Acoustics KO

Nope, didn't think this would be much, either. A chairbound-acoustic Ig means missing the singular spectacle of him slithering about a stage like a spastic snake eating a runaway garden hose. But our Mr. Pop is, like Robert Pollard, an aggressive guitarist you rarely see playing an instrument (not even his ‘60s Iguanas gig, drums), so this is already interesting. On the DVD, he manhandles the thing in much the way he sings: full-out on hard stuff, and with dexterity on lighter tunes. No surprise he breaks strings near the onset of the eight-song acoustic troubadour Barcelona 1993 footage, including firm versions of Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso," Them's "Gloria," and Richard Berry's "Louis Louie" updated for the fall of the wall. There's also two Stooges tracks (and a few OK new American Caesar numbers—where was "Wild America?"). It's surprisingly good viewing, despite the immobile limitation. But truly compelling is the seven-song solo-electric 1990 Virgin Megastore appearance in Paris. Clearly feeding on a surrounding crowd, standing/moving, and tripling his guitar volume/density, the Ig lets 20 times more of his mayhem genie out of the bottle (and nearly his pants—showing the adoring French his underwear-clad butt). If he doesn't quite transform tepid Brick By Brick numbers, they're still better. And as for the four Stooges numbers like "Down in the Street" and "Loose," well… classic! Finally, the disc-two CD of demos is, frankly, boring. But the DVD is great for fans to view another side of a living legend.