On This Day in 2003, Iggy Pop Reunited With the Stooges for the First Time in 30 Years for Coachella

Reunions of decades-old bands are often satisfying for fans to witness. But there always seems to be an existential sort of vibe associated with such reunions. They’re getting old, we’re getting old. However, when Iggy Pop reunited with The Stooges for a Coachella set on this day in 2003, it was like the proto-punk outfit was still rocking in 1969.

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For reference, The Stooges’ time together was short-lived but massively influential. Their original iteration only produced two studio albums before disbanding in 1971. However, they reunited off and on through the years. Up until 2003, though, the band had only reunited once for a brief two years. That period yielded the album Raw Power in 1973. They would call it quits again in 1974 and spend nearly 30 years apart before hitting the stage at Coachella in 2003.

The reunion was a long time coming. The Asheton brothers worked on Iggy Pop’s solo album Skull Ring in 2003. It was clear the former members were getting nostalgic together. A reunion was inevitable.

Iggy Pop and the Stooges’ Coachella Set Was on Another Level

I can only imagine how OG fans felt in the Coachella audience after The White Stripes wrapped up their set and Iggy Pop came barrelling onto the stage. The set was packed with hits, including “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, “Fun House”, “1970”, “L.A. Blues”, and “T.V. Eye”.

Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, and Mike Watt powered through the electric 47-minute set like it was easy. 

Over 30,000 people crowded Coachella that weekend, and many of those attendees got to see one of the greatest punk rock reunions of all time. It’s a shame that Dave Alexander, who passed in 1975, couldn’t be there to pluck at the bass on stage with the rest of the original lineup. It was also quite a delight to see Steve Mackay reprise his saxophone work on stage for songs like “1970” and “L.A. Blues”.

Plenty of The Stooges’ contemporaries and the musicians they influenced were in attendance for the set, including Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, as well as Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme.

Following the show, the set reviews from attendees came flowing in, with one common theme among most of them: It was the f***ing Stooges, man!

Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

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