A star-studded tribute to Lou Reed at South by Southwest tonight (March 13) culminated with Reed and Moby performing an extended jam of the Velvet Underground man’s classic tune ‘Walk On The Wild Side’.
The veteran rocker was honoured by a total of 11 acts including Sonic Youth‘s Thurston Moore & The New Wave Bandits, My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo, Dr. Dog, Joseph Arthur and Oh No! Oh My!
Each band performed one or more seminal tracks by Reed or the Velvet Underground to celebrate the release of the new film ‘Berlin’, which chronicles Reed‘s historic five-night stint in 1973 at St Ann‘s warehouse in Brooklyn where he performed the album ‘Berlin’ in its entirety.
None of the bands got particularly sentimental during the two-and-a-half hour tribute at the Fader Fort, saying little more than “Thank you” or “It’s an honour to be a part of this,” during their performances.
Still the crowd remained enthusiastic, even after queuing for hours to get inside the venue.
Moby, the last act on the bill, commended the audience on their endurance before launching into the Velvet Underground’s ‘Femme Fatale’ with a full band and a trio of female vocalists.
Then Reed himself joined Moby on stage to sing and play guitar, and the crowd went wild. At the end of the song, the audience cheered for several minutes. Reed raised his fists in the air and said, “I love punk rock and I was the first one.”
The bands played:
What Laura Says Thinks And Feels – ‘Run Run Run’
Paper Route – ‘Vanishing Act’
Oh No! Oh My! – ‘Sunday Morning’, ‘Candy Says’
Yo La Tengo – ‘She’s My Best Friend’, ‘I Found A Reason’
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons – ‘Heroin’, ‘New Age’
Mark Kozelek – ‘Caroline Says’, ‘The Kids’
My Morning Jacket – ‘Head Held High’, ‘Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
Joseph Arthur – ‘Pale Blue Eyes’, ‘Venus In Furs’
Dr. Dog – ‘Who Loves The Sun’, ‘Ride Into The Sun’
Thurston Moore & the New Wave Bandits – ‘I’m Not A Young Man Anymore’
Moby – ‘Walk On The Wild Side’, ‘Femme Fatale’ (with Lou Reed)
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