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Lou Reed - A Night with Lou Reed
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 In 1983, Lou Reed came out of a self-imposed exile and played at The Bottom Line in NYC. This classic performance was initially captured on home video and then transferred to the DVD format. As Reed states in some post concert footage…the gig was short, sweet and delicious. Reed is in excellent form considering the prolonged period he was absent from the bright stage lights. Since he had not picked up a guitar in so long, there must have been a slight edge on the man’s nerves. If there was, he channeled it right into his music. Reflecting upon the entire performance, he does quite well while looking healthier and happier than he had in years. This concert did a nice job of encapsulating Reed’s career at the time.
Reed’s personal life was always in the spotlight since the beginning of his career with VU. At this point, he was recovering from years of abusive drug use while concurrently adjusting to married life. This performance was a victory in many ways for him professionally and personally.
Although this is a short concert and there are no DVD extras to speak of, it is nonetheless a marvelous outing by Lou and his crackerjack band. Reed acknowledges his audience once during the course of the concert by saying thank you after a song early in the set and that would be the end of any interaction with anyone besides his band for the entire evening. That did not seem to matter as the audience got what they wanted, an excellent show.
With the vaunted Robert Quine on lead guitar the transition back to the six-string was probably less painful for the legendary poet/singer/songwriter. Tracks from his Velvet Underground days such as “Sweet Jane,” “I’m Waiting for my Man” and “White Light/White Heat,” are highlights of the evening as well as bone chilling versions of “Waves of Fear” and “Turn out the Lights.” Of course this magical night would not have been complete without “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll” to close the curtain.
Andy Warhol was present for this concert as I am sure many other music business luminaries were. Besides performing for a home audience, the intimate setting the club provided must have been comforting to Reed. He obviously whetted his appetite for performing live again because I cannot recall him ever taking a lingering sabbatical like that again.
Little did I know that I already had a connection to this music and time period of Lou’s career before I viewed the DVD, as many years ago I picked up the import CD “Live in Italy,” which was recorded in 1983. That CD is one of my most treasured collections of live Lou Reed music. Now it only seems fitting that I have the performance that kicked off that tour on DVD.
© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck |
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| Posted By: Keith Hannaleck |
| Genre: Rock/New York Punk, AOR, Proto-Punk, Glam, Hard |
| Website: http://www.loureed.org |
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