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Paddy
Looking forward to this. One of the earliest bands I got into via a friends older brother, He saw them twice on that reunion tour in 93. Said they weren’t great. Anyone here catch them on that run of gigs?
I'm very boring but o do i love that record.Quote
Rockman
White Light White Heat was always
best way ta clear a room of boring people .....
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Rockman
White Light White Heat was always
best way ta clear a room of boring people .....
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tattersQuote
Paddy
Looking forward to this. One of the earliest bands I got into via a friends older brother, He saw them twice on that reunion tour in 93. Said they weren’t great. Anyone here catch them on that run of gigs?
We never got a reunion tour here in the States. Closest we got was the Reed/Cale Songs for Drella shows in 1989. I saw two of those, including one where Maureen showed up to sing "Pale Blue Eyes" as an encore.
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crholmstrom
God, I love the VU. Back in the day when they did the reuion & I was in the music biz I had it all set up to see them at the Whiskey A Go Go. Sadly they started bickering & cancelled the tour. Lou Reed bummed a cig from once.
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RisingStoneQuote
tattersQuote
Paddy
Looking forward to this. One of the earliest bands I got into via a friends older brother, He saw them twice on that reunion tour in 93. Said they weren’t great. Anyone here catch them on that run of gigs?
We never got a reunion tour here in the States. Closest we got was the Reed/Cale Songs for Drella shows in 1989. I saw two of those, including one where Maureen showed up to sing "Pale Blue Eyes" as an encore.Quote
crholmstrom
God, I love the VU. Back in the day when they did the reuion & I was in the music biz I had it all set up to see them at the Whiskey A Go Go. Sadly they started bickering & cancelled the tour. Lou Reed bummed a cig from once.
Velvet Underground Reunion! A blast from the past...
No, I didn’t see it. As you know, only the U.K. and Europe got it.
We heard insider information afterwords that a tour of Japan had been informally decided. I gave a sigh...
Later, I obtained the live CD’s and LD of the reunion show from Paris Olympia. I was slightly disappointed TBHWY. What’s in there was a clean, sanitized version of what was once the epitome of an arty and sleazy rock and roll band. Kind of similar feeling many people get from the modern Stones as opposed to the vintage Stones.
Fast forward to May 2005. I saw the much hyped Cream Reunion at the Royal Albert Hall, the first and last of the four dates. While I got emotional to see the legendary trio playing in front of my eyes, I felt they were not the same group I had indulged in through the records for umpteen years. They were great in their own right, but they were the “modern Cream”.
VU and Cream — they both belong to the 60’s, that mythical time that never comes back.
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RisingStone
Velvet Underground Reunion! A blast from the past...
No, I didn’t see it. As you know, only the U.K. and Europe got it.
We heard insider information afterwords that a tour of Japan had been informally decided. I gave a sigh...
Later, I obtained the live CD’s and LD of the reunion show from Paris Olympia. I was slightly disappointed TBHWY. What’s in there was a clean, sanitized version of what was once the epitome of an arty and sleazy rock and roll band. Kind of similar feeling many people get from the modern Stones as opposed to the vintage Stones.
Fast forward to May 2005. I saw the much hyped Cream Reunion at the Royal Albert Hall, the first and last of the four dates. While I got emotional to see the legendary trio playing in front of my eyes, I felt they were not the same group I had indulged in through the records for umpteen years. They were great in their own right, but they were the “modern Cream”.
VU and Cream — they both belong to the 60’s, that mythical time that never comes back.
As someone that saw Cream, I don't disagree with you. I appreciate both on a certain scale. I actually grew to really like that VU reunion CD. Its unquestionably sanitized, but its not horrible. If anything, the only thing on there I DON'T like is the 15 minute Hey Mr. Rain which is arguably the only thing close to what they used to do in the 60s. I adore Lou Reed but I like that reunion disc cause I just wanted the songs and they give you basically everything you'd want, even though thats kind of the antithesis of the Velvet Underground. Seeing Cream in 2005 I thought it was one of the most boring shows I've ever seen. Like you said, it wasn't the REAL Cream, but it was nice to see and experience. Totally think you're right that both belonged in a different era, but I'm glad they at least got together to try it. Plenty of bands that never do and without actually seeing it you never know what it will be like.
Its also, in all honesty, not that different from what we get from the hybrid reunited Guns N Roses these days I think. Its a technically great show, but its missing that spontaneity and spark that belonged to a different time.
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RollingFreak
Was unfortunately pretty underwhelmed by this. The obvious sadness is that Lou Reed isn't alive to speak on it. I know thats obviously unavoidable, but listening to John and Maureen reflect on this time now I'd love to hear Lou's thoughts on this official document. I know there's a million interviews of him discussing the Underground, but just feels incomplete without his input. I'd also kinda argue without Lou it put too much emphasis on the John Cale side of things. Not that he wasn't massively important, he was of course. I guess that his backstory and way of talking about the band felt less relevant. Lou could maybe have stayed more on topic.
