Yupsicle

The Velvet Underground - Mile End Sundown, London, England, November 30, 1972

Christmas (Yuletime?!) has arrived early for VU sickos this year — a kind soul on the Velvet Forum has shared a previously uncirculated audience recording of the post-Lou / post-Sterl / post-Moe lineup of the band. Unearthed from the collection of Bill Allerton, it captures Doug Yule, Rob Norris, George Kay and Mark Nauseef opening for none other than Electric Light Orchestra in London. Amusingly, Lou Reed had played the same venue just a few weeks prior — he must've absolutely loved hearing about his former group's upcoming gig!

This era of the Velvets is, of course, deeply inessential ... and yet, here I am listening to this tape and enjoying it! Like a real sicko. For some reason, the setlist features only one Loaded track — weird, since that's the VU record that Doug has his fingerprints all over. Instead, the band plays loose, Stonesy renditions of things like "Waiting For The Man," "Some Kinda Love," "What Goes On" and "White Light / White Heat" alongside a few Squeeze favorites.

Sparks do fly occasionally, especially on "Run Run Run" with Norris (I think) taking over on lead vocals and Yule firing off some Ostrich-worthy solos. "I'm not Lou Reed," Norris helpfully informs the crowd beforehand. Hey, it's a good thing to note — in 1971, even David Bowie had a long conversation with Doug believing he was chatting up Lou.

The response from the ELO heads on this late '72 night? Muted! But it's definitely better than the gig a few days before ...

Rob Norris: We had one really rough time in Cardiff — the club was supposed to pay us cash up front and they didn't, and our road manager said, "Well, then they're not going to play." We were in the dressing room and this real sleazy, low-brow guy with the club went on-stage and got these skinhead types all revved up, like "Well, they're here but our money's not good enough for them." They came after us and tried to bang down the door. It was George Kay who said, "Shit-ass punks aren't gonna bother us — we're gonna go out that door, we're gonna get in the car and get out of here, and they're not even gonna touch us." We formed a 'V' with the guitar cases, burst the door down and moved through the crowd, and they didn't bother us. But I was fearing for my life.