The Velvet Forum

Excellent job with the gigography! I think Lou's initial British gigs were also with The Tots. And the tour should probably have a label, e.g. British Tour or First British Tour, or something. The Royal Festival Hall gig was with Bowie and the Spiders backing Lou for three songs.

Perni31 wrote: ↑16 Oct 2022 14:37 Excellent job with the gigography! I think Lou's initial British gigs were also with The Tots. And the tour should probably have a label, e.g. British Tour or First British Tour, or something. The Royal Festival Hall gig was with Bowie and the Spiders backing Lou for three songs.

Thanks, Perni! DONE. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'd like to direct anyone interested in learning more about The Tots, including how Lou hooked up with them, to Steve Katz's 2015 autobiography Blood, Sweat, And My Rock 'n' Roll Years: Is Steve Katz A Rock Star? Not only was Steve himself Lou's producer for a time (Sally Can't Dance and the live albums that bookended it), but his brother Dennis managed him (which, of course, culminated in a lawsuit). Both Katz's were integrally involved with the Tots saga, and Steve -- who, post-Reed, wound up a bandmate of Doug Yule in American Flyer -- relates some of that story in the book.

According to the Publisher's Weekly blurb, elsewhere in the book Katz "reveals that the audience sound on Reed’s live LP was lost and then replaced by the audience track from a John Denver live LP."

Sheila Klein wrote: ↑03 Nov 2022 18:11 I'd like to direct anyone interested in learning more about The Tots, including how Lou hooked up with them, to Steve Katz's 2015 autobiography Blood, Sweat, And My Rock 'n' Roll Years: Is Steve Katz A Rock Star? Not only was Steve himself Lou's producer for a time (Sally Can't Dance and the live albums that bookended it), but his brother Dennis managed him (which, of course, culminated in a lawsuit). Both Katz's were integrally involved with the Tots saga, and Steve -- who, post-Reed, wound up a bandmate of Doug Yule in American Flyer -- relates some of that story in the book.

According to the Publisher's Weekly blurb, elsewhere in the book Katz "reveals that the audience sound on Reed’s live LP was lost and then replaced by the audience track from a John Denver live LP."

That could explain "Lou Reed sucks" on the end.

Just came across a not yet mentioned date:

Thusrday 1973.May.17 - Capitol Theatre - Montreal

announcement [1973.May.12, Montreal Star]
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/743 ... %20reed%22
snippet: img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/743169644/400/400/0150_2750_800_800.jpg

review [1973.May.18, Montreal Star]
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/743 ... %20reed%22
snippet: img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/743157039/400/400/1650_0250_1200_1200.jpg

"Underground Rock Star Returns [1973.May.18, by Juan Rodruguez]
Lou Reed made the Capitol Theatre the place to be last night [May.17]. For Reed who is on the comeback trail it was another gig and the theatre wasn't even half filled. It was Reed's first performance in this city and he lived up to his reputation.
Reed was the main man of the Velvet Underground, the group Andy Warhol introduced to the world direct from the Lower East Side, in the mid-60. While other groups were chirping progressive harmonies or gloryfying peace and love, the Velvet Underground were hangin' right in there with their languid, urgent tales of heroin, amphetamines and living on the streets in New York City. "You'll never know how much the Velvet Underground meant to New Yorkers," a NY rock critic once told me.
...
New York detachment comes across loud and dear when Lou Reed is on stage.
He is small, with an athletic build. He wears a black leather jacket and pants and a black T-shirt. His face bears a totally nonchalant expression. His curly hair and general composure suggests Bob Dylan on his world tour early in 1966.
He doesn't cavort or ham it up or go crazy. He just sings in a cool, hard voice. He is loose, but he does not pour out enthusiasm. Instead, he projects an emphatically understated vocal style, setting up an atmosphere that grips you.
Lou Reed looks so casual and wasted, yet that's part of the show And he gives a very skillful show.
He can dance like Jogger but only in spurts, at all other times he relies on suggestion and nuance to grab attention. He is a fascinating man to watch. He is a punk, a rocker, a wiped-out poet and, underlining everything, he is a romantic.
He was backed up by an excellent rock group with roots in the 50s and thoughts in the 70s.
Reed sang many songs from his hit album, such as Satellite of Love, Vicious ("Oh baby you're so vicious"), Hangin Round and I'm So Free (in which he danced into the aisle).
There were older more intense numbers such as White Heat, White Light and Heroin.
And, above all, then was his magnificent opus, Walk On The Wild Side, where he lay on his back and bathed himself in the spirit of the song.
Lou Reed was a real presence at the old theatre last night; he is by far, one of the most fascinating rock performers around. With seemingly no effort whatsoever, he exuded a kind of magic rarely seen on today's rock scene."

