[www.bam.org]

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-05-24 15:47 by tatters.

John Cale:The Velvet Underground & Nico - Program A
NOV 16—NOV 17, 2017

MUSIC
Program A: 50th Anniversary of The Velvet Underground & Nico
Curated by John Cale
Members of Wordless Music Orchestra

Presented in association with Wordless Music


Part of the 2017 Next Wave Festival
The inveterate experimentalist who melded rock with the avant-garde, John Cale (Paris 1919 and A Tribute to Nico, 2012 Next Wave) has exerted an incalculable influence on the last half-century of popular music, from punk to noise to chamber pop. He returns to BAM for a three-night celebration of his life and art.

For the first two nights, Cale is accompanied by members of the Wordless Music Orchestra and special guests to perform the album that charted the course of underground music for decades to come. Fifty years after its release, The Velvet Underground & Nico remains a raw, bracing transmission from the downtown demimonde of 1960s New York City, combining Lou Reed’s streetwise lyrics, Nico’s husky contralto, and Cale’s Fluxus-inspired electric viola. In the final evening of this engagement, Cale celebrates 75 years, backed by the Wordless Music Orchestra and Chorus. They perform selections from his legendary, impossible-to-pin-down career, including his landmark work with the Velvet Underground, the baroque pop perfection of Paris 1919, pioneering forays into drone minimalism, and beyond.



John Cale:The Velvet Underground & Nico - Program B
SAT, NOV 18, 2017

MUSIC
Program B: John Cale’s 75th Birthday Celebration
Music by John Cale
Wordless Music Orchestra and Chorus

Presented in association with Wordless Music


Part of the 2017 Next Wave Festival
The inveterate experimentalist who melded rock with the avant-garde, John Cale (Paris 1919 and A Tribute to Nico, 2012 Next Wave) has exerted an incalculable influence on the last half-century of popular music, from punk to noise to chamber pop. He returns to BAM for a three-night celebration of his life and art.

For the first two nights, Cale is accompanied by members of the Wordless Music Orchestra and special guests to perform the album that charted the course of underground music for decades to come. Fifty years after its release, The Velvet Underground & Nico remains a raw, bracing transmission from the downtown demimonde of 1960s New York City, combining Lou Reed’s streetwise lyrics, Nico’s husky contralto, and Cale’s Fluxus-inspired electric viola. In the final evening of this engagement, Cale celebrates 75 years, backed by the Wordless Music Orchestra and Chorus. They perform selections from his legendary, impossible-to-pin-down career, including his landmark work with the Velvet Underground, the baroque pop perfection of Paris 1919, pioneering forays into drone minimalism, and beyond.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-05-24 18:07 by tatters.

I'm off to Liverpool for uk leg of this Fri night

Quote
yorkshirestone
I'm off to Liverpool for uk leg of this Fri night

I'm in Michigan, but will definitely at least try to make it to BAM in November. It's the same venue where I attended two performances of Songs for Drella back in '89.

I'm a huge VU fan, they changed the way I look at everything when I was younger. I'm not sure about this "Wordless Music Orchestra". I'll still try to go but I'm not sure it is what I'm expecting.

Guests for Liverpool gig typically eclectic - assume Alison Mosshart from the Kills and Dead Weather will be doing the Nico parts

[www.getintothis.co.uk]

Here's "Venus in Furs" from last year's show in Paris.

[www.youtube.com]

I'm sure it would be good, although admittedly I'd be way more interested in him doing Paris 1919 like he did there a few years ago and I missed it. This, without Lou Reed, seems kinda pointless. Again, still cool and probably good, but in the end too much of that band was Lou that its like when I saw Denny Laine do Band On The Run. Fun but hardly a major deal.

Quote
RollingFreak
I'm sure it would be good, although admittedly I'd be way more interested in him doing Paris 1919 like he did there a few years ago and I missed it. This, without Lou Reed, seems kinda pointless. Again, still cool and probably good, but in the end too much of that band was Lou that its like when I saw Denny Laine do Band On The Run. Fun but hardly a major deal.

