Iggy Pop Breaks Stage Diving Vow in Stooges' London Triumph

Iggy Pop broke his vow to stop stage diving in spectacular fashion as he leaped into expectant arms at the first of the Stooges' sold-out two-night-stand on Sunday, May 2, at London's famed Hammersmith Apollo theatre. Pop was midway through the band's classic 'Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell' when he vaulted into the audience.

The band -- reunited with former guitarist James Williamson -- revisited classic 1973 proto-punk album 'Raw Power' as part of All Tomorrow Parties' annual 'Don't Look Back' series of concerts that features seminal LPs performed in full.

Belying their advanced years, the Stooges played with a ferocity and intensity that shamed bands a fraction of their age. With the punk pioneers exploding onto the stage with a blistering rendition of 'Raw Power,' the already combustible audience detonated into a heaving, pogoing mass.

Despite resembling an executive on dress-down Friday, James Williamson -- until recently a Senior Vice-President at Sony Electronics -- soon morphed into the scowling guitar-slinger once known as "The Skull" as one classic song followed another. Focusing largely on material from Williamson's tenure as lead guitarist, the Stooges exhumed aficionado favourites 'Open Up and Bleed,' 'I Got a Right' and the notorious 'Cock in My Pocket.'

And what a difference 38 years make. The last time the 'Raw Power'-era line-up played London at the Scala venue in 1972, the Stooges played to several hundred people . It was a fair bet bet that they'd have matched that number with just those who invaded the stage during 'Shake Appeal.'

The rammed Hammersmith Apollo -- 5,000 fans including Primal Scream's guitarist Andrew Innes, former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and film makers Don Letts and Jim Jarmusch -- paid tribute to a band responsible for re-shaping the rock'n'roll landscape.