Morning:
8°c
John Aizlewood's rating
Dark classic takes a walk on the wild side
By
John Aizlewood
2 Jul 2007
For one who has spent much of his career running from his past, Lou Reed, now 65, is beginning to embrace it. Naturally, Reed being Reed, he eschewed the obvious.
To celebrate the 34th anniversary of Berlin, the unremittingly bleak, largely incoherent concept based around the lives of a prostitute and her violent boyfriend which almost killed his career, he played it in its entirety, in running order.
Other old habits of both performer and audience died hard too. Reed was never a friend of the fourth estate - especially its British outpost so hapless reviewers were banished to the very back of the Apollo circle, while the public showed how fondly they regarded Berlin by leaving swathes of seats unsold.
So far, so much an unfortunate mating of hubris and apathy.
Not a bit of it. Reed didn't merely replay Berlin, he re-imagined and re-created it, with help from Hal Willner, who made an infinitely better fist of radical re-arrangements than he did for Meltdown's Disney evening 14 days previously. Willner's magic and the lavish musicality supplied most prominently by Steve Hunter (guitarist on the original Berlin) and master drummer Tony "Thunder" Smith added new warmth and new richness.
Every song, even the already wondrous Caroline Says II, was an improvement on the recorded version and the sound was the finest I've heard at any venue in years.
Most brave and most incongruous was not merely the brass and string sections, but the 12-strong New London Children's Choir, whose angelic vocals, particularly on the closing Sad Song, acted as an innocent counterpart to Reed's tales of darkness, squalor and violence.
As ever, Reed ran to form by not speaking during the set (some narrative to a tale sorely lacking it might have been a benison), but the troupe did craft an encore of non-Berlin classics: a raucous Sweet Jane; an almost unbearably gorgeous Satellite Of Love, where bassist Fernando Saunders sang one verse and the choir another, and Walk On The Wild Side which fooled the censor in 1973 and, in 2007, still sounds subversive with children on backing vocals. Mesmerising.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (4)
Berlin was beautiful and moving, but the encore? After being battered by the punches of the epic Berlin, I would have liked nothing better than for Lou to have sent the kids home and ripped into something like White Light White Heat. Contrast the last three songs with the first three: Berlin/Lady Day/Men of Good Fortune Vs. Sweet Jane/Satellite/Wild Side. I just didn't get it - it felt like a cop-out and a crowd pleaser!
But the performance of Berlin was majestic and will stay with me forever. Minor quibbles were I thought Oh Jim didn't need the sonic workout and the refrain was less intimate than it should have been. But I'm really splitting hairs, listening to Lou do Berlin was an amazing experience that left me spellbound in my seat wanting to punch the air. What an experience, I'm still pulsating with the memory of it. The detail of the performance was mesmerising!
One other thing - I wasn't there in the 70s but I can't believe the audiences were as quiet as Hammersmith!
- Tom Richards, Cardiff, 02/07/2007 19:59
Report abuse
Amazing! Wonderful! Awesome! The choir were fantastic, everyone was wonderful. Lou was incredible.
- Michele, London, 02/07/2007 19:04
Report abuse
Hands down, this just had to be the gig of the year. Always a Reed fan since Transformer, the Berlin concert was probably Lou's swansong. What a concert. The standing ovations said it all. Highlights included The Kids, Caroline Says I, The Bed, How Do you Think it Feels and Sad Song. Reed and band, including the London Children's Youth choir and original Berlin and Rock n Roll Animal electric guitarist, Steve Hunter, climaxed during the encore with a mesmerising rendition of Satellite of Love. With Sweet Jane and Wild Side incorporated into the encore, the audience was salavating for more. One time, one time only. Berlin came and went in a flick of an eye. Historic.
- Ned Baker, London, 02/07/2007 16:34
Report abuse
You forgot to mention what a good mood Lou was in. He even thanked the audience! Best concert I've been to.
- Sean, London, 02/07/2007 15:05
Report abuse