Interesting comparison, but it's not really a similar situation. What's interesting to me about those first two Velvets albums is that they represent a jumping off point from which Reed and Cale took off in different directions, each pursuing through their solo work a vision of what they each thought the Velvet Underground should have been, if it had been able to continue into the 70s and beyond. They were very much equal partners in the original band, and Cale had an important solo career, whereas Denny Laine was basically just a hired hand, working for someone whose best music was already behind him.

Quote
tatters

Quote
RollingFreak
I'm sure it would be good, although admittedly I'd be way more interested in him doing Paris 1919 like he did there a few years ago and I missed it. This, without Lou Reed, seems kinda pointless. Again, still cool and probably good, but in the end too much of that band was Lou that its like when I saw Denny Laine do Band On The Run. Fun but hardly a major deal.

Interesting comparison, but it's not really a similar situation. What's interesting to me about those first two Velvets albums is that they represent a jumping off point from which Reed and Cale took off in different directions, each pursuing through their solo work a vision of what they each thought the Velvet Underground should have been, if it had been able to continue into the 70s and beyond. They were very much equal partners in the original band, and Cale had an important solo career, whereas Denny Laine was basically just a hired hand, working for someone whose best music was already behind him.

To an extent I know what you mean and agree. Yes Cale was more of an equal than Denny was (even though Paul tried hard back in the day to insist otherwise), and I guess its not helped by the fact that I love Reed's solo work and pretty much tune out Cale's after the first two which are great. I always saw VU as a collaborative effort but very much anchored in Lou's lyrics and ideas. Cale's cello is extremely important on those first two albums. The Gift which Cale talks is incredible. But thats all from Lou's mind, he just had Cale execute it. So to me that first album is more something you do if you have everyone, or I could see Lou getting away with it. Cale doing it alone, to me, is pretty similar to Denny doing Band On The Run. Or... Jack Bruce doing Disraeli Gears on his own. I know that a kind of random answer but just what I thought of. My point being its far less seeing those guys do that alone even if they had a big hand in the record.

Again though, having said that, in no way am I putting down the event. Does seem really cool and to see Cale in really any setting is rare and should be taken advantage of. As a Lou faithful though I'm not as excited as I'd hope to be. And as a fan of Cale and Paris 1919, it doesn't hold a candle to when he said he was doing that in full which I'd maybe travel to see.

I guess I'm going all in on this. Just spent $85 on a BAM membership (even though I live 700 miles away) just so I can get early access to the best seats. Looking forward to reading any and all reports from the show in Liverpool tonight.

Here's the setlist from the show last year in Paris.

I'm Waiting for the Man
European Son
Lady Godiva's Operation
All Tomorrow's Parties
Venus in Furs
I'll Be Your Mirror
The Gift
There She Goes Again
Sunday Morning
White Light/White Heat
Femme Fatale
Black Angel's Death Song
Run Run Run
Heroin
Sister Ray



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-05-26 15:56 by tatters.

Without John Cale, the Velvet Underground wouldn't have been all that "underground" -- just another three-chord rock n roll outfit, as their post-Cale output proved.

Before he met John Cale, Lou Reed was a staff writer for Pickwick Records: [www.youtube.com]

In fact, Lou Reed's first seven years of recording might suggest that he wouldn't have been out of place, musically, as a member of the Beach Boys -- he even covered Little Deuce Coup early on (at 25:16): [www.youtube.com]

On the other hand, John Cale performed as part of an 18-hour piano concert marathon along with, among others, John Cage. Here is Cale in a 1963 TV appearance on the game show I've Got A Secret: [www.youtube.com]

Before the Velvets, Cale was carving out his own avant-garde approach: [www.youtube.com]

So with Cale's contribution, after listening to Stainless Steel Gamelan, it's easy to see where that hypnotic quality inherent in the early Velvets music comes from.

