have fun.
tape it or find someone that is taping it
(for the rest of us 8) )
Lou European Tour
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Changeling
- Head held high
- Posts: 397
- Joined: 18 May 2004 15:26
- Location: Boston Tea Party
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Homme Fatale
- Head held high
- Posts: 430
- Joined: 06 Mar 2004 12:22
- Location: between thought and expression
(I was so excited about going to see the May 13 Helsinki concert last night that I went and posted my own thread without thinking but decided to move the above two posts to this thread instead. And no Changeling, I didn't tape it but if a recording does surface I'd sure like a copy!)
Last night Lou played what was according to the schedule at loureed.com the last show of his European tour.
OK, first things first, it was GREAT and I LOVED it. I know I said all that stuff about wanting to hear more old stuff before going but it sure didn't matter once I was there. Lou looked and sounded great and everybody else played great as well.
It's funny, those photos velvi$ posted from April 19 could just as easily have been taken last night, I'm pretty sure he even wore that same T-shirt! (And same guitar and same bass of course.) The minute he walked on stage he sort of embraced the audience by raising both arms and everybody cheered madly, and then, without a word they were off.
He opened with "Adventurer" which sounded great, and I think the setlist was pretty much the same that has been posted by others from the earlier shows as I do remember hearing at least "My House", "Ecstasy", "Guilty", "Mad", "Talking Book", "Slip Away", "Charley's Girl", "Burning Embers", "Vanishing Act", "Guardian Angel", and "Walk On The Wild Side" and "Perfect Day" for the encore. No "Blue Mask" or "White Light/White Heat" though.
My favourite parts of the show were when he did the quieter stuff like "Talking Book" and "Vanishing Act" without a guitar, his performance on those really enthralled the audience and you could have heard a pin drop. At one point during "Talking Book" ("I wish I had a talking book / filled with buttons you could push") he he sort of slapped or "drummed" on his legs and you could easily hear it, that's how quiet it went at times. And of course the louder stuff was really loud.
At first some of the songs seemed to go on a bit with the first four or five songs all ending in what seemed like at least five minutes of rather pointless jamming/soloing, but somehow after the first softer segment things really picked up. And I'm not against the "jamming" and "soloing" but I think to do it for all the first few songs in a row was a bit thoughtless.
"Charley's Girl" sounded really good! If I hadn't known in advance that he might be doing that I would not have believed my ears... Coney Island Baby has always been one of my favourite albums and I didn't think he even remembered that one himself apart from "Kicks". Obviously he's sort of rediscovered the album because they also had a Coney Island Baby T-shirt on sale along with a Transformer one and a "European Tour 2005" one.
What's more...? The lights were really good, they really had the right atmospheres down for the songs with the smoke and lights, that was done well. Because I don't usually even pay much attention to such things but I did notice it now.
And again, the band played really well too. Everybody did a bit of soloing too and amazingly, it wasn't even boring! Tony is a great drummer and it was so funny to look at him smiling all the time. He and Fernando of course also sang backing vocals and at the end of "Charley's Girl" where they did the three part "sha-la-la-la's" Lou was motioning for the soundman to put more volume on Tony's vocal and one time instead of singing "watch out for Charley's Girl" he sang "bring up Tony"... Mike did a cool, crazy atonal guitar solo (in fact very influenced by Lou!) at one point, but best of all was Jane Scarpantoni's amazing cello solo! She really played it like she means it and everybody in the house including Lou, Mike, Fernando and Tony was just watching her go in amazement! Lou introduced everybody in the band twice (another time after the encores) and semed to really appreciate their efforts, as did the audience and everybody received their due applause.
I know I already said it at the beginning but how else can I conclude this but by saying it was GREAT and I LOVED it.
Last night Lou played what was according to the schedule at loureed.com the last show of his European tour.
OK, first things first, it was GREAT and I LOVED it. I know I said all that stuff about wanting to hear more old stuff before going but it sure didn't matter once I was there. Lou looked and sounded great and everybody else played great as well.