Added ! Thank you!

mythnormadman wrote: ↑22 Apr 2022 12:31 The BG News May 25, 1973 contains an ad for State Theater Toledo 27 May.

The Belfast Telegraph 28 October 1972 lists a gig at EMS Whitla Hall Queen's University 3 November 1972

I added the Belfast date, but the 27 May 1973 Toledo show can't be correct. According to Billboard, on the 26th he played Philly, and on the 28th he played Gaithersburg, Maryland. He was touring the East Coast Mid-Atlantic region, and Philly and Gaithersburg are only about 2.5 hours from each other. Toledo is a MINIMUM nine hour drive from Philly.

DC makes much more sense.

I agree re Toledo. There is a 1973 tour listing on display at the NYPL exhibition - it lists a May 28 show at the Shady Grove in Baltimore but it has been scored through. Maybe cancelled. The Philly show on 26th May (a WFIL Helping Hand Concert) definitely took place, and Noddy Holder (of Slade) reported that Lou was incapable, and had to be carried off stage after 2 songs.

MJG196 wrote: ↑29 Apr 2023 18:28

mythnormadman wrote: ↑22 Apr 2022 12:31 The BG News May 25, 1973 contains an ad for State Theater Toledo 27 May.

The Belfast Telegraph 28 October 1972 lists a gig at EMS Whitla Hall Queen's University 3 November 1972

I added the Belfast date, but the 27 May 1973 Toledo show can't be correct. According to Billboard, on the 26th he played Philly, and on the 28th he played Gaithersburg, Maryland. He was touring the East Coast Mid-Atlantic region, and Philly and Gaithersburg are only about 2.5 hours from each other. Toledo is a MINIMUM nine hour drive from Philly.

DC makes much more sense.

I just noticed that the schedule from NYPL says at the bottom "Dates are being scheduled for May 12, 26 and 27". The schedule itself is dated April 27th.

MJG196 wrote: ↑29 Apr 2023 18:28

mythnormadman wrote: ↑22 Apr 2022 12:31 The BG News May 25, 1973 contains an ad for State Theater Toledo 27 May.

The Belfast Telegraph 28 October 1972 lists a gig at EMS Whitla Hall Queen's University 3 November 1972

I added the Belfast date, but the 27 May 1973 Toledo show can't be correct. According to Billboard, on the 26th he played Philly, and on the 28th he played Gaithersburg, Maryland. He was touring the East Coast Mid-Atlantic region, and Philly and Gaithersburg are only about 2.5 hours from each other. Toledo is a MINIMUM nine hour drive from Philly.

DC makes much more sense.

roaming through archive.org came across a new date:
1973.Dec.13 - Springfield, Julia Sanderson Theater

Concerts Local Music
1973.Dec.07, Massachusetts Daily Collegian - Poor Richard's - A Weekly Magazine, page 12
https://archive.org/details/massachuse1 ... ou+reed%22
--Springfield
Lou Reed - Note: change to Dec.13, Julia Sanderson Theater

PS: seems that both Phil Milstein and Mike Kostek started their career as VU-scribes in that very student paper [Massachusetts Daily Collegian], just search for their names in the archived collection of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries - https://archive.org/details/umass_amherst_libraries