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A Night with Lou Reed

A Night with Lou Reed

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $17.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A rebuttal ...
Review: ... to Jazzie of Hampstead, London. Don't know what you were looking at. Your last graf, where you make up some quote from Lou at the end of the show, is totally bogus. In fact, Lou says just the opposite. Pay no attention to that innacurate review. Lou has his good nights and his bad nights. This was one of the best performances of his career.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Show - I was there!
Review: Great DVD! I waited 6 hours for front row seats general admission. It was worth the wait. A very HOT show. Not only was Warhol there, but some of the members of the 80's band the Go-Go's, and Adam Ant.

In the last song "Rock & Roll", they do a 10 second close up of me in the audience playing air guitar. My 15 minutes of fame!

Lou is the grandfather of Punk and a classic Rock & Roll ICON. But this disk & enjoy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Reed shines in an otherwise dim area of his career
Review: I find once reed started to talk about marriage and deepend his voice that his musical shelf life had halved. The Blue Mask is an excellent output, probably his last mandatory album of his old style and this DVD takes place shortly after said album's completeion. The sound quality is impecable and the song choice is excellent. Really a must for Reed fans whom wish to experience him live, but dont want to pay a grand a plate at some charity to see him.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lou Reed stands the test of time.
Review: I'm a big Lou Reed fan. I have a couple of his live CD's. I find that he is better live than in the studio. And, this DVD reaffirms that fact for me.

It's an excellent playlist, and the energy just continues to grow as the concert progresses. I wish that the concert was longer. That would be my only complaint. The DVD left me wanting just a little bit more to complete the experience.

The sound quality is excellent, and the filming is well done in a minimalist way, which is appropriate for the forum in which Lou Reed is playing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best live Lou ever, post-VU anyway
Review: I'm glad they've put this out on DVD; I bought it back in '84 on videocassette. It was a classic then and now. Lou Reed has never sounded better in his solo career, and he's backed by a dream band (half of Richard Hell & the Voidoids with Fernando Saunders on bass). As Lou says after the concert, the set is "short and delicious"--a mix of VU and solo faves with tracks from his excellent early '80s albums "The Blue Mask" and "Legendary Hearts."

Back in '83, Lou had been off the road for at least a couple of years, and he seems, for once, to be enjoying himself onstage. Also, he's in great voice (given his limited range), still able to actually sing VU tracks like "Rock and Roll" and "New Age," not just talk or shout them. Those tracks in particular appear here in arguably their best-ever versions, the VU never having quite nailed them on "Loaded" or on the various live versions floating around.

Almost all the songs from his solo career are considerably improved over their studio versions, especially "Kill Your Sons," a powerful song that got lost on a bad album ("Sally Can't Dance"). Lou's insane feedback solo on this one says more about the electoshock therapy that is the song's subject than the lyrics do. Also, special kudos to "Turn Out the Light," which is kind of flat on "Legendary Hearts," but is playful and edgy live, capped by a funky (!), almost countryish guitar solo by Lou. It's funny to watch him pull faces during the solo, almost as if he can't believe he's playing it.

And the band is just superb: Robert Quine is one of the great rock guitarists, capable of slash-and-burn solos ("Waves of Fear") or beautifully lyrical ones ("Satellite of Love"). Fernando Saunders plays melodic, distinctive bass--check out the solo on "New Age," and Fred Maher is a solid, powerful drummer. Lou's had some good bands since, but this remains his greatest--other than the original VU, of course. And on this night, they were in top form.

This is simply an essential Lou Reed purchase. Admittedly, it's nothing special visually--Lou and the band playing in a small club with rather harsh lighting, that's it--but it's all about the music. And what music! A true classic.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Night With a Legend.
Review: In this live appearance at the Bottom Line in New York City, Lou Reed reaffirms to everybody why he is the musical genius that many have come to love and idolize. The usually reclusive Reed allows everybody to have a front row seat to this magical performance as well as a slight glimpse backstage. From the very beginning of the evening, Reed and his backup band are so on it that they will leave you mezmorized. It has been nearly twenty years since this performance. And it really stands the test of time. Reed, the godfather of new wave for many, is that rare artist that is, and always will be, looked up at for generations. To correct the previous reviewer, while backstage after the performance, Reed exclaims that this is the kind of performance that you hope that somebody in the audience has at least a tape recorder. This DVD is a must-own for any Velvet Underground fan or anybody interested in seeing a master at his best.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: When the smack begins to flow
Review: Lou dissapoints even his celebrity audience here (Andy Warhol manages to look even more bored than usual) with a decidedly off night. He is drugged up to the eye-balls and displays some frankly frightening facial contortions and twitches whilst struggling to make it to the end of this gig. His eyeballs roll o the back of his head and he performs guitar solos hunched in a little ball with his back to the audience.

His band is composed of an effeminately ineffectual drummer and a lead guitarist who should be sent back to the greasy diner where Lou found him. Needless to say they can do nothing to mask his inebriated state (even the Hunter/Wagner band would have had difficulty).

The production is pretty shoddy, bad camera work, so overexposed that Lou looks as if he's had an accident with some fake tan lotion. And just to top it off they cut out all the bits where he talks between songs -often the most entertaining parts of his concerts.

How this performance ever made it to VHS let alone DVD is a wonder, especially considering that neither the mind-blowing 'Velvets Redux' reunion tour nor Reed's intense collaboration with John Cale; 'Songs for Drella' are available in this format.

And if you don't believe me you can hear it from Mr Reed himself at the end of the concert when he is filmed telling the guys running the show that the venue had bad acoustics and that this isn't the sort of gig that anyone should keep a tape of.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Rock'n'roll fire
Review: Lou Reed is a genius. The fire and fury of rock'n'roll resides in this Bottom Line show, when Lou had this wonderful backing band, with Bob Quine on the guitar. But if you ever had any doubt that Lou is a spiritually superior guitar player, listen to his solo on "Kill your sons". Not only the lyrics and chord progression are brutal and fiery, his SOLO... you should listen to this and then, that's what rock'n'roll is all about. What more can be said?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: If you have never seen Lou Reed Live
Review: Lou Reed, Love him or Hate him. For many there is no in between. Having seen him live since the Velvet Underground, his shows range from brilliant to "let's leave." This dvd records for posterity a pretty decent show. While I remember one of his shows at the Roxy in LA as the best I ever saw, this dvd will provide the listener with an extremely enjoyable rememberance. Filmed in 1983, Lou is joined by frequent bandmates, Robert Quine on Guitar and Fernando Saunders on Bass plus Fred Maher on Drums.

Tracks include: Sweet Jane, I'm Waiting For The Man, Martial Law, Don't Talk to Me About Work, Women, Waves of Fear, Walk on the Wild Side, Turn Out the Lights, New Age, Kill Your Sons, Satellite of Love, White Light/White Heat, Rock N' Roll.

Don't expect the songs to be as released on studio versions or the band to be as tight as on "Rock & Roll Animal" and don't expect an encore. It would have been nice if the set list had been longer, but I really can't complain, except for some of the induced feedback reminiscent of "Metal Machine Music" but even that is only in small doses. Worth adding to the collection.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Show
Review: This DVD has good atmosphere. It is fullscreen, and shot as video, so the quality is as good as it gets, but that is pretty good for a 1983 era show. The song selection is great, and Lou puts in great versions of Kill Your Sons, Turn Out The Lights, and Waves of Fear. The only drawback is the length at 60 minutes. On DVD they should have extended the show, but you can't everything. If you like Lou, this is a great DVD to get. Both the picture and sound quality are much enhanced from the VHS version. Absolutely no extras!


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