It's funny, those photos velvi$ posted from April 19 could just as easily have been taken last night, I'm pretty sure he even wore that same T-shirt! (And same guitar and same bass of course.) The minute he walked on stage he sort of embraced the audience by raising both arms and everybody cheered madly, and then, without a word they were off.
He opened with "Adventurer" which sounded great, and I think the setlist was pretty much the same that has been posted by others from the earlier shows as I do remember hearing at least "My House", "Ecstasy", "Guilty", "Mad", "Talking Book", "Slip Away", "Charley's Girl", "Burning Embers", "Vanishing Act", "Guardian Angel", and "Walk On The Wild Side" and "Perfect Day" for the encore. No "Blue Mask" or "White Light/White Heat" though.
My favourite parts of the show were when he did the quieter stuff like "Talking Book" and "Vanishing Act" without a guitar, his performance on those really enthralled the audience and you could have heard a pin drop. At one point during "Talking Book" ("I wish I had a talking book / filled with buttons you could push") he he sort of slapped or "drummed" on his legs and you could easily hear it, that's how quiet it went at times. And of course the louder stuff was really loud.
At first some of the songs seemed to go on a bit with the first four or five songs all ending in what seemed like at least five minutes of rather pointless jamming/soloing, but somehow after the first softer segment things really picked up. And I'm not against the "jamming" and "soloing" but I think to do it for all the first few songs in a row was a bit thoughtless.
"Charley's Girl" sounded really good! If I hadn't known in advance that he might be doing that I would not have believed my ears... Coney Island Baby has always been one of my favourite albums and I didn't think he even remembered that one himself apart from "Kicks". Obviously he's sort of rediscovered the album because they also had a Coney Island Baby T-shirt on sale along with a Transformer one and a "European Tour 2005" one.
What's more...? The lights were really good, they really had the right atmospheres down for the songs with the smoke and lights, that was done well. Because I don't usually even pay much attention to such things but I did notice it now.
And again, the band played really well too. Everybody did a bit of soloing too and amazingly, it wasn't even boring! Tony is a great drummer and it was so funny to look at him smiling all the time. He and Fernando of course also sang backing vocals and at the end of "Charley's Girl" where they did the three part "sha-la-la-la's" Lou was motioning for the soundman to put more volume on Tony's vocal and one time instead of singing "watch out for Charley's Girl" he sang "bring up Tony"... Mike did a cool, crazy atonal guitar solo (in fact very influenced by Lou!) at one point, but best of all was Jane Scarpantoni's amazing cello solo! She really played it like she means it and everybody in the house including Lou, Mike, Fernando and Tony was just watching her go in amazement! Lou introduced everybody in the band twice (another time after the encores) and semed to really appreciate their efforts, as did the audience and everybody received their due applause.
I know I already said it at the beginning but how else can I conclude this but by saying it was GREAT and I LOVED it.
It's interesting to read the different reviews posted in this thread. I've had a great time seeing Lou on the last couple of tours but I can understand lurid_uk's disappointment. Lou could be a little more generous with the old songs, and I don't mean WFTM/ Sweet Jane/ Wild Side again. Lou picked 'Charlies Girl' on this tour, PERFECT! But I'm greedy, I want more - how about 'She's My Best Friend' or 'Kicks' anyone? What about 'I'm So Free' 'Jesus'... I'd better stop now.
I don't want the 'Greatest Hits' tour but a few more oldies definitely wouldn't hurt.
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I don't want the 'Greatest Hits' tour but a few more oldies definitely wouldn't hurt.
.
Who Loves the Bun
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Doctor Bob
- Head held high
- Posts: 275
- Joined: 24 Mar 2004 07:32
Lou did the Animal Serenade tour relatively recently and that was packed with 'oldies' from All Tomorrow's Parties to Candy Says, even playing Heroin. And he took that tour right round the world over several months. Then he recorded it on a double album and is putting a DVD out next month.
Now its time for a different kind of tour, a more low key event with just the songs that he wants to play. I think that's fair enough. He played so much old material in 2003 (Street Hassle, How Do You Think it Feels) that you can't exactly blame him for playing later stuff this time, I mean he's got 30 albums to pick from, pretty much all of which (IMO) are excellent
I think people on this forum are (obviously) very focussed on the VU materia and the 70's solo records. But as HF's review shows, a night with Lou Reed is very special regardless of what setlist he plays.
