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John Cale Back in LA
John Cale, once a huge creative force with the Velvet
Underground, still carries a tune - soulful, bizarre and realistic,
one which brings a small but devoted following.
The man is a poet; a prophetic, tragic troubadour of our times. His
last show in LA was at The Whisky in March of 1980
- but it was an effective performance as I recall. But this June's show
at the same club was simply fantastic.
Saturday night, for the late show, Cale was lookin' well as he stepped
onstage to play for us - he was wearing shades and a blue spacesuit,
playing a bright red Hammer guitar. As the light illuminated him from
below, he looked powerful, an expressive artist ready for anything and
everything that could arise.
There is a certain wistfulness in the songs Cale does, you can hear
it in his voice, one that has grown from seeing people's unsated desires,
and from watching the direction of society become continually colder
and uglier. Somehow he has sardonically accepted this change... this
eerie romantic edge in Cale's music has caught his followers and held
them - the lyrics hold messages worth listening to (a far too seldom
occurrence in rock music).
But Cale sure rocks!!!
And his band sure knew how to rock on Saturday night! They had it all
down and the music flowed as easily as cream- not only were they all
superb musicians, but they had been on tour together for two months
before coming to LA. This made for some clean, hardcore rock and roll.
The music slips slips from 'Gay Paris' (a catchy bright melodic
piece) with Cale on guitar, to a song on which he plays electric piano,
singing about poor old widows 'hungry for their souls' waiting by the
docks for their sailor boys- "cold people getting colder'.
The music is tastefully arranged, rather dramatic, reaching the insides
of the listener... John Cale can only be fully appreciated when seen
live.
I've not time for more than a quick report on this, sometimes clocks
are ahead of people, so that's all there is to say about John Cale.
He'll seemingly always be there, and always return to the Whisky. Next
time around, I hope to see you there. He's a special one.
Rock On! ...The Zee
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