Sixty-four year old Welshman John Cale
made his name as founding member of seminal 60s band the Velvet Underground,
that included Lou Reed.
In the intervening years since they split in 1973, Cale has continued to be a
cult figure, though commercially he’s faired less well than Reed. This
excellent collection of career spanning compositions, (40 years) is unlikely
to change anything, sadly.
Using a more expansive setlist and band compared to the one I witnessed at
Central Station Wrexham in January, Circus Live is a much better gig
than the one I saw. Like his Wrexham visit, it includes Save Us, Helen Of
Troy, Walking The Dog, Dirty Ass Rock And Roll, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue
and Pablo Picasso, all of which went down well.
Added here are tracks from his last album blackAcetate (2005),
– Outta The Bag, Hush and Woman, along with credits to Lou Reed,
Rufus Thomas, Jonathan Richmond and Elvis Presley et al.
From first-hand experience, Cale’s music can be emotionally moving to down
right average; however it’s interesting listening, particularly for devotees.
On to trademark (and annoying) drone, Cale and co. get stuck in to VU single
Venus In Furs, followed by thumping rustic rocker Femme Fatale
complete with wiry solos by Dustin Boyer……with his rockier edge continuing on
rasping Helen Of Troy bursting with more solos from Boyer and bumper
stick-bashing by Michael Jerome.
From blackAcetate, Woman chugs along nicely – this is Cale at
his most accessible. One of his better rock sojourns is the dirty-funky
Outta The Box: this rasping blast is a CD 1 highlight that contains
some deft axework by Boyer.
On a mellower note, Cale can pull-off some quality ballads – Buffalo Ballet
and Set Me Free are amongst his best songs, a gentle plodder that
showcases his baritone voice, sounding strangely like Bruce Springsteen on
his quieter moments. There are equally good songs like quirky Femme Fatale
written by Reed.
A song about his favourite painter Magritte the famous surreal Belgian artist
is a sombre affair with stirring violin. Rounding off CD 1, rock-belter
Dirty Ass Rock And Roll thrills the crowd.
Walking The Dog with
slicing riffs form side-kick Boyer and catchy chorus, even if the lyrics are
limited.
Eccentricity finally surfaces on Gun, a slap-dash cacophonous waster
and almost pointless effort, as is the 4 minutes of weird drone that leads
into the masterful Amsterdam Suite. Soft and gentle Hanky Panky
Nohow restores some semblance of musical credibility; with the ominous
Mercenaries (Ready For War) is a poignant reminder of the state of the
world.
Pablo Picasso, a rugged blast restores the Rock fever with an
almost jam flavour over 12 minutes. Cale clearly has a thing about drones,
so we’re left with one again, for the outro.
1. Venus In Furs
2. Save Us
3. Helen Of Troy
4. Woman
5. Buffalo Ballet
6. Femme Fatale/Funeral Rosegarden Of Sores
7. Hush
8. Outta The Bag
9. Set Me Free
10. The Ballad Of Cable Hogue
11. Look Horizon
12. Magritte
13. Dirty Ass Rock And Roll
Disc 2:
1. Walking The Dog
2. Gun
3. Hanky Panky Nohow
4. Pablo Picasso/Mary Lou
5. DRONE – into Amsterdam Suite
6. Zen
7. Style It Takes
8. Heartbreak Hotel
9. Mercenaries (Ready For War)
10. Outro Drone
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
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
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