Cale could make even a cover of Elvis sound dangerous and chaotic: [www.youtube.com]

So he can play whatever he wants, given that the Velvet Underground output he is highlighting in these shows would not have sounded nearly as compelling without his input.

Quote
tatters
I guess I'm going all in on this. Just spent $85 on a BAM membership (even though I live 700 miles away) just so I can get early access to the best seats. Looking forward to reading any and all reports from the show in Liverpool tonight.

I did the same and I'm on the West Coast. I considered going to Liverpool but it was going to be very expensive and I decided to hold out for NYC (not that that's cheap but it should be a lot less). I think demand for tickets will be high and I don't want to risk getting shut out.

Went last night - very enjoyable
Early review from an online outlet and some great pics here
It was a lovely warm evening - wasteland in liverpool's dock lands not the best venue for this kind of music but was a sell out (10-15k I'd guess) and well received apart from a bit of impatience in his 30m late arrival. Guests will no doubt differ but the Kills on waiting for the man and white light were excellent. Similar set list to Paris.

Wouldn't hesitate to recommend particularly if inside/sat down. I started my life long live of the velvets aged about 16 in 1990. It didn't occur to me that teens would still be doing this, so was lovely to see such a young crowd mixed in with us middle aged ans older!

[www.getintothis.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-05-27 13:51 by yorkshirestone.

Anyone manage to get tickets before the BAM website crashed this morning?


We're experiencing technical issues with BAM.org and our phone system.
Next Wave subscription sales have been suspended while we work to resolve this ASAP, and will message here when fixed. Apologies for the inconvenience.



There was one horror story on their Facebook page this morning written by someone who was about to hit the "buy" button on front row seats for both nights and lost them.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-05 19:45 by tatters.

Website is up and running again and you can get tickets if you have a BAM membership (minimum membership level is $85). Even then, you have to buy a "subscription" (minimum subscription = 4 shows). My thought was that I would get tix to all 3 Cale dates, and then buy a cheap balcony seat for some 4th show that I had no intention of attending, thus satisfying the requirements of the subscription.

Problem is, the 2 Velvet Underground performances are only counted as one show, an you can only include 1 of them in your subscription. So, long story short, I got decent seats to the VU show on Nov. 17, decent seats to the career-spanning John Cale 75th birthday show on Nov. 18 (I may give those to a friend), and crappy seats to 2 other shows I probably won't even be able to give away.

$480, including the BAM membership I will only ever use just this once .... and I still have to book the hotel.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-05 22:30 by tatters.

Quote
tatters
Anyone manage to get tickets before the BAM website crashed this morning?


We're experiencing technical issues with BAM.org and our phone system.
Next Wave subscription sales have been suspended while we work to resolve this ASAP, and will message here when fixed. Apologies for the inconvenience.



There was one horror story on their Facebook page this morning written by someone who was about to hit the "buy" button on front row seats for both nights and lost them.

I had really good seats in my cart and then the website crashed.
I wasn't able to try again until 90 minutes later and then I pulled some good seats again and it all got processed.

Quote
tatters
Website is up and running again and you can get tickets if you have a BAM membership (minimum membership level is $85). Even then, you have to buy a "subscription" (minimum subscription = 4 shows). My thought was that I would get tix to all 3 Cale dates, and then buy a cheap balcony seat for some 4th show that I had no intention of attending, thus satisfying the requirements of the subscription.

Problem is, the 2 Velvet Underground performances are only counted as one show, an you can only include 1 of them in your subscription. So, long story short, I got decent seats to the VU show on Nov. 17, decent seats to the career-spanning John Cale 75th birthday show on Nov. 18 (I may give those to a friend), and crappy seats to 2 other shows I probably won't even be able to give away.

$480, including the BAM membership I will only ever use just this once .... and I still have to book the hotel.

I did the same thing. I was disappointed that I couldn't get both VU50 nights in one subscription but I got good seats for 11/16 and 11/18. Now I need to work on airline reservations.

