Happy Aloha Friday!
On October 27th 2013, ten years ago today, Phish took the stage at the XL Center and dropped into a cover of Lou Reed’s “Rock and Roll” Just a few hours prior to the show, it had been announced that Lou Reed, musician, poet, punk, addict, visionary, etc…ad infinitum…had died. The cover was a glowing tribute owing to the fact that, when cultural phenomena occurred, Phish typically ignored referencing it in their music. So, to open the show with this cover signaled that Lou had had a heavy influence on the band, which Trey acknowledged at the conclusion of the song, calling for a brief moment of silence.
Lou Reed was an enigmatic tour de force, equal parts puzzling and brilliant, drizzled with humor and an unhealthy dose of contentiousness. Born in Brooklyn, his rise to fame of public notoriety was as crooked a path as his long time love affair with drugs and alcohol. But Lou survived, created, annoyed, tested the limits of just about everything. Never a wholly popular figure, he was known to inject rumors about himself into the media for them to happily lap up. Many have said it better, but no one quite like Lester Bangs, so please, please, please click this link and take 10 minutes out of your day to read the article.
And for halloween’s sake, please ensure that you keep the spirits alive and embibe some “Hocus Pocus” before Halloween careens with Thanksgiving and all we are left with is Hallmark Christmas movies deep into Q1 (narrator’s note, I am actually a little obsessed with Hallmark Christmas movies…yikes)!? And enjoy the below tracks as we celebrate the life of Lou Reed!
