I saw him in '86 when he was touring Mistrial. He put on a good, tight show and seemed very healthy and happy. He was in good voice and remembered all the lyrics. A splendid time was had by all.
Once, when he did an improvised noise show at the Red Cat Theatre in Los Angeles with Ulrich Krieger on Saxophone and Sarth Calhoun on a Continuum Fingerbord. The mostly elderly art crowd i suspect were expecting Perfect Day and Walk On The Wild Side seemed pretty turned off by the affair, some shuffling out as things got going. Lou was smiling throughout and obviously having a blast. I waited around and got to meet him afterwards. Sadly, i never got to see him sing his songs, I did have tickets for one of the shows that got cancelled when he got sick.
I saw him from right up against the stage for the “Blue Mask” tour at a little club in Chicago, the Park West. All I remember was Rock N Roll was the encore. It was early 80’s, we saw Peter Tosh there around the same time, also Bobby and the Midnights.
Saw him in '79 at a small venue in Montreal. It was ok but he didn't seem to be too into it. Nevertheless , I'm glad I had the chance to see him.
Ecstasy and Twilight Realing. I remember enjoying both but thought both times he could have played less new material and more stuff I loved form the Velvets, Robert Quine material, and my favorite of his solo records, New York.
I saw him on the New York tour at The Universal Amphitheater. I was 15 and newly a fan. I recently saw the set list from that night and realized that, at that time, I knew about 20% of the songs performed. Still I remember really liking the show. I believe he had Rob Wasserman on electric stand-up bass - Rob and that instrument was in demand for 3 years or so at the dawn of the 1990's. Later in the decade I went to a book signing. Lou was sitting in Book Soup in West Hollywood looking miserable, wearing an impossibly heavy black leather jacket. He signed Between Thought and Expression and, since I slid it to him quietly, a CD copy of New Sensations. I also snuck a picture of him looking glum. Finally, at UCLA, I saw him (in the same leather jacket) quietly walking into Royce Hall where we were all gathered to see Laurie Anderson - whom he would later marry.
Yes, in Boston around 1996. I thought it was cool that the venue had been the last home of the Boston Tea Party and that the Velvet Underground had played there in August 1969. Some nitwit threw a bottle of water at him as he left the stage, which ended a nice night on a sour note. I also saw him reading his lyrics in '91 and the reunion interview with Moe and Doug at the NYPL in 2009.
Once, on the New York tour. Great show. I was never a huge fan, but I liked the NY album a lot. Rock and Roll Animal too, so I was interested in seeing him. The first set was all from the NY album, almost every song on it. After an intermission, set 2 was older stuff. I didn’t know every song, but I liked it all anyhow. Rob Wasserman on bass was a great addition to the band. After the show, Lou actually signed some autographs in the alley behind the theater. Someone asked him to personalize it and Lou responded “I don’t have time for that,” which made me chuckle. That’s the Lou Reed I’d always read about! Later that same summer (‘89) he was supposed to be on part of a mini alt-rock festival at Alpine Valley, along with Elvis Costello, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, and Cowboy Junkies. Lou broke his leg a week before the show though, so the Violent Femmes subbed at the last minute. That was still a great show too. Cowboy Junkies, Brickell, and the Femmes each did a Lou song during their sets, to make up for his not being there I guess.
84 or 85 in L.A. for New Sensations tour. Played everything too fast like his shirt was on fire. No subtlety.
New York tour - Munchen 1989 Set the Twilight... - Vienna 199? Ecstasy - Ljubljana 200? Few years later in Ljubljana again With Velvet Underground: Prague and Udine (Italy) 1994
1998 in NYC for the Sessions at West 54th St taping. Very cool experience. My wife (then girlfriend) were living together and going to school in Columbus, OH. I won tickets online (can't remember if it was Lou's or Sessions website) by answering Lou trivia questions. I ended up winning twice and got 4 tickets so I invited a friend. We didn't have the money to stay overnight in NYC so we took a bus there, arrived a couple hours before the show, saw the show and then slept at the bus station for a few hours before catching a bus home. Totally worth it. I planned to keep the 4th ticket untorn as a souvenir but there was a guy who really wanted to see the show and asking around to buy a ticket so I gave it to him. It's nice to be able to relive it with the recording of the TV broadcast. I keep wishing they'd release the whole show. The official Sessions DVD comp with Twilight on it looks and sounds great. Quite a bit better than the broadcast (which actually had half the songs in mono for some reason - this was an issue with the production of the TV show as all broadcasts were like this, including the digital broadcasts on Trio as well as a VHS screener I once had. Twilight was one of the mono tracks on the TV show but is mixed into stereo and 5.1 on the comp DVD so it wasn't an issue with how it was recorded). I've also seen an audience audio bootleg of the whole show on a trade list but have had no luck in getting a hold of it.
I saw him at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne in 1977 and thought it was a cool gig. I still have the ticket. Also saw him play a short solo set with just him and his guitar at the Alternative Nations festival in 1995 and thought that was disappointing. Didn't seem to fit the bill at all.