Quote
RollingFreak


Cale doing it alone, to me, is pretty similar to Denny Laine doing Band On The Run.

It's really much more like seeing Paul McCartney play every song on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Individual tickets go on sale to the general public Monday, August 7. BAM members and season subscription purchasers have already grabbed most of the orchestra seats, but the majority of the mezzanine and balcony seats will still be available.

[www.bam.org]

[www.bam.org]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-08-04 14:16 by tatters.

I'm really looking forward to this and I'm going all three nights. Kind of excessive, I suppose, but I doubt I'll ever get another opportunity to hear the VU & Nico album played live on stage and I reckoned if I'm going to make the journey I might as well go all in.

Just picked up orchestra seats from the box office, plenty still available...well at least there were at 10am EST

As a BAM member, I was able to sneak in just before 10:00 and snag a couple of extra pairs in the front row of the Mezzanine.

There are still some balcony seats available for the VU shows on Thurs 11/16 and Fri 11/17, though the Friday VU show is nearly sold out, with only about 40 tickets remaining. There are, however, still over 400 unsold tickets (including some orchestra seats) for the Sat 11/18 75th birthday career retrospective show,

No word on whether or not Moe Tucker will make an appearance, but she makes one here, and it's a tantalizing preview of what we're likely to hear next month in Brooklyn.

[www.rollingstone.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-10-13 03:01 by tatters.

Quote
tatters
No word on whether or not Moe Tucker will make an appearance, but she makes one here, and it's a tantalizing preview of what we're likely to hear next month in Brooklyn.

[www.rollingstone.com]

You could even see more close-ups of Bill Wyman in a Rolling Stones concert video, than of Moe Tucker here.

It also reminds me of the Pink Floyd one-off a few years back (Live 8). I can count on one hand how many times the camera showed Rick W.

Quote
frenki09
It also reminds me of the Pink Floyd one-off a few years back (Live 8). I can count on one hand how many times the camera showed Rick W.

Yeah, that was incredibly annoying at the time. Still bothers me, even moreso cause he died and it was like he was not even there, at least based on the pro-shots. Oh well, at least we know he was but he should have gotten more due.

As for Cale, its still a very cool night and event but I really ain't that interested in seeing him do VU. Maybe others agree with me and thats why its not sold out, when in NY it really should be. I just think without Lou and Sterling you're missing too much, and as good as Moe is and as thankful as I am that she's still alive, she's in her early 70s and looks 90. I don't see her contributing except in a very minimal participation like that video, and even then that means little. But it is cool for those interested. Cale just doesn't seem to have that much of a draw. You announce he's playing all of Paris 1919 that I unfortunately missed at this venue like 5 years ago and I'd be there in a second. Otherwise, I really have no interest in seeing him, even if it is doing VU stuff. But I know I've already said that. Just surprised its not sold out. Maybe not advertised well?

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tatters

Quote
yorkshirestone
I'm off to Liverpool for uk leg of this Fri night

I'm in Michigan, but will definitely at least try to make it to BAM in November. It's the same venue where I attended two performances of Songs for Drella back in '89.

Does anyone know if there's any recording of these shows or any other performance of Songs for Drella?

In my opinion Songs for Drella is a true masterpiece. A classic album that should be on any list of the best albums of all time.

The only complete live performance of it was released on LD and VHS. Anything else out there?

Until then:

[Cale and Reed on Sunday Night]

Quote
frenki09

Does anyone know if there's any recording of these shows or any other performance of Songs for Drella?

In my opinion Songs for Drella is a true masterpiece. A classic album that should be on any list of the best albums of all time.

The only complete live performance of it was released on LD and VHS. Anything else out there?

No, not that I'm aware of. It's surprising that no bootlegs of the St. Ann's or BAM performances have ever emerged.

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
frenki09
It also reminds me of the Pink Floyd one-off a few years back (Live 8). I can count on one hand how many times the camera showed Rick W.