Now its time for a different kind of tour, a more low key event with just the songs that he wants to play. I think that's fair enough. He played so much old material in 2003 (Street Hassle, How Do You Think it Feels) that you can't exactly blame him for playing later stuff this time, I mean he's got 30 albums to pick from, pretty much all of which (IMO) are excellent
I think people on this forum are (obviously) very focussed on the VU materia and the 70's solo records. But as HF's review shows, a night with Lou Reed is very special regardless of what setlist he plays.
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Homme Fatale
- Head held high
- Posts: 430
- Joined: 06 Mar 2004 12:22
- Location: between thought and expression
Yes, hearing "Charley's Girl" was definitely great! "Jesus" is going to be on the new DVD, by the way!velvi$ wrote:Lou could be a little more generous with the old songs, and I don't mean WFTM/ Sweet Jane/ Wild Side again. Lou picked 'Charlies Girl' on this tour, PERFECT! But I'm greedy, I want more - how about 'She's My Best Friend' or 'Kicks' anyone? What about 'I'm So Free' 'Jesus'... I'd better stop now.
That's what I'm saying too! I don't need the "hits", but it'd be great to hear some more old stuff, and maybe mroe obscure ones like "Charley's Girl" because those are the albums that I really love.velvi$ wrote:I don't want the 'Greatest Hits' tour but a few more oldies definitely wouldn't hurt.
Yeah but he didn't come to my neck of the woods with that set which is the only reason I was a bit disappointed with the change of setlist... Last time he played here was on the Ecstacy tour and he played like 90% from that album, plus a few older songs like "Dirty Blvd", "Vicious", "Sweet Jane" and "Perfect Day". I totally understand and respect that he chooses to keep his integrity and relevancy intact by not turning into a live greatest hits jukebox a'la Ray Davies but why can I never get to enjoy the "hits" night...?!Doctor Bob wrote:Lou did the Animal Serenade tour relatively recently and that was packed with 'oldies' from All Tomorrow's Parties to Candy Says, even playing Heroin. And he took that tour right round the world over several months. Then he recorded it on a double album and is putting a DVD out next month.
In the end, that certainly is true. It was a great concert all in all.Doctor Bob wrote:I think people on this forum are (obviously) very focussed on the VU materia and the 70's solo records. But as HF's review shows, a night with Lou Reed is very special regardless of what setlist he plays.
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lurid_uk
I saw the "reading" in Edinburgh last Monday and tomorrow I'm off to the Burns Festival at Culzean Castle. Lou was very "professiorial" at the reading (very very small venue!) and looked old and weary. He looks so frail and walks so slowly now I'm frightened that a good gust of wind will blow him over at Culzean - it's pretty exposed over there...
The reading itself was dissapointingly centred on teh Raven - Lou clearly thinks we need to be educated about this "great american writer". I'd rather have been entertained by Lou's own material - I've heard tapes of his readings back in the 80s, and they were a whole different thing altogether. After about 50mins of Raven stuff (including "Hopfrog" which I still think is a joke gone wrong) he hit us with Talking Book, Rock Minuet, Candy Says and Smalltown. Then he was off... - almost exactly 1 hour, as advertised. I wnder if he noticed (or cared) that Candy Says got the biggest applause of the night.
I'll write more when i get back from Culzean on Saturday or Sunday....
The reading itself was dissapointingly centred on teh Raven - Lou clearly thinks we need to be educated about this "great american writer". I'd rather have been entertained by Lou's own material - I've heard tapes of his readings back in the 80s, and they were a whole different thing altogether. After about 50mins of Raven stuff (including "Hopfrog" which I still think is a joke gone wrong) he hit us with Talking Book, Rock Minuet, Candy Says and Smalltown. Then he was off... - almost exactly 1 hour, as advertised. I wnder if he noticed (or cared) that Candy Says got the biggest applause of the night.
I'll write more when i get back from Culzean on Saturday or Sunday....