Concert Review: Lou in Hamilton, New Zealand 1977

[MJG196]

Lou Reed at the Founders Theatre, Hamilton, 1977

Too young for Reed’s tours of 1974 and 1975 – but a huge fan of the Bowie-influenced glam masterpiece that was Transformer – I made damn sure that I wouldn’t miss out a third time. In unlikely support at Hamilton’s Founders Theatre was the wonderful Lea Maalfrid, ex Ragnarok. She was a revelation. The power of one woman sitting alone at a grand piano singing a bunch of great original songs (such as ‘Lavender Mountain’, for which she won the 1977 APRA Silver Scroll award) was a huge eye-opener for me and I loved her set. Regrettably, many, even most, of the audience took a very different view and treated her badly, baying loud and long for the arrival onstage of the rock’n’roll animal. I suspect many of the assembled throng were experiencing altered states of consciousness – part of Lou’s attraction, right? Nevertheless, it was pretty disgraceful; considerable applause ensued when Lea finished her set but mostly for the wrong reasons. Reed was everything we’d hoped for: all of the classics, all of the attitude, and the absolute epitome of effortless cool. We got treated to his famous grumpiness when the theatre management stupidly intervened and insisted that the dancing stop and we all resumed our seats. Reed got spitting mad about it and it even seemed that he might not continue. Finally, though, he got it together and acerbically offered to play a ballad so we could all jerk off in our seats instead of dancing. He then spent the rest of the gig moody and dark. Which was fine. What a legend. Stupid management. Did they really think we’d be able to stay sitting down during the likes of ‘Sweet Jane’?

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/scenes/t ... aland-glam