This summer saw the European Tour of Lou Reed’s rock symphony Berlin.

Lou and his band (Steve Hunter – guitars, Fernando Saunders – bass, Tony ‘Thunder’ Smith – drums, Rob Wasserman – upright and electric bass, Rupert Christie – keyboards and Katie Krykant – vocals) were accompanied by the New London Children’s Choir and a chamber scale LMO comprising Andy Brown and Cathy Thompson – violas, Chris Fish – cello, Anthony Pike – clarinet and bass clarinet, Noel Langley – trumpet, Pete Beachill – tenor trombone and Pat Clahar – alto sax and flute.

The tour took in Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Manchester, London (Apollo, Hammersmith), Lyon, Arles, Rome, Arezzo, Milan, Turin, Cremona and Cagliari (Sardinia).

The shows were rapturously received by audiences and critics alike for what Lou Reed has described as a once in a lifetime performance:

‘I do this sort of concert once every thirty years – only once. So you will be able to tell your children that you saw Berlin by Lou Reed’

Berlin was written in 1973 and marked an abrupt shift from Lou’s previous glam-rock work. A concept album (a genre also tackled by the Who’s Tommy from the same period), it tells the story of Jim, a bitter and forlorn husband, whose wife Caroline is consumed by drugs and despair, losing her children to social service authorities and subsequently killing herself.

The Berlin tour ran from June 17 – July 15 2007. For more information visit www.loureed.com where more photos of the tour are available.