JUNE 25TH, 2008 - EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

[gjthorn]

I've also never seen him looking so old - he really does look like the 66 year old man he is. I wonder how much longer he'll be able to keep this up.....

I've been reading a couple of reports like these of late.
At first I tended to dismis them, but since they are becoming more and more common I'm starting to worry about our dearest guy.
A very hasty marriage to Laurie Anderson, cancelling parts of the tour in Spain for 'health problems', numerous eye witness reports of people seeing Lou in poor condition, ... what is happening?

When I heard of the wedding I joked that it was so Laurie can legally make medical decisions for him...now I'm not so sure it's a joke.

[cc]

well, it's hard to tell if Lou Reed is running on low batteries these days, or just not giving a shit. It struck me that he was the person, of all involved, least excited about reviving Berlin when it happened. He's a great enough performer that the shows were terrific anyhow--at least the previous go-rounds, haven't heard the new tour yet--but most of his comments were to the effect of, well Julian Schnabel and the St. Ann's people thought it was a good idea, so... here we are. And much as I enjoy the NY Shuffle shows--and how many new bands I am picking up from them--he clearly is hearing most of the songs for the first time, then reading Wikipedia entries on the air and so on.

I also thought he sounded pretty beat on the recent tour... People who complained about the short sets didn't seem to make the connection that the guy is playing as long as he can. Because on the other hand, he seems to have an awful lot going on--trying to break the bank while he can still tour? I don't know...

as for Mike Rathke, it seems notable that as far as I know he has never been employed as a guitarist by anyone but Lou Reed. To me he's always seemed serviceable, but shows no signs of having his own style. It must be a strange relationship between them... does anyone have insight into this? I'll be interested to hear how he meshes into the Berlin band; maybe it'll free Lou up some more to focus on singing.

[Funcity]

I also thought he sounded pretty beat on the recent tour... People who complained about the short sets didn't seem to make the connection that the guy is playing as long as he can. Because on the other hand, he seems to have an awful lot going on--trying to break the bank while he can still tour? I don't know...

well i thought he sounded fine in person at the recent show in the states that i saw. actually i was surprised at how strong vocally he was and also how animated as well. for me it was a great show. also they weren't exactly short sets. he did play for about an hour and a half.......just seemed a bit short because he did extended versions of most everything. i would have ben thrilled with 1 or 2 more songs, not say, 10 or 12. i mean i just read that Pearl Jam did a 30 song set! at MSG last night, but i wasn't expecting anything like that from Reed. maybe he could do fewer gigs, but longer sets at this stage of his career? he did a long set in nashville so does appear to occasionally be able do a long gig. in any event, i quite admire his work ethic. he still seems to be quite productive.

also as for lou not "being excited" about Berlin, i don't think that was the case at all. i mean the bottom line in any creative endeavor is the work itself. the show i saw was just amazing. lou seemed to be totally enjoying himself. should he be fake and pretentious and
act like he gives a shit about something to an interviewer he doesn't personally know?

i think he is just taking on too many side projects like the "ask lou" section or 'lou's views" on his site. also he still does quite a few
public appearances/discussions/readings etc. in the ny area so maybe he might want to be a bit more selective in choosing his gigs
these days. maybe go full bore on stuff he really digs and chill out in his free time.

[geert]

as for Mike Rathke, it seems notable that as far as I know he has never been employed as a guitarist by anyone but Lou Reed. To me he's always seemed serviceable, but shows no signs of having his own style. It must be a strange relationship between them... does anyone have insight into this? I'll be interested to hear how he meshes into the Berlin band; maybe it'll free Lou up some more to focus on singing.

Well, the only thing I know about Mike Rathke is that he is married with the sister of Sylvia (Lou's ex-wife).
I wish he had never done that (i mean Mike).

I mean : Fernando, Steve, Julian, Tony........and Mike. He must feel bad in that team. Next time, I will ask Lou if I can join his group. I can play the maracas very well. They call me the "Bez" from the Happy Mondays.
Geert

[Thomas]

from what i've seen last night, Mike & Lou are still enjoying themselves together, Mike did the dick wagner part in Sad song (guitar harmony with steve) + great slide guitar on 'The Kids'...
to be honest I liked this berlin performance (= +Mike) more than last year.
and I don't think he feels bad in that team.