Berlin in Brooklyn

Lou Reed performed his Berlin album in its entirety last night at St. Anns Warehouse in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The opening song, Berlin, was a bit shaky but man did it get intense after that. I've never, ever, been in an audience that sat so still - so rapt - and was so quiet the entire show, clapping where appropriate excepted. It was like watching a movie. The performance got more mesmerizing with every song. Imagine sitting through this famous song cycle as Lou sings of cut wrists and broken arms. Original producer Bob Ezrin was on hand along with Steve Hunter and Fernando Saunders among the many other great musicians who joined Lou for this first of four nights. I was surprised, happily, when Lou encored with Sweet Jane, Candy Says (which as some commented, is now "owned" by Antony, who traded verses with Lou), and Rock Minuet.

I've never not gotten teary-eyed at the Kids. Last night was no different, but I'll admit now that Berlin's never been my favorite Lou Reed album. I've always thought the Velvet's versions of Caroline Says were much better than the Berlin version.

The party afterwards was a real surprise. Great eats and fun crowd. Here's the top of my head list: my guest, Rob Santos; my aisle-mate Bill Flanagan; David Fricke; Sacks & Co's Blake Zidell; Dan Zanes; the NY Post's Mary Huhn; Letterman booker Sheila Rogers; producer Hal Wilner, a news reporter for a major daily newspaper who's not so into blogs; and Anthony DeCurtis.