ANIMAL
SERENADE – Lou Reed (Sire/Reprise)
The
best live shows usually contain some transcendent moment that burns the gig’s
memory deep in your mind and reminds you why you loved rock and roll in the
first place. Lou Reed’s tour de 
force
at the State Theatre in Sydney on September 4, 2003 contained two such efforts
- and they’re replicated here on this double CD set.
Bringing a stripped-down, drummerless band (save for electronic traps sporadically
manned by bass player Fernando Saunders), the most recent Loud Reed Band dipped
into their namesake’s entire back catalogue. The high points (for me)
were two old tunes. Wrap an ear around the cello (yes, cello) solo from Jane
Scapantoni on “Venus in Furs”. The demure young lady summons up
some unearthly noise. It’s proof, if needed, that one-person string sections
can rock out, and a reminder that the Velvet Underground really did lose a
significant part of its being when John Cale was pushed out, all those years
ago.
Defining Moment Number Two was the vocal from enigmatic back-up singer Antony
(no surname) on “Candy Says”, another Velvets tune that was arguably
never given the treatment it was quietly pleading for when first committed
to tape. Now, Antony had a strange stage presence; a receding blond bloke,
positively hulking compared to Lou, he spent most of the show seated at stage
left. But when he applies his unearthly soprano to a song as transparent and
delicate as “Candy Says”, all purity and perfect pitch, he fills
the whole auditorium (or lounge room, if you’re listening at home).
There are plenty more defining moments on “Animal Serenade”, and
some great ensemble playing. (The disc’s standout Lou on Guitar moment,
by the way, is the solo on “Ecstasy”, though I seem to recall the
one he pulled out in Sydney last year was more extreme). The truly great backing
band (Scarpantoni, master bassist Fernando Saunders and Lou’s ex-brother-in-law
Mick Rathke on guitar) plays with an intensity borne out of knowing each other
extremely well. They move effortlessly between instruments (guitar synthesizer
deputising for keyboards) and feels. As far as live albums go, this is a mirror
image of the guitar bluster and muscle of” Rock and Roll Animal”,
but in many ways is just as powerful.
Don’t worry that the song selection is a similar exercise in indulgence
to the last (double) Lou set “The Raven”. The spoken word piece
by the same name makes the cut, but there’s a heavy reliance on Velvets
songs with the odd ‘80s tune thrown in. (Saunders’ own delicate
composition, “Revien Cherie”, is a surprise inclusion, given Reed’s
reputation for complete control). No “Wild Side” or even “Perfect
Day” (the latter would have been killer, in the hands of this band),
so I suppose that cuts out the crowd in search of (another) Greatest Hits
package. I’m still not comfortable with “All Tomorrow’s Parties”
as a funked-up caricature but you can’t have everything. The presence
of “Street Hassle”, done well, is enough compensation.
Recorded at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre, three months before their Australian
visit, this is pretty much the band’s tour set, in running order. While
there was a sneaking worry that a lack of spontaneity might make the band
stale, it’s not apparent. It’s also beautifully recorded and mixed.
(What Lou album isn’t these days? He truly is Master of his Recording
Domain).
Just when you thought Lou had run out of things to say (or ways to say them).
– The Barman
1/2