The legendary Lou Reed, who passed away this weekend, influenced countless bands through his solo work and his time with The Velvet Underground, and many of those acts — including Arcade Fire, Peal Jam, Neil Young, Arctic Monkeys and others — paid tribute to the man with impromptu live covers on Sunday and Monday night.
Arcade Fire’s NPR “First Listen” session was planned as a promotional gig to support their just-released album “Reflektor,” but was transformed into a Reed tribute on Monday night. The Montreal band paid tribute to Reed
with a medley of two well-known songs found on Reed’s David Bowie-produced 1972 set “Transformer.”
Listen to the full performance at NPR, and hear AF play “Perfect Day” and “Satellite of Love” around the 17:20 mark, along with their own track “Supersymmetry.”
On the same night, Arctic Monkeys also paid homage to Reed with a faithful take on his salacious hit “Walk on the Wild Side” (also found on “Transformer”) at a gig in Liverpool.
Watch the Monkeys go “Wild” here:
Meanwhile, Pearl Jam treated the Baltimore crowd to a spirited version of the early Reed staple “I’m Waiting for the Man,” from The Velvet Underground’s 1967 debut album.
Watch it here:
Finally, at Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit, Young joined My Morning Jacket, Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis, and others for a laid-back, 9-minute take on to the beautiful “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’,” from the 1970 V.U. album “Loaded,” Reed’s last outing with the Velvets.
Watch that here: