Back in June of this year, John Cale took to the stage at the Beacon Theatre in New York City to perform as part of the Grammy Salute To Music Legends. The standout moment of the performance came when he brought out his Velvet Underground bandmate Moe Tucker to reprise the Lou Reed-penned classic, “I’m Waiting For The Man.” Cale sung his partner’s lines while playing a keyboard. Just behind him, Tucker of course added some percussion via a woodblock.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Cale reflected on the creation of his group’s seminal, banana-covered album The Velvet Underground & Nico. “We really developed all the music that was on the Banana Album,” he said. We never spent that amount of time on any of the other material after that. We became a road band, and the thing about a road band is that you put the backbeat in there no matter what and you’re safe. And if you start doing something strange, like ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ or ‘Black Angel’s,’ then people stand there with their mouths open.”
Cut up clips of the reunion had spring up here and there, but you can now finally catch the entire thing in the video above. PBS plans on airing the full concert this Friday, October 13, as part of their Great Performances series at 9 PM Eastern time. For all you cord-cutters out there, you can stream the show here.
