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Nick Morgan and crew
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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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Hammersmith
Apollo, London, July 1st 2007
I
recollect that Lou
Reed’s 1972 album Transformer,
produced by Mick Ronson and David Bowie, was a
mandatory fashion accessory when I went to college
the following year, along with tight bottomed
flared trousers, clogs, and rolled up copies of
Socialist Worker (“Socialist Worker!”). |
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| I
remember equally clearly that almost no-one bought
the follow up, the commercially calamitous Berlin,
or if they did it soon found its way to the back
of the line of vinyl (remember vinyl?) long players
stacked against the wall.Transformer, with songs
like ‘Walk
on the wild side’ poised Reed for stardom.
Berlin was his characteristically uncompromising
riposte, a dark and inaccessible ‘concept’
piece that lost sales faster than the Titanic lost
passengers. Time, of course, is not only a healer,
it’s also a lens through which critics are
able to reappraise their judgements; Rolling Stone,
for example, commented thus on the albums release:
“Reed’s only excuse for this performance…can
only be that this was his last shot at a once-promising
career.” Now it calls Berlin the “Sergeant
Pepper of the 70s”. So in the course of time
Berlin has gone from misjudged disaster to critical
masterpiece – not I suspect that many more
folks have bought it as a result. But it has encouraged
Reed to bring it to the stage, with the assistance
of the increasingly ubiquitous musical producer
Hal Willner (“Where’s Willner?”
says Reed at the end, taking a much deserved ovation,
“we couldn’t have done this without
Willner”). |
|
Transformer,
Berlin, New York |
| Now
let me be clear that I have never greatly admired
Reed. I’ve always felt he was hugely over-rated
(not least by himself), and that his pseudo intellectual
projects and ramblings (or was he, as they say here,
“taking the piss”?) were inexcusably
over indulged by a music press who chose to be cowed
by his famously grumpy demeanour. Which reminds
me of an interview on BBC TV just before this show,
when some obsequious and sycophantic presenter asked
Reed, “So Lou, do you think it would be right
to describe Berlin as the world’s first concept
album?” To give him credit I think he did
suppress a grin before answering “No”.
Anyway – my caveat would have to be my admiration
for his 1983 album New York, which I would probably
nominate as the best musical biography of a city
you could buy, wonderfully written, played and produced. |
| Strangely
the theatre’s only half full (maybe everyone’s
at Wembley
rocking with the two young princes, Sir Elton, Sir
Tom and the no doubt soon to be Dame Lily). A screen
behind the band’s kit is showing a hypnotic
film loop of crashing breakers and undulating waves
– enough to get the beer drinkers’ bladders
working overtime. Did I mention it’s our first
non-smoking
gig? Reed takes the stage promptly at 8.00. His
band are a mixture of old-timers including Steve
Hunter who played guitar on the original Berlin
album. There are long time collaborators Tony
‘Thunder’ Smith on drums (who, I
notice, played for Serge Gainsbourg back in the
seventies), Fernando
Saunders on bass and Rob
Wasserman on string bass (he played on New York).
Katie Krykant, swathed in red, is backing vocalist.
On keyboards, and leading the band is producer and
arranger Rupert Christie. He’s got some job,
and it’s not only keeping Reed and Co. in
order. The screen is raised to reveal on the left
a seven piece string and brass section (borrowed
from the London
Metropolitan Orchestra) and on the right a dozen
choristers, from the New
London Children’s Choir. Behind them is
a wonderfully eclectic backdrop (including a hanging
sofa) designed by New York artist Julian Schnabel
– onto it is projected a film narrative of
the story made by his daughter Lola. |
| The
story? Well if you didn’t know it’s
a ferociously depressing tale of boy meets girl
going badly wrong, set in Berlin, a city which at
the time Reed had never visited but which (like
the Dubonnet on ice in the opening song, which he
had never drunk) had captured his imagination. |
| Caroline,
the main protagonist, is abused, falls into drug
addiction and prostitution, has her children taken
away, and eventually, if I’m reading things
right, tops herself. Gloomy indeed. But it’s
a full-on performance that I find difficult to criticise.
Maybe Hunter was given rather too much space for
his slightly indulgent solos, but apart from that
the band were superb, the orchestra rocked and the
incongruously virginal choir superb. Reed cut a
curious figure – slouching onto the stage
he straightened up to reveal a somewhat over-developed
upper body and a paunch that wouldn’t have
been out of place in the public bar of the Distillers
Arms (yes, we’re near the site of H &
J Haig’s Hammersmith Distillery, acquired
by the DCL in 1910 and used by them for distilling
grain spirit and for research into industrial alcohols)
round the corner, which was nicely hidden by his
guitar. |
 |
| Like
Bulldog Drummond he smiled grimly. His singing took
off slowly, but after a couple of songs his performance
was outstanding, delivering his splenetic lyrics
with a mono-tonal expressiveness and verve that
was truly captivating. ‘Men of good fortune’
and ‘The kids’ (“They’re
taking her children away, because they said she
was not a good mother”) stood out particularly
for me, the latter with a perfectly matched piece
of film was timeless and heart-wrenching. And I
never thought I’d say that about Lou Reed.
I even enjoyed his single string droning solos. |
|
It was pleasing to see the genuine sense of pleasure
and achievement that the band shared at the end
of the performance because they had put on quite
a show. So had the swaying and gently rocking choir
(how jealous must their school friends be?) many
of whose Mums seemed to be sitting (actually standing
and waving their arms hysterically) around us. And
when Reed slouched his band back for an encore of
‘Sweet Jane’, ‘Satellite of Love’
and particularly ‘Walk on the wild side’
they almost stole the show, and gave Reed occasion
to change one of the most famous lyrics in the history
of rock and roll to “all the nice girls sing”.
In summary – I would find it hard to find
room for Berlin either on my shelf or i-Pod, but
I would find it equally difficult to resist an opportunity
to see this exceptional performance again. By the
time you read this the European tour will be almost
over, but if he tours the show again either here
or in the USA I would commend you to go and see
it without hesitation. Just don’t expect too
many laughs. - Nick Morgan (concert photographs
by Kate) |
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the index of all reviews:
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