Way to go out Uncle Lou.... New York Times November 14, 2013, 3:45 pm Comment At Memorial for Lou Reed, Just Music By DAVE ITZKOFF Lou Reed lived what was often a loud rock ‘n’ roll life filled with loud rock ‘n’ roll songs. So it was only fitting that an outdoor memorial service held in Manhattan on Thursday began with an unannounced burst of guitar feedback, startling pigeons and passers-by alike, before it coalesced into the opening chords of his song “The Blue Mask,” on which Mr. Reed defiantly sang, “I loathe and despise repentance.” Mr. Reed, the pioneering musician and a founder of the lyrically decadent and highly influential rock band the Velvet Underground, died of liver disease on Oct. 27. He was 71. The modest service, which was open to the public and held at the Paul Milstein Pool and Terrace at Lincoln Center, consisted of amplified speakers spread around the campus, playing music from throughout Mr. Reed’s career of roughly half a century. Some attendees kept near the perimeter of the pool, nodding their heads in time to songs like “I’m So Free” and “Satellite of Love”; others danced in place and mouthed the lyrics to tunes like “Rock & Roll,” on which Mr. Reed sang of a young protagonist whose “life was saved” by the “fine, fine music” she discovered on a New York radio station. Elsewhere, a father and son rubbed noses in the cold air to the increasingly frenetic chords of the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin.” Two girls joined hands and spun in circles to “Venus in Furs,” another Velvet Underground track, about a leather-clad dominatrix. A brief note announcing the memorial on Mr. Reed’s Facebook page had vowed “no speeches” and “no live performances, just Lou’s voice, guitar music & songs – playing the recordings selected by his family and friends.” In keeping with those promises, there were no transitions between Mr. Reed’s songs, only short periods of silence filled with appreciative applause for an absent creator.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 21:05:48 +0000
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