I'm glad I spent it with Lou

In fact, the only UK show of his summer tour was about as crowd-pleasing as one of rock's most cantankerous stars gets. He played only the most accessible compositions (with one exception) from 2003's terrifyingly highbrow album inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. Plenty of major Reed tracks were absent from this set, such as Sweet Jane, Candy Says and White Light/White Heat, but catchy rock'n'roller Turn To Me and the dreamily optimistic Modern Dance were fine substitutes. for the rest of the evening by producing a dazzling solo, a frenzy of discordant stabs and screeches.

Dreamin' and the hypnotic chords of Ecstasy slowed things down. Then came The Valley Of Unrest, the one moment of theatrical nonsense from The Raven. A bizarre concoction of improvised electronics and barked poetry about "the terrorstricken sky", the only thing that impressed was that Reed remembered the words.

Aside from one bout of impatience with the sound man, he seemed in a relatively good mood throughout, visibly enjoying the stark contrast between his own weary drawl and bassist Fernando Saunders's sweet falsetto harmonies.

There was no sense of duty about the select classics he wheeled out at the end. Satellite Of Love sounded fabulous, and when he sang "I'm glad I spent it with you" in Perfect Day, he successfully created the illusion he was singing about this audience instead of about heroin.

He even returned to play Walk On The Wild Side, sending everybody doodedooing into the night.

Lou Reed & Band