(Press Release) Eagle Rock Entertainment, the leading independent source for high quality music audio/visual programming, will release Lou Reed: Live at Montreux 2000, a DVD performance from one of the rock era’s true iconoclasts at Europe’s most prestigious music festival. The release hits stores on November 1. Here, Reed demonstrates that his combination of thoughtful, affecting lyrics on mortality and dysfunctional relationships and alternately subtle and furious songcraft is as potent as ever. He’s backed by his longtime band: guitarist Mike Rathke, drummer Tony “Thunder” Smith, and bass player, Fernando Saunders. Together, the band makes an incredibly lean, mean springboard for Reed’s often searing guitar solos.
The show is largely comprised of songs from Ecstasy, Reed’s acclaimed 2000 album, although there’s a smattering of tunes from other albums: “Turn to Me” is from 1984’s New Sensations, “Dirty Blvd. “ “Dime Store Mystery” and “Romeo had Juliette“ are culled from 1989’s “New York,” “Smalltown” is from 1990’s Songs for Drella, and “Riptide” and “Set the Twilight Reeling” are from the album named for the latter. And then there’s “Perfect Day,” a song from 1972’s Transformer that gained a new life through the film Trainspotting.
Reed’s contribution to rock and roll music is voluminous. He led the Velvet Underground in the 1960’s, not only providing lyrics and music that was 180 degrees away from the prevailing rock music context but writing such standards as “I’m Waiting for My Man,” “White Light/White Heat” and “Sweet Jane.” In the 1970s, his persona set the template for a thousand punk rock fans, while also penning “Walk On the Wild Side” and “Perfect Day.”
The novelistic detail of albums like New York, Magic and Loss, and the state of the art recording techniques and finely wrought guitar solos throughout his music render Reed a force to be reckoned with. In 2003, he released The Raven, a complete reworking of Edgar Allan Poe’s horror masterpiece. That same year Reed also released NYC Man - The Collection, a compilation of his greatest hits spanning his days in the Velvet Underground through his current solo material. In 2004, Reed released Animal Serenade, which was recorded live at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. Spanish Fly, a DVD of his live concert shot in Spain, was released in 2005.
In 1996, Lou was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Reed was designated as AMERICAN MASTER in 1998 for the award-winning PBS documentary series, and “Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart” won the Grammy for Best Long Form Documentary Video. In addition, he was awarded the Chevalier Commander of Arts and Letters by the French government.
Emotion in Action, a double book edition of Lou Reed’s photographs was published in October 2003 by 7L and Gerhard Steidl. Reed is currently working on a new photo book entitled Lou Reed’s New York. Comprising over one hundred of Reed’s photographs of New York, the book is an intimate view of what inspires him and what he sees and encounters on a daily basis.
Lou Reed: Live at Montreux 2000 is presented in PCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS audio. The DVD has a total running time of 112 minutes and a list price of $14.98.
DVD Track Listing:
1) “Paranoia Key Of E”
2) “Turn To Me”
3) “Modern Dance”
4) “Ecstasy”
5) “Smalltown”
6) “Future Farmers Of America”
7) “Turning Around Time”
8) “Romeo Had Juliette”
9) “Riptide”
10) “Rock Minuet”
11) “Mystic Child”
12) “Tatters”
13) “Set The Twilight Reeling”
14) “Dirty Blvd”
15) “Dime Store Mystery”
16) “Perfect Day”
