Iggy Pop was electric at Cruel World till threat of lightning cut his set short (pics, setlist, video)

As Iggy Pop launched into Stooges classic “Raw Power” at Pasadena, CA’s Cruel World Festival on Saturday night, ripples of lightning could be flashing across the sky to the east of the stage. A well-timed bit of natural special effects, but the forecast that the electrical storm was heading closer had the PA cut out just two songs later in the middle of “The Passenger” — the sixth song in his set — while Iggy was just getting into it. (He also had a young kid dancing with him on stage, nice moment.) While Iggy was still singing and the band playing, one of the promoters tried to give an announcement that the grounds were being evacuated and that the rest of the night was canceled.

The crowd was not happy but as The Human League — whose set on one of the other Cruel World stages was also cut short — wrote on their Facebook, “Having been in this situation once before, we can tell you that a lightning storm at an outdoor festival is no joke.” It was an anticlimactic end to an otherwise great day of punk, new wave, goth and synthpop. The only act that didn’t get to perform at all was Siouxsie Sioux, set to play her first US show in 15 years (a set that probably also would include “The Passenger”). Bummer.

Cruel World announced today that Siouxsie, Iggy and Gary Numan would play on the festival grounds tonight as a make-up, with a bonus that Siouxsie would get to play a full set, longer than the hour she was scheduled for Saturday night.

Check out photos of Iggy’s set by The Tinfoil Biter, along with his setlist and video below.

Cruel World also featured the first show in 15 years from Love and Rockets, as well as sets by Echo & The Bunnymen, Billy Idol, ABC, Gang of Four and more. We’ll have more photos from the rest of the festival to come.

SETLIST: Iggy Pop Five Foot One
T.V. Eye
Frenzy
Raw Power
Strung Out Johnny
The Passenger