Lou Reed’s Berlin

There was really only one place to be this weekend: at the Hammersmith Apollo where Lou Reed performed his 1973 Berlin album on Saturday and Sunday. I can’t have been alone in the audience in having waited over 30 years to see Berlin performed in full, but oh was it worth the wait. 🙂

Lou teamed up with the producer Bob Ezrin and guitarist Steve Hunter (who both worked on the original), the core of his touring band, plus the New London Children’s Choir and brass and strings from the London Metropolitan orchestra for these shows. A Julian Schnabel film was projected the rear of the stage. Visually wonderful, but this show was all about the music. Simply put, they played the album. That would have been enough for me (Berlin is probably – no certainly – my all time number one record), but Lou had other things in mind, taking on the persona of each character and drawing new subtleties out of the story. This was Lou giving his all, and loving it. Smiling, ferocious, playful, even resurrecting his ‘Bells’ vocalizations for some parts. Heavenly wine and roses!

And my god, Steve Hunter’s guitar was magnificent! He delivered some great guitar duels with Lou, especially in the break in Oh Jim where Steve’s fretwork battled with Lou’s deep drone/noise inventions. Fernando Saunders and Tony ‘Thunder’ Smith provided a perfect upbeat backbone (bass and drums), while Katie Krykant (vocals), Rob Wasserman (upright bass) and Rupert Christie (piano) completed the line-up. Hal Willner pulled the whole production together.

For those who don’t know, Berlin was hated by the critics in 1973, but consistently adored by Lou’s fans. It’s a dark, melancholy piece of work about drugs, sex and suicide; but at the Apollo Lou elevated it to a story of redemption, the closing piece ‘Sad Song’ exultant with the soaring voices of the children’s choir. Here’s a taster from the Amsterdam show.

For an encore we were treated to Sweet Jane (replete with Steve Hunter’s Rock and Roll Animal intro), a magnificent rendition of Satellite of Love (with the choir – and half the audience 😉 – taking on the David Bowie ‘pom-pom-poms’), and a playful Walk on the Wild Side. A wonderful, perfect show!

No photos from me (but I hope to have some from a friend very soon).