"Lou Reed"
Equipment: LOMO LC-A Date: October
2000
Lou Reed has always been more popular in Europe and Japan than he ever was in his native United States. It was nearly a sold-out performance at the Shibuya Kokaidon (the last word effectively means "civic center') where I finally got to see him perform. Most of the songs he played that night were from his latest release, Ecstasy, although he did throw out a few of his older, recognizable tunes, like "Romeo Had Juliet" from 1989's New York and "Small Town" from Songs for Drella (1990). His encores were also pulled out of the past: "Sweet Jane" from his days with the Velvet Underground, "Vicious" from 1972's Transformer and "Perfect Day" from the Trainspotting soundtrack. Oddly enough, he didn't play the one song he is known for in the U.S. -- "Walk on the Wild Side" -- but I didn't even think about it until I was walking back to the train station after the show. One humorous note about the show: a friend of mine was sitting next to me and she leaned over to comment, "he doesn't talk much to the audience, does he?" To which I replied, "Well, it is mostly Japanese." Good point...