Lou Reed's Berlin- State Theatre, Sydney, 18 January 2007.

It's only the second time that Reed has performed the entirety of Berlin. Last december he debuted this rendition at the Arts At St Ann's Festival in New York. Reed meant the production as a one-off, originally coaxed by Susan Feldman, the organisation's artistic director into turning Berlin in a stage-like production, but invited by the Sydney Festival-organisation he took the opportunity to take the show on the road and sell out 3 nights in Sydney within minutes.

Berlin par excellence is a themed symphonic album that leans itself very nicely for a complete live-rendition rather than the occasional song Reed has played during live concerts. The stage setting for it is very fitting; the apartment where the doomed lovers Caroline and Jim stay is viewed from above, couch and all suspended from the roof and on that background filmscenes are projected to illustrate the story and its dramatis personae. It's the band however that are centre stage; Reed's trusty companions are Steve Hunter (guitar), Fernando Saunders (bass), Rob Wasserman (bass/electric cello), Tony 'Thunder' Smith (drums), Rupert Christie (keyboards), backing vocalists Sharon Jones and Antony completed with a seven man-strong brass/string section and the Australian Youth Choir fill the smallish stage of this awesome 19th century theatre in the heart of Sydney. The artyness fits right in with the purpose of the performance- Lou Reed's Berlin is part of the pretentious Sydney Festival and the good bourgeois denizens of art are here to take in this debauched rock 'n roll-tale in symphonic style.

So is it rock and roll theatre or pomp and circumstance? In uptempo songs like Caroline Says I, How Do You Think it Feels and Sad Song there is the danger of veering dangerously into Pink Floyd-pomp territory, however it stays just within tasteful boundaries due to the lack of domineering synthesizers, the small number of the accompanying strings, brass and choir and (perhaps) the sobering influence of Hal Wilner who, together with album producer Bob Ezrin are in charge of the musical production- the sound is meticulously crisp, the arrangements complex but clean and not overcrowding the overall sound.
Lou Reed looks relaxed, his supple vocals reflecting this and though in some of his few guitar solos he shows a bit of edgyness, he gels the band together. Steve Hunter ripped right through Lady Day on Rock 'n Roll Animal, here he is more subtle in this lush decor, substituting his acoustic genteel (especially in The Bed) and electric guitar with consummate ease. They play the full album in its original track sequence, only adding to the playing time of several songs. The overall quality of the performance is high, only Lady Day suffers slightly from early tension nerves and in The Bed Lou drops the singing to his narrating voice which gets boring (it's also a pity that the eerie, mournful harmonium on the album has been removed, reducing the spooky character of the song quite a bit); next to that Caroline Says II radiates because of Hunter's sublime guitarplay and closer Sad Song's is almost gospel in Spiritualized-style, bringing the house down and rendering the formerly known Most Depressing Album to resurrected joyous glory.

There are encores, even though the announcement at the front door does state that there wouldn't be any; finally Sharon Jones, who like her backing vocal partner hadn't had any opportunities to shine is being unleashed and takes Sweet Jane to a soulful nirvana; Antony raptures the crowd by adding his croon to duet Lou in Candy Says and, true to form, Reed himself cannot help to add a bit of unease to the final track Rock Minuet where he turns up the fuzz on his guitar and tells his final perverted tale.

"This is an evening to press inbetween the crumbling leaves of Fall" murmurs Lou in the programme book of the show. This show has indeed transformed sweltering Sydney summer heat to autumnal cool for an hour and a half. Awesome.