On December 5, 1970, Farmington High School in Oakland County, Michigan, hosted something its gym was never built for. Iggy Pop and the Stooges took the stage in a room normally reserved for basketball games and pep rallies. Students packed the bleachers, some still in school clothes, facing one of the most intense live acts in rock history.
The moment the band started, the night shifted. Iggy performed bare-chested, throwing himself into the crowd and writhing across the stage. He smeared peanut butter on his chest and rolled on broken glass. These were not stunts — they were part of a raw, physical performance style that set the Stooges apart from every other band of the era.
The band opened with “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Distorted guitar riffs and Iggy’s guttural vocals hit the crowd hard. Some students rushed the floor and danced wildly. Others stood frozen, stunned by what they were seeing.
The Stooges played with a tight, relentless energy. The sound was loud, abrasive, and completely unpolished — by design. This was not a performance meant to comfort an audience. It was meant to shake one.
The high school setting made the contrast even sharper. Fluorescent-lit hallways, folding bleachers, and a student crowd met a band that had already been pushing rock music toward its rawest possible edge.
Grainy photos from the night show Iggy mid-motion — arms out, body bent, locked in with the crowd. The Stooges behind him held steady while everything around them looked like it was coming apart.
By December 1970, the Stooges had already released two albums — “The Stooges” (1969) and “Fun House” (1970). The Farmington High show fell during the “Fun House” era, when the band’s sound was at its most aggressive and free-form.
Few high school concerts in rock history matched the sheer intensity of that night. The photos below document every raw moment of the Stooges’ invasion of Farmington High.
