The first glimpse of a legend sorta does something to you. There he stood, larger than life itself, larger than tee vee even, in his surgeon’s greens, tar black hair cropped short and the cut of that jaw; reminded me of Mr. Spock gone berserk, sans ears of course.

Slamming out "Mercenaries" John’s New Wave Band was a cut above mere competence and provided an excellent framework from which Cale launched his protests/attacks on form. The band was young and tight. The guitarist was a bit heavy handed at times but silky smooth. Drummer, keyboard player and chanteuse all sang excellent harmony and handled their instrumental chores well.

Except for one tune late in the set which was handled by the lovely blond percussionist it was John Cale in the limelight and he delivered one of the most intense individual performances I have ever witnessed. The former Velvet Underground bassist switched back and forth between guitar, fretless bass, electric piano and viola as the composition demanded. John did a bit of crooning, a bit of droning and a bit of straight ahead rock’n’roll topped off by a rousing encore of the Modern Lover’s "Pablo Piccaso" but sadly the general apathy displayed by most of the audience failed to bring the mad Welshman back a second time.

bmodern

photo of John Cale by Gary Indiana