Deniz Tek's story about playing with Iggy & The Stooges at the Ron Asheton Tribute

Iggy & the Stooges up close and personal - John Judge photo

"I WAS A STOOGE FOR 30 MINUTES"

TRIBUTE TO RON ASHETON
Iggy & the Stooges
with special guest Deniz Tek
and MC Henry Rollins
Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

By DENIZ TEK
Photos by NATALIE SCHLOSSMAN, JOHN JUDGE & MIKE HENRY

ShareThe Stooges Ron Asheton tribute gig was nothing short of a dream come true.

The current band lineup did the “Raw Power”/”Kill City” set first, they rocked so hard it was unbelievable. This version of the Stooges kills! James Williamson totally ripped on guitar. I'd not seen him play before ... I saw their debut Brazil gig vid and it wasn't that impressive, but this was totally up to speed and it was so great to hear that “Raw Power” stuff done live, the right way.

The band took a short break, and then I got up and replaced James for a four-song set:

TV Eye
Loose
Dirt
Real Cool Time

I played my white Stratocaster through two Marshalls, one was a hot-rodded 70's Super Lead loaned to me by my good friend Chris "Box" Taylor, the other an 800. It sounded huge, loud, and I think it pretty much nailed the classic Stooge guitar tone.

I tried to play Ronny's rhythm and riff parts faithfully, while allowing myself some spontaneity on the solos. And I played as hard as possible, holding nothing back. I looked up to see Mike Watt grinning at me. He loves this music as much as I do.

The sellout crowd was going nuts. Iggy was over the top. As usual I try not to watch them. Too distracting. I either keep my head down, or watch the drummer's left hand.

At one point Iggy smashed into me from my right side. I didn’t see it coming. Almost but did not fall over. Iggy ended up hitting the deck, hard. He didn't get up right away. He reminded me of a boxer. He was working so hard, I felt like he probably needed a minute to catch some air and recover. I just watched Scotty and we hammered the riff until Ig got up.

”Dirt” was a bit of a breather. I needed it. The orchestra that was assembled for the occasion did a beautiful intro ... and added these lovely cascading chord progressions to the choruses. Before now, I couldn't have imagined orchestration on Stooge tunes but it worked amazingly well. We should do it at the Sydney Opera House.

Iggy later, having late dinner, would remark to me that he thought it was the best "Dirt" that he'd ever done.

The four tunes went by in a flash. It seemed like it was over before it started. I was just getting warmed up. I wanted more!

We came back on for “No Fun” as the encore. Steve Mackay, James and I lined up together and slammed into the chords as the crowd invaded the stage. Henry Rollins was shoulder to shoulder with Chris from the road crew, two feet in front of me straining to keep the crush of fans off me and James's pedals.

For “No Fun”, I played Ronny's old black Stratocaster. It felt alive in my hands and I believe it WAS alive, with his spirit. Ronny was there. I felt him smiling.

Deniz Tek grew up in Ann Arbor before moving to Australia and forming Radio Birdman. He is a longtime friend of the late Ron Asheton with whom he played in New Race.A trauma surgeon, he divides his time between practising emergency medicine in Montana and Sydney, Australia, and playing with his own bands, the Deniz Tek Group and the Soul Movers, and The Last Of The Bad Men. Read more at www.deniztek.com

Deniz Tek on stage with Iggy & the Stooges - Mike Henry photo

"Blow Steve": Steve McKay - John Judge photo