Founding Velvet Underground member John Cale has announced he will be performing the band’s 1967 masterpiece The Velvet Underground & Nico in its entirety next month.
A one-night-only event which will take place at the Philharmonie de Paris on April 3rd, the show will include a myriad of special musical guests helping Cale bring the classic to the stage.
Famous associates who will take the stage with Cale include American indie rock supergroup Animal Collective, Pete Doherty and Carl Barât of The Libertines, and others.
A legendary musician in his own right, Cale has produced or performed with John Cage, LCD Soundsystem, Brian Eno, and the Replacements, as well as written and recorded over 30 solo albums.
An inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cale left The Velvet Underground in 1968, shortly after The Velvet Underground & Nico came out, but he remained close with all members of the band.
An album which has a massive cult following, The Velvet Underground & Nico was made in collaboration with famed pop artist Andy Warhol, who designed the iconic banana logo with which the band would become associated. An experimental batch of 11 songs which was fronted by legendary singer and songwriter Lou Reed, the album was initially a commercial failure and was almost completely ignored by rock critics at the time.
Despite it’s initial lack of success, those who came in contact with the album loved it, and sales grew steadily in the years following its debut. These days, The Velvet Underground & Nico is considered by many to be among the best rock albums ever recorded.
Tickets for the upcoming show are already sold out, but that likely won’t stop some hardcore fans buying aftermarket tickets and flying to Paris — especially with such a star-studded cast of world class musicians playing the iconic songs that evening.
