With the Celeb Big Brother storm raging and gale force winds battering Britain,
could a 64 year-old rock icon stir up his own type of storm in his native Wales?
For almost 42 years, Welshman John (Davies) Cale has enjoyed cult status
around the globe. As founding member of seminal rock outfit Velvet Underground,
which included Lou Reed, Cale has gone on to burrow a fascinating musical
career.
The fruits of his labour haven’t exactly been rewarded in terms of major
commercial success. Recognition did eventually come in the mid-80s with album
V.U. and finally in 2002 with the resurfacing of Velvet Underground &
Nico, and one single Venus In Furs which peaked at a lowly 71 in the
UK charts. As a solo artist he’s never charted here.
Nevertheless, he’s still a magnet for musos who still regard VU as an
influential band.
On his homecoming gig, the first of his UK and European tour, he eventually
emerged from the shadows following an endless - and annoying - drone that
seemed to go on for ever. Coming on to rapturous applause, the seasoned
veteran beamed with delight, saying, "Hello Wrexham, nice to see you."
It was straight down to business from his 16-song setlist over 90 minutes,
opening with a great rocker Read My Mind from album Hobosapiens.
From then on, he meandered through more rockers, the best being - Turn The
Lights On – a grungy rocker layered with wailing guitar by Dustin Boyer,
Dirty Ass Rock And Roll an almost tribal affair with dirty riffs and
crunching chords which brought a huge roar, to the shuffling rhythm of Fear,
through to keyboard-led Ghost Story with plenty of his classical
training on show.
There were also acoustic ballads like the stunning gentle lament Big White
Cloud from recent flick Smokin’ Aces (Ben Affleck/Andy Garcia –
Universal Pictures).
Loud clapping and cheering predictably brought an encore – one song, Chorale,
followed by, “Nos Da!” and he was off.
The night was an excellent choice of songs, from albums Fear, Vintage
Violence, Guts, Blackacetate, Sabotage Live and Island Years, where
Cale effortlessly switched between keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars
reinforcing his credentials as a major force on the rock scene. He was
supported by his all-American band – Dustin Boyer (guitar), Michael Jerome
(drums) and Joe Karnes (bass).
Central Station promoter Aled Owens said, "It’s been an honour to host a
living Welsh legend at our venue. Thanks to all the music lovers who turned
up from far and wide to see this show. It’s a real feather in our cap and
ranks alongside the likes of Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin who we’ve had play
in the past."
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
It was straight down to business from his 16-song setlist over 90 minutes,
opening with a great rocker Read My Mind from album Hobosapiens.
From then on, he meandered through more rockers, the best being - Turn The
Lights On – a grungy rocker layered with wailing guitar by Dustin Boyer,
Dirty Ass Rock And Roll an almost tribal affair with dirty riffs and
crunching chords which brought a huge roar, to the shuffling rhythm of Fear,
through to keyboard-led Ghost Story with plenty of his classical
training on show.
The night was an excellent choice of songs, from albums Fear, Vintage
Violence, Guts, Blackacetate, Sabotage Live and Island Years, where
Cale effortlessly switched between keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars
reinforcing his credentials as a major force on the rock scene. He was
supported by his all-American band – Dustin Boyer (guitar), Michael Jerome
(drums) and Joe Karnes (bass).
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