Yeah, that was incredibly annoying at the time. Still bothers me, even moreso cause he died and it was like he was not even there, at least based on the pro-shots. Oh well, at least we know he was but he should have gotten more due.

As for Cale, its still a very cool night and event but I really ain't that interested in seeing him do VU. Maybe others agree with me and thats why its not sold out, when in NY it really should be. I just think without Lou and Sterling you're missing too much, and as good as Moe is and as thankful as I am that she's still alive, she's in her early 70s and looks 90. I don't see her contributing except in a very minimal participation like that video, and even then that means little. But it is cool for those interested. Cale just doesn't seem to have that much of a draw. You announce he's playing all of Paris 1919 that I unfortunately missed at this venue like 5 years ago and I'd be there in a second. Otherwise, I really have no interest in seeing him, even if it is doing VU stuff. But I know I've already said that. Just surprised its not sold out. Maybe not advertised well?

The fact that you can hardly see Rick still bothers me too. It's soooo sad. Can you imagine how he felt when he watched the footage?! I am not sure how Wyman felt when he saw the cover of the Rarities compilation where he was digitally removed although he played on many of the tracks. I always wondered why the others went along with this. I would love to see Mick or Charlie confronted with this question. Or Nick Mason confronted with the question why Rick was not in the Live 8 broadcast... If it was not their fault it would have been nice from the other 3 to publicly comment on this.

And about Moe... Yes, she looks soooo old. It was really nice to see her even her contribution was very little. I am not sure why Cale wants to do VU stuff now. I agree that without Sterling and Reed it's a bit strange. Still I am glad he does what he does, because he is still VERY GOOD and focused! Glad the VU reunion happened in the 90's! It must had been amazing to see the 4 of them on stage together!

Quote
frenki09

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
frenki09
It also reminds me of the Pink Floyd one-off a few years back (Live 8). I can count on one hand how many times the camera showed Rick W.

Yeah, that was incredibly annoying at the time. Still bothers me, even moreso cause he died and it was like he was not even there, at least based on the pro-shots. Oh well, at least we know he was but he should have gotten more due.

As for Cale, its still a very cool night and event but I really ain't that interested in seeing him do VU. Maybe others agree with me and thats why its not sold out, when in NY it really should be. I just think without Lou and Sterling you're missing too much, and as good as Moe is and as thankful as I am that she's still alive, she's in her early 70s and looks 90. I don't see her contributing except in a very minimal participation like that video, and even then that means little. But it is cool for those interested. Cale just doesn't seem to have that much of a draw. You announce he's playing all of Paris 1919 that I unfortunately missed at this venue like 5 years ago and I'd be there in a second. Otherwise, I really have no interest in seeing him, even if it is doing VU stuff. But I know I've already said that. Just surprised its not sold out. Maybe not advertised well?

The fact that you can hardly see Rick still bothers me too. It's soooo sad. Can you imagine how he felt when he watched the footage?! I am not sure how Wyman felt when he saw the cover of the Rarities compilation where he was digitally removed although he played on many of the tracks. I always wondered why the others went along with this. I would love to see Mick or Charlie confronted with this question. Or Nick Mason confronted with the question why Rick was not in the Live 8 broadcast... If it was not their fault it would have been nice from the other 3 to publicly comment on this.

And about Moe... Yes, she looks soooo old. It was really nice to see her even her contribution was very little. I am not sure why Cale wants to do VU stuff now. I agree that without Sterling and Reed it's a bit strange. Still I am glad he does what he does, because he is still VERY GOOD and focused! Glad the VU reunion happened in the 90's! It must had been amazing to see the 4 of them on stage together!

Speaking of the Velvet Underground and cruel slights -- The freezing out of Doug Yule at the time of their reunion and especially for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is inexcusable to me. He contributed strongly to "The Velvet Underground" and "Loaded", not to mention their live LPs and some amazing tracks on "VU" and "Another View". Lou Reed at his mean spirited worst.

I need to make an effort to get to one of these shows! Maybe Groupon will have a deal .