Velvet Underground - "Velvet Redux: Live MCMXCII" DVD

Every successful band needs one or more points of differentiation from all the other bands out there. Velvet Underground had several:

• Regular use of a viola as a primary instrument
• A female drummer who played standing up and inverted her bass kit so she could play with sticks rather than foot pedals (actually three points of differentiation in one)
• Andy Warhol as their manager

In spite of their distinctive differences, VU was not a particularly successful band by commercial standards. They did and do have a loyal fan following, and a legacy of having influenced virtually every experimental genre from punk to noise rock. The Velvets are an acquired taste musically, but even their detractors will admit that they were an extremely influential group.

The band existed from 1965 until 1973. In 1993, the original lineup -- Lou Reed (vocals / guitar), John Cale (vocals / bass / keyboards /viola), Maureen “Moe” Tucker (drums / vocals) and Sterling Morrison (guitar / bass / vocals) – reunited briefly for a European tour.

Velvet Redux: Live MCMXCIII was filmed over the course of three concerts at L’Olympia Theater in Paris during that 1993 reunion tour. It was released on VHS shortly afterward, but is now available for the first time on DVD.

What’s New

• Performance of the song, “Coyote”
• Digitally remastered 5.1 Surround Sound audio
• Crisper video on DVD than on VHS

Regardless of all the avante garde experimentation, VU was at its core a rock ‘n’ roll band. That is quite evident in their performances of “I Heard Her Call My Name,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “White Light/White Heat.” “Hey Mr. Rain” becomes a 15-minute improvisation that demonstrates each band member’s solid musicianship.

What’s To Like

• The band did have several moderately successful singles, but this package goes well beyond the “hits” with performances of some of their rarer work
• The selected songs are representative of VU’s willingness to tackle heavy subjects like drug addiction, racism, and deviant sexual behavior
• The group’s stylistic diversity and quirky stage presence are both very much in evidence even 20 years after their breakup

It’s easy to see why band members always felt they sounded better in live performances than in the studio. They seem to work together smoothly, belying an undercurrent of tension and controversy. Reed had fired Cale from the band in 1969 over “creative differences” – also sometimes known as “clashing egos.” In fact, those differences were so great that they also resulted in the premature end of the 1993 reunion tour, which never made it to America.

The CD version of this video had several “bonus” tracks that are not included in the video.

The “new” song, “Coyote” is not only the weakest one in the set, it is the show closer, and doesn’t, as the old show biz adage teaches, leave us wanting more.

Moe Tucker’s solo vocal performance consists of a rather silly nursery rhyme.

Bottom Line

Although this DVD doesn’t tell the whole story of Velvet Underground, it provides a good basic education for anyone who is curious about the roots of alternative rock. Longtime VU fans (and you know who you are) will be happy to live without the creases and dropout on those old VHS tapes.

Although you won’t see the band the way it was in the ‘60s and ‘70s, what you will see is a fitting tribute by the band to its own memory.