No Birthday Boy, But a Heck of a Good Party

Where’s Iggy? That was a relevant question Saturday night at Spaceland, where local bands ostensibly gathered for a celebration of Iggy Pop’s birthday. But anyone expecting a long series of Pop or Stooges covers would have come away disappointed. The man’s name was barely even mentioned.

Even if dozens of fans in the crowd wearing Iggy T-shirts had other expectations (maybe something akin to the annual Elvis b-day bash at the House of Blues, where Presley songs are actually performed), the Spaceland show at least offered a welcome sampling of exciting, promising, local hard-rock acts.

Most memorable were the Hangmen, who did tap into some of Pop’s proto-punk energy, but with a distinctive rock sound of their own. The quartet mixed tight buzz-saw chord structures with an occasional C&W; flavor that was often reminiscent of Crazy Horse.

Also among the 11 bands was Motochrist, which actually had more in common with the MC5 than with Iggy and the Stooges. The quartet’s tough, hard sound was a tight blend of melody and straight-ahead guitar riffs that never got lost in the sludge.

Tattooed, red-haired Texas Teri didn’t perform any Pop covers either, but was the act that most directly mirrored Iggy’s on-stage persona. She stripped down to her bra (and, later, to electrical tape) and strutted the stage to her band’s reckless, intense punk sound. There was nothing new there, but it was performed with an intoxicating energy. And before it was over, Teri ripped down a handful of balloons that had decorated the stage. Pop would have been touched.