I’m glad I got to see them.  Not only doing one set, but two sets.  Again, they really give it their all and the fans really love them.  That’s what it’s all about.

In short, another great show.  I’m not wild about going to stadium shows (They’re fine, but I’d rather go to somewhat smaller places these days.), but I’ll still go for certain people.  And I’m glad I went to this.

Hopefully the rain won’t make me sick.  It wasn’t much, but rain and me don’t get along at all. Just saying.

Thank you MCR and Iggy for this great show and thanks for all the music and please make more!!