Music

Lou Reed booed during improv performance in Montreal

by Ciaran Thompson

This past weekend at the Montreal International Jazz Festival Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and John Zorn played, according to Reed, a “100% improvised” set. Recently the Velvet Underground singer has been touring his 1975 opus Metal Machine Music, often seen as abrasive or avant-garde depending how big a fan you are of his music. The folks attending the show Friday night expecting to hear that classic deep voice on “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Heroin” were left disappointed, but not after they gave the singer a piece of their mind through booing.

Over 1,000 ticket holders showed up to the gig and according to a review in the Globe and Mail, it consisted of four instrumentals and an encore. The only instruments used were Reed’s guitar, Anderson’s violin and keyboard and Zorn’s alto saxophone. There was no singing or rhythm section.

The description of the program hinted at Reed’s Velvet Underground catalog and once the set began some audience members became restless and proceeded to shout and boo the performers. In response to this Zorn said, “If you don’t think it’s music, then get the fuck outta here.” Some actually left and probably contemplated what else they could have done with the almost $100 it cost to attend the show. [Guardian]