The Stooges

Just how badly does the world need another live tape of Iggy and the Stooges slowly imploding in the wake of Raw Power? That's a question each fan can answer only for themselves, but while Michigan Palace 10/6/73 hardly ranks as required listening, it's better than average among the many low-fi documents of the Stooges' final days. Mastered from a reel-to-reel recording made by guitarist James Williamson, the audio quality is pretty grim on the first cut, but improves to "good for a bootleg" standards by the time Iggy and company head into "Gimme Danger," and the band sounds solid (if not sterling) throughout. Of course, in 1973, Iggy just wouldn't have been Iggy if he didn't stop to berate the audience every once in a while, but this disc at least gives his "rants" their own index numbers, and when he sings instead of arguing with the crowd, he sounds a lot more lucid here than on the infamous Metallic K.O., recorded at the same venue four months later. (In fact, a different tape of this same show was previously released as part of the Metallic 2xK.O. double set). "It ain't too easy being the Stooges sometimes," Iggy says at one point, and Michigan Palace 10/6/73 serves as eloquent testimony to that; while Iggy and the Stooges have certainly sounded worse than they do here, the main appeal to this set is the voyeuristic thrill of hearing a great band falling apart, which is only fun for so long. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide