FUCK YOU TOO, LOU (BUT YOU WERE GREAT)

LOU REED @ State Theatre, Sydney
Thursday, October 10, 2000

Sixteen years on from his last appearance in Australia with a full band and Lou Reed had done the rounds of the local media in customary vitriolic style. A five-minute audience, maximum, and lack of revealing insights seemed the order of the day, except for Triple Jay's Richard Kingsmill who merited 15 (and spent many of them laying on the reverence, extra thick.) Pity his management never accepted our e-mail invitation for Lou to drop by for a mineral water or you could have witnessed some of the action here at the Bar. Lester Bangs we ain't but we would have enjoyed the cut and parry.

Similarly, any doubts that this opening night of the tour was being conducted on the terms of anyone but the Godfather of Punk were decisively laid to rest by cries of "Go Lou"and "We love ya, Lou" from the adoring throng as a black-clad Reed and band took to the stage. You can do what you want when you're adored.

The opening song "Paranoia in the Key of E" was taken from the latest album, "Ecstasy", as was the bulk of the 21/2 hour set, and from Fernando SaundersÕoverdriven, distorted introductory bassline it was clear that we were in for something special. This is a band that grants its leader plenty of room to move but in which each member shines as well. Saunders is a true virtuoso, at one stage providing a stunning display of bass harmonics while Reed mock-fanned him down with as towel before pretending to orchestrate the high notes. Tony "Thunder" Smith is well-named, hitting the skins with precision and feel and a power that threatened to rip his kit apart. Mike Rathke's guitar talents are beyond doubt, and while not playing the ideal foil he takes an opportunity to step out of the shadow of his brother-in-law late and add blistering lead guitar to "Tatters".

"Mystic Child" was a wonderful extended piece of intense riffing. A big sound, but they can play it with subtlety, too, as the title track from the latest album showed. I doubt if we'll see a more intense moment this year than "Rock Minuet", a down-home and dark ditty that takes Lou back to ManhattanÕs gutter (much to the delight of sections of this audience who hoot all the dirty bits.) If you didnÕt pick up on the mood of Mr Reed via the smattering of press stories leading up to this show, he added enough in the way of an ad lib to "Small Town" (from the John Cale collaborative album "Songs for Drella") to let you know that, yes, he was singing about his current port-of-call. His mid-song jibe: "Do you get it yet?" was enough to convince this audience member that Lou most certainly didnÕt give a rat's arse about SydneyÕs recent Olympic status. In fact, on the strength of this, he's undoubtedly the sort of dinner guest who would fart continually during the main course (and blame the dog), ash on his plate and leave the table mid-meal to go to the toilet, leaving a calling card and not flushing. Thankfully, he didnÕt jump on the local politics bandwagon.

The composition of his set has been a talking point around the world, from what we read on the official Lou web site (can't wait to read him slag Australia in his online diary.) Ordinary attendances for some UK shows are being blamed on word getting around that this is a show based almost exclusively on recent (read: "Ecstasy", "New York" and "Set the Twilight Reeling") material. Full marks for living in the present, but it was a shame we had to wait till the second encore to hear "Sweet Jane"- or ,for that matter, anything from ReedÕs considerable back catalogue pre-dating 1972. The fact that this was the point that finally brought the ground floor crowd to its feet and rushing towards the stage said much about audience expectations. The version of "Vicious" that followed seemed a bit perfunctory. The bottom line is you had to be into his last album (and I am) to fully appreciate the show.

On his own terms, Reed did not let us down. Extradorinary. - The Barman

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October 12 @ the State Theatre
October 19 @ The Metro

There appears to have been a mixed reaction to Lou Reed's first Sydney show at the State Theatre. My own reaction was to stop off at the Metro box office on my way to work the next morning and get myself a ticket for his third and final show (the second show at the State Theatre was already sold out and anyway it would have clashed with the New Christs' Carringbah show). While I'm buying that ticket, the woman behind the counter tells me that she doesn't know what to think or expect about the show as she's been listening to the radio and there has been a constant stream of callers complaining that last night's show was overly long, tedious and concentrated too heavily on the new album. However, there has been an equally constant stream of callers ringing the box office to buy tickets for this third show because they were so impressed by the first show... I tell her I know just how they feel!

But I didn't always feel that way. In fact, I started out very sceptical, feeling that Reed Reed has never in his post-Velvets career improved on the songs he wrote before/during his time with them (and that that was why he seemed to keep releasing "best of" repackagings and live albums with reworkings of those older songs). However one thing I have learned from bitter experience is that the moment I write someone off and pass up my only chance to see them play live, everyone I know starts telling me how great the show was and what a life changing experience it has been for them, etc, etc.

The ticket for the State show says: doors open at 7:30 and Reed on stage at 8:00 (no support act), but the Drum Media says he won't be on stage until 8:30 so I dawdle over dinner, but the service is amazingly quick and at 7:50 I'm fed and at a loose end, so I decide I might as well head over to the theatre and shout myself a beer in the foyer bar. This turns out to be a spectacularly good decision because when I get to the theatre at four minutes to eight they are announcing the "last warning" and that latecomers will not be admitted "until a suitable break in the performance" (what is this, the fuckin' opera?). I get to my seat just in time, as the comfy cushion has barely had a moment to kiss my arse before Lou takes the stage and we're on our way to two and a half hours of driving, original rock'n'roll.

The bulk of the setlist is drawn from the new album, which I haven't even heard yet let alone purchased (although I have since done both and I have to say frankly that Lou rocks harder live than he does on record), but fortunately the material is some of the strongest Reed has ever written and the band grinds it out in an uncompromising manner that countenances no argument from the audience. Aside from the new material there are a few slightly less recent tunes like "Twilight" and "Busload of Faith" (but amazingly no "Dirty Boulevard" from the same album) and only two certified Lou Reed vintage classics ("Sweet Jane" and "Vicious"), both of which have to wait until the 2nd encore.

Throughout the evening there's little "congress" with the audience but Lou's not withdrawn or inhibited, merely coolly professional. The band is smoothly professional, staggeringly tight, relentlessly rocking, dressed all in black like their leader and not the least bit awed by sharing a stage with such a legend. The vocals are crystal clear and well enunciated (no introverted shoegazing here). Lou's obviously proud of his lyrics and wants us to be able to catch them all. The new songs are vintage Lou Reed covering mainly the seamier, dysfunctional side of life and love (and divorce), drawn not in colour but varying shades of grey (well, dark grey mainly)....

...A week later at the Metro it's more of the same. This time I'm in my favourite position on the tier above the mixing desk so I can hear pretty much exactly what the soundman is hearing and read his setlist over his shoulder (I see that "Rock Minuet" has been dropped and we are getting "Dirty Boulevard" tonight, but it looks like there'll only be one encore and it's "Vicious" and "Perfect Day"). Lou comes on stage about five minutes late looking a trifle more relaxed than last time and during the night he enters into slightly more verbal intercourse with the audience (which still isn't a lot). Another two plus hours of powerful, challenging (bordering on the confrontational) poetry and noise ensues.

"Sweet Jane" isn't on tonight's setlist, but he slips it into the main set anyway. Surprisingly there are two encores - before the second "official" encore we get "Baton Rouge" and "Busload of Faith", neither of which are on the soundman's setlist (though they were both played last week, so it's not as if the band needed to rehearse them specially). After the usual exit stage left/have a smoke out the back/re-enter stage left he's back and ditches "Vicious" for an even more surprising rendition of "I'm Waiting For My Man" followed by the expected "Perfect Day" to close out the evening. Criticisms over the two nights? Aside from a tendency to belabour the big finale, absolutely none; I'm too amazed. Lou Reed has a strong enough back catalogue that he could just coast on his hits until he's ready to retire. Instead he's still making new music and it's great music. He still knows how to pick a great band and he still rocks hard! - John McPharlin
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