TRIBUTE! Gigging as Iggy and The Stooges, The Who or The Cramps

It takes a lot of moxie really to be someone else for an hour or so, particularly while performing complex hard rock music and attempting your own stab at the same technical proficiency of its originators. These three tribute bands not only play the songs with conviction but also hurtle into the parallel universe of resembling their respective idols as well.

And it takes more than derring-do to impersonate the vintage 1973 Iggy and The Stooges, it takes real athleticism/contortions, abandon and more than a snort or four of self-destructiveness. The Raw Power Rangers' "Iggy," really lept on top of the club bar, rolled throughout the audience insulting them all the while and duplicated all the famous shenanigans and conniption fits he could pack into a 1973 era Stooges set.

The band which includes David Arnson as The Ig and former Germs drummist Don Bolles as Rock Action began as a void-filler before the real Iggy and The Stooges welcomed "Raw Power" co-writer/guitarist James Williamson back into the touring fold. So now it's about accuracy of the ambience.

The Raw Power Rangers live,
mingling with baffled audience,
dodging plastic cups thrown onstage

"Ron Asheton"

Raw Power Rangers' "James Williamson" Andrew Scott was thrilled to pose with rock&roll fashion designer Evita Corby, a key player in the actual 1972-5 Iggy and The Stooges saga.

The Raw Power Rangers, 10/28/10 at The Echo

The Who Show during 2010 gig, not a still photo shoot.

France DiCarlo, "Keith Moon"

(Left) "John Entwistle" (Joel Pelletier) in Isle of Wight skeleton suit for Costa Mesa Performing Arts Center performance ;

note French horn player for recreation of the full "Tommy" work (Right)

Jimmy the Mod (singer Steven Shareaux) from "Quadrophenia" comes to life as a separate character onstage in The Who Show, much to the audience's delight.

Video below: The Who Show (with a former lead singer but directed by Jeff Stein ("The Kids Are Alright" documentary on The Who when all four original members were alive.)

Jack Atlantis (left) of The Human Flys, a tribute to The Cramps, in his own deranged interpretation of Lux Interior. Fetching drummer Constance Moss (right below) plus assorted, scantily-clad percussion hotties of the XX chromosome persuasion helped dispel the lack of an Ivy Rorschach-esque lookalike, although lead guitarist David Holleman, "Poison Oak," filled her stilettos nicely without donning selfsame apparel.