On that note, I also thought pretty much the first hour was just a huge lead up that didn't super payoff. 30 minutes in it was like "ok, already, get to the band and get to New York!" I thought there was a lot of wasted time there, and less than focusing on the albums once it got there, it was more focused on the scene. It was a choice, and I get it, but I feel there's been more than enough said about that whole Warhol era. It didn't get as into it as other things I've seen, and I know thats part of the story, but just feel like it could have been weaved in differently. Was hoping for more stories like Moe Tucker's random stopping of drumming in Heroin and others of that nature that we may not have heard before.
Lastly, and unsurprisingly, Doug Yule was fairly glossed over, all things considered. They seem to always do that to him, which is sad because he was part of half the band's history. It wasn't the groundbreaking era, but the songs on those two VU albums he's on are fantastic and he sings a lot! Sad that he didn't get any on screen camera time, and in general I thought all the interviews were fairly mundane and oddly chosen. Some people were really interesting and good finds. Others felt sorta random and pointless, especially for an official doc. I also thought the way they conducted the interviews and a lot of the footage and presentation was strange and offputting. Kinda like a knockoff Woodstock. Again, a choice which is to be respected of something of this series (you gotta make it your own) but just didn't think paid off. My dad and I were both fairly underwhelmed, although always good to see Lou as always revered. Just had way higher expectations based on the hype and I thought reviews coming in that were good.
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RollingFreak
Was unfortunately pretty underwhelmed by this. The obvious sadness is that Lou Reed isn't alive to speak on it. I know thats obviously unavoidable, but listening to John and Maureen reflect on this time now I'd love to hear Lou's thoughts on this official document. I know there's a million interviews of him discussing the Underground, but just feels incomplete without his input. I'd also kinda argue without Lou it put too much emphasis on the John Cale side of things. Not that he wasn't massively important, he was of course. I guess that his backstory and way of talking about the band felt less relevant. Lou could maybe have stayed more on topic.
On that note, I also thought pretty much the first hour was just a huge lead up that didn't super payoff. 30 minutes in it was like "ok, already, get to the band and get to New York!" I thought there was a lot of wasted time there, and less than focusing on the albums once it got there, it was more focused on the scene. It was a choice, and I get it, but I feel there's been more than enough said about that whole Warhol era. It didn't get as into it as other things I've seen, and I know thats part of the story, but just feel like it could have been weaved in differently. Was hoping for more stories like Moe Tucker's random stopping of drumming in Heroin and others of that nature that we may not have heard before.
Lastly, and unsurprisingly, Doug Yule was fairly glossed over, all things considered. They seem to always do that to him, which is sad because he was part of half the band's history. It wasn't the groundbreaking era, but the songs on those two VU albums he's on are fantastic and he sings a lot! Sad that he didn't get any on screen camera time, and in general I thought all the interviews were fairly mundane and oddly chosen. Some people were really interesting and good finds. Others felt sorta random and pointless, especially for an official doc. I also thought the way they conducted the interviews and a lot of the footage and presentation was strange and offputting. Kinda like a knockoff Woodstock. Again, a choice which is to be respected of something of this series (you gotta make it your own) but just didn't think paid off. My dad and I were both fairly underwhelmed, although always good to see Lou as always revered. Just had way higher expectations based on the hype and I thought reviews coming in that were good.
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RisingStone
Great review and responses there. Thank you for you all.
The film is on the art cinema in my local area until Thursday next week. RollingFreak’s report makes me think twice whether I should go or not. I will decide after checking other members’ posts on the flick if any more come.
In my post I commented Cream and VU belong to the 60’s. Knowingly contrary to that, on the other hand VU were an un-60’s band — as opposed to, for one example, the West Coast hippie type groups that were popular back then, an antithesis to their Love & Peace philosophy. VU were “yin” of the 60’s. There seems to be some inevitability as to why they became more recognized and influential into the 70’s and thereafter.
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treaclefingers
I don't think this is 'must theatre' watching, but I look forward to either paying for a streamed version or seeing it on Netflix/Amazon Prime in short order.
I love VU but nothing much get's me to the theatre these days, unless it's a 'must see' new Avengers sequel, and then only because the kids insist.
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treaclefingers
I don't think this is 'must theatre' watching, but I look forward to either paying for a streamed version or seeing it on Netflix/Amazon Prime in short order.
I love VU but nothing much get's me to the theatre these days, unless it's a 'must see' new Avengers sequel, and then only because the kids insist.
1 word: Dune ><
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treaclefingers
I don't think this is 'must theatre' watching, but I look forward to either paying for a streamed version or seeing it on Netflix/Amazon Prime in short order.
I love VU but nothing much get's me to the theatre these days, unless it's a 'must see' new Avengers sequel, and then only because the kids insist.
1 word: Dune ><
I don't suppose that is reference to Sting's 80s classic?!