REED FALLS SHORT ON INSPIRATION, BUT A FEW BRIGHT SPOTS EMERGE.Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Critic Noun 1. music critic - a critic of musical performances critic - a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art On his "Magic and Loss" album, Lou Reed Lou Reed, born Lewis Allen Reed[1] March 2, 1942, is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground (1965-1973). told how life's magic can transform loss into something far greater. The fans who turned up for the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of rocker's sadly uninspired performance Monday at the Wiltern Theatre The Wiltern Theatre and adjacent 12-story Pellissier Building are an Art Deco landmark located on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as simply the Wiltern. in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. could have used a little of the same juju. Reed in concert these days is always an iffy if·fy adj. if·fi·er, if·fi·est Informal Doubtful; uncertain: an iffy proposition. [From if. proposition, but bolstered by a well-received collection of new songs and some radio play, it was hoped Reed would turn in the sort of raw, urgent and unpredictable show he was known for in the '70s. Instead, Reed, with three other musicians, offered perfunctory, lethargic readings of early favorites like "Sweet Jane," "Satellite of Love" and "Walk on the Wild Side," ignored material from his two best albums of the last 10 years, "New York" and "Songs for Drella," and focused largely on humorless reinterpretations of numbers from his current disc, "Set the Twilight Reeling." Still, Reed has a legion of enthusiastic fans out there, so the evening was peppered with screams from the crowd along the lines of "Yeah, Lou!" and just plain "Lou." Nobody seemed to notice that just plain Lou's guitar was annoyingly out of tune on the recent album's midtempo "Hang Onto Your Emotions." With the mountain of high-tech electronic gear Reed ran his guitar through, he may want to add a digital tuner A digital tuner is a tuning device that allows a television or radio set to receive signals via airwaves, satellite, or cable and translates them into a signal the device can display. . Or maybe even a human one. On the other hand, Reed's out-of-tune guitar was perfectly in sync with his out-of-tune vocals. Maybe there's a method in the madness, after all. But not much humor. During an encore version of the mediocre three-chord workout, "Hookywooky," Reed attempted a monologue that poked fun at his "living legend" status. It just came off sounding arrogant, as did the ritual of making the audience scream and yell for a good 10 minutes before Reed and company returned to the stage. The night wasn't a total loss, even if it did lack magic. Among the standouts were stirring readings of "Magic and Loss" and "Strawman," both tunes fueled by the explosive drumming of Tony Smith. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo Lou Reed is on the road to support his "Set the Twilight Reeling" album, but his Wiltern Theatre show ignores much of his best work from the last decade. |
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