Iggy Pop
2023-05-20
Cruel World Festival
The Outsiders Stage
Pasadena, CA
SOURCE:
SP-CMC-8 (w/Mods) > Sony PCM-A10 > Sandisk Mini-SD Card (64gb - Class 10)
TRANSFER:
.WAV (24 Bit) > Adobe Audition 2023 CC (normalize/amplify/tracking/dithering/downsampling) > .WAV (16 Bit) > Trader's Little Helper > FLAC (Level 8)
SETLIST:
01. Rune (Noveller cover)
02. Five Foot One
03. T.V. Eye
04. Frenzy
05. Raw Power
06. Strung Out Johnny ^
07. The Passenger ^
08. Outro
*** Rest of set cancelled / festival postponed due to severe weather in the area ***
^ Main stage PA/sound cuts out at different spots during the song
NOTES:
This poor festival just seems to have a curse on it. First it's announced for 2020, and gets postponed and moved due to Covid. Then of course, it gets cancelled outright. But then comes back strongly in 2022 to a pretty successful outing, and then is announced to come back again this year, only this time it doesn't sell as well and is reduced to one day, and well, that's just the start of the journey for this day and this set in particular...
Where to begin? Well let's start with the good. This was probably my 4th time seeing Iggy? I've actually lost count, but I know I've seen him at FYF, Cal Jam and I'm sure one other place. He was supposed to headline Desert Daze last year, but had to cancel at the last minute due to his current band at the time having visa issues with travelling into the US. So when I saw he was announced as a sub-headliner for this festival, I immediately thought, "REDEMPTION!".
He and his band, who were NOT "the Losers" (that he had been playing with recently, including members Duff McKagan from GnR and Chad Smith from RHCP), came out sounding really good. They opened with "Noveller", which for Iggy wasn't on stage yet, but then they immediately transitioned into "Five Foot One" and out comes running Iggy in all his glory, and by the end of the song, he was already shirtless and yelling and screaming at us. How could he not be?
He then plays a few more including "T.V. Eye" and "Raw Power" and eventually winds into "The Passenger" (which was interesting, I thought maybe he wouldn't play it and let Siouxsie play instead with him coming out as a guest, though maybe that was still in the cards too? I have no idea), where he brings out his grandson (at least I think it's his grandson), who starts to dance around on stage with him, but there were already major problems occuring by this point.
Let's rewind. By the 5th or 6th song, the sound started sounding "off". Like it got quieter or something? Though I also had a super tall ass dude stand in front of me, so maybe that was contributing to it? But while Iggy was playing "Strung Out Johnny", the sound/PA started cutting out. Flashbacks to Radiohead at Coachella 2017 Weekend 1 started to hit me immediately. And then my friend next to me pointed out that there was lightning off to the east of us in the distance. Now the weather apps had predicted possible thunder storms for this day, though it was fucking hot and sunny for 95% of the day, but by the time Iggy was about to take the stage, I had noticed clouds rolling in slowly over us. The entire eastern sky was covered in clouds. And I could literally see lightning bolts over the mountains. They seemed far away, but they were occuring. Now whether or not the sound cutting out had anything to do with all this, I don't know. I find it too much of a coincidence for PA problems to be happening unrelated to the thunder storm off in the distance. Maybe the sound guys were shutting things down themselves? Maybe they were told to? I dunno.
They got it back up and running for "The Passenger", but then once again, near the end of the song, the sound cuts out again, and you can hear someone over the PA say we have to evacuate. Then the sound turns back on, Iggy finishes and then is informed of the lighting and is asked to leave the stage, at which point, the guy comes over the PA again and asks everyone to evacuate as the festival has been postponed. The screens come on asking us to leave and seek shelter, and people start losing their minds. A lot of "fuck you's" and "this is bullshit" and one guy (maybe you saw/heard him if you were there and closer to the stage/soundboard, where I was) starts going crazy yelling and screaming how he flew in for this and spent $2,000 and he's not leaving and then he starts threatening the security guards calling them cocksuckers and motherfuckers. And then he came into our area and one dude tried to calm him down and he almost started fighting him! More flashbacks, this time to me getting sucker punched in the face last year at this festival after Blondie on Sunday. Why does Cruel World always gonna end with some bad omens/luck?
Anyway, it was clear they weren't resuming anything this night. The sound guys packed up their shit, and eventually we all left the fields/golf course and headed home. Sure it was disappointing, as Iggy was sounding great and still had half his set to go, but you can't find mother nature. It seemed obvious that once I saw the lightning bolt in the sky, that the fire marshall was going to shut them down. It's hilarious that people blame Goldenvoice for this. What was the promoter to do? It's the fucking city/fire department who makes these calls. If Goldenvoice says no, then say goodbye to our music festivals for good. It was the right call, unfortunately. In a weird way I was sorta glad, because I was fucking starving, sunburnt and exhausted for having stayed at the stage for almost 11 hours. I was ready to go home, eat, shower and sleep. And that's what I did, after walking for half hour out of the festival to find a calm place to call for an Uber.
BUT, Goldenvoice has already announced they're hosting Iggy Pop and Siouxsie today to make up for it, so there will be a day 2 of Cruel World 2023 after all! And I'll be there. Let's hope things go smoother and I can finally end Cruel World on a high note after all this time.
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