Lou Reed booed in Canada for free-improv set

 

Walk on the wilder side ... Lou Reed performs Metal Machine Music in London. Photograph: Jim Dyson/Getty Images

Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and John Zorn faced a furious crowd on Friday night, playing cacophonous music to a cacophony of boos at the Montreal International Jazz festival. Fans expecting Sweet Jane or Walk On the Wild Side were instead met by the skronk and skree of Reed's more recent free-jazz work, infuriating sections of the crowd. As audience members hollered their complaints, Zorn responded. "If you don't think it's music, then get the fuck outta here." Then the walk-outs began.

The nature of the concert shouldn't really have been a surprise. After all, Zorn is one of the world's leading avant-garde musicians and Anderson is preceded by a reputation for, er, eccentricity. Reed was once, yes, a wry urban troubadour – but that was decades ago. Recently he has been touring his controversial album, Metal Machine Music – a work so noisy and abrasive that for years many thought it was a joke.

However, there weren't any punch-lines at this gig, which attracted more than 1,000 fans – some paying almost $100 (£62) for tickets. The concert consisted of just four instrumentals plus encore, according to the Globe and Mail, with "no singing ... [and] no rhythm section". The only sounds were Anderson's violin and keyboard, Zorn's alto sax, and Reed's electric guitar. In an interview earlier that day, Reed had gleefully promised a "fearless night of non-rock", "100% improvised". But the jazz festival programme had been less clear in its description of the gig, hinting at Reed's Velvet Underground past.

Though Montreal is well-acquainted with "free" music, hosting one of North America's premier genre festivals, this was a headline performance at a middle-of-the-road jazz festival. What's more, it was at the festival's largest concert hall. So it didn't take long for the first boos to come. Initially, these complaints were misinterpreted as calls for "Louuuuu!" but soon the fans became more direct. "Play some real music!" one called.

But others loved it. "There were moments of stunning synchronicity," reflected Globe critic JD Considine. Montreal Gazette writer T'Cha Dunlevy was similarly moved. "Zorn's never-ending sax trills were mesmerising and Anderson's unexpected melodic offerings late in the show were like flowers in the rubble," he wrote. Another Gazette critic, Jordan Zivitz, called it "marvellous noise ... [with] numerous moments of telepathic playing".

"Yes, there were those who claimed to enjoy the cacophony of discordant noise lacking melody, style, beauty or skill," replied one Gazette reader. "[But] to label it correctly, it was pure elitist, pretentious rubbish." At least it wasn't recorded for dogs.

Sean Michaels @'The Guardian'