Lou Reed Live @ Hammersmith Apollo, London 04/07/2011
On the 4th of July 2011, the American Independence Day, Lou Reed proved his own independence by flying to London and offering his fans an hour and a half show. Reed made a very limited 12 songs selection, but he surely didn’t fail to make the best of all of them.
The large band composed of 7 musicians would introduce the songs in crescendo for several minutes in order to stimulate the audience’s hypersensitivity and eagerness, before finally pleasing them with a bouquet of emotions. The 12-minute version of Ecstasy and its violin intro was particularly poignant.
The rockstar didn’t lose an ounce of his unique timbre and played 5 songs by the legendary Velvet Underground, including Venus In Furs and Sunday Morning which were relatively well received, compared to the rest. Sadly, the audience was quite unresponsive and spent more time coming and going between the bar and their seat, rather than enjoying a legend's company.
The setlist also included a cover of John Lennon’s song Mother that outlines a parent's absence, and lack of love.
At the age of 69, Reed seemed to favour songs with an important existential essence, such as The Bells or Waves of Fear in which confesses “I’m too scared to leave”.
Tracklist:
1. Who Loves The Sun (The Velvet Underground Cover)
5. Smalltown (Lou Reed & John Cale Cover)
7. Venus In Furs (The Velvet Underground Cover)
8. Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground Cover)
9. Femme Fatale (The Velvet Underground Cover)
11. Sweet Jane (The Velvet Underground Cover)
Encore:
#LouReed #VelvetUnderground #JohnCale #JohnLennon #HammersmithApollo
