Lou Reed's 'Berlin' Comes Full Circle in Amsterdam
Lou Reed brought his "Berlin" concert to Amsterdam's Heineken Music Hall on Wednesday 20th June and virtually brought the 3,400 sold out capacity audience to their knees.
This was not just your ordinary rock'n'roll concert, but instead an emotionally absorbing multimedia event - part theatrical, but raw, beautiful and tragic. Reed performed his 1973 milestone album with a string secton, horn section, a childrens' choir and his core rock band which featured the original 'Berlin' album guitarist, Steve Hunter.
Lou performed the album in its entirety and along the way, introduced some new twists and turns on most of the songs. You could feel Lou's torment and his pain as he pushed the envelope with every nuance, lyric and guitar lick. Berlin was a personal release for him, and you could feel every note with a vengeance.
'Lady Day', 'How Do You Think It Feels', 'Caroline Says', 'The Kids', 'The Bed', 'Sad Song'.... song after song, the audience became dumbfounded by how amazing the delivery of the songs were. What started off as a tale of two lovers (Caroline and Jim), gradually turned into a one way ticket to hell, which ended in prostitution, drugs and suicide.
After final song 'Sad Son', Reed received a standing ovation. He returned five minutes later for an encore which included 'Sweet Jane' and orchestral enchanced arragements of 'Satellite of Love' and 'Walk on the Wild Side'. At the end of the concert Lou took bow and said "I Love You" to the audience.
"Berlin" - a snapshot moment in time, and probably the rock'n'roll moment of 2007. Make no mistake, this was history in the making.
Lou brings Berlin to Paris on June 23rd, then brings the show to Berlin on June 26th. The concert then moves on to the UK on Friday June 29th where Lou plays Manchester International Festival, and then two shows at London Hammersmith Apollo on Saturday June 30th and Sunday July 1st.
The following UK press page has further informaton about the current tour - http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/live_nation/2007_tour.htm
