April 29, 1978 review: Lou Reed and Ian Dury at Buffalo State College

 


Down and dirty with an old pro and a new sensation on the upswing, courtesy of that adventurous concert committee at Buff State. 

April 29, 1978 

Rock ‘n Roll Returns With Grit, Polish 

          Lou Reed and Ian Dury celebrated the visceral in rock ‘n roll Friday night in Buffalo State College’s gymnasium. And they celebrated it hard.

          Reed, who came to prominence in the ‘60s with the Andy Warhol-sponsored Velvet Underground, found his grit in what the suburban middle class finds unthinkable.

          In his hit, “Walk on the Wild Side,” he explored sexual identities. In “Street Hassle,” the title song from his strong new album, he gave a fast-running rap about what to do with the body of an acquaintance’s ex-girlfriend.

          Trim and curly-haired, wearing a black tour T-shirt, Reed looked and sounded better than he has in years. No more basement bands from Yonkers for this rock ‘n roll animal. Booming behind him was a big quintet (including Moose, once bassist with the local band Freeze) and two women backup singers.

          Reed encored his brief set of mostly new tunes with a pair of classics – “Sweet Jane” and “Rock ‘n Roll” – but by then the physical conditions of the gym had thinned the crowd of 1,500 considerably.

          While the acoustics obliterated much of the sense from the vocals, the hard wooden bleachers and stifling heat combined to discourage the less fervid fans.

          Ian Dury also suffered acoustically, but not as much. Bred in the English pub scene, he bellowed his way through selections from his debut album, “New Boots and Panties,” while tossing stickers, buttons and scraps from his prop bag to the audience.

          Backed by a quintet that looked more like muggers than musicians, Dury, crippled by polio as a boy, bobbed about like a Joe Palooka punching bag doll. The physical gristle of his set finished with a joyous “Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n Roll.” Then he twirled a multicolored umbrella and, yes, smiled.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTOS: 1978 images of Lou Reed and Ian Dury with his band, the Blockheads.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: In 1978, Lou Reed had a new aura as a godfather of punk rock, which in his typical fashion he embraced and disparaged at the same time. Three weeks after this Buffalo date he recorded his live album, “Take No Prisoners,” at the Bottom Line in New York City. Here’s what setlist.fm says he played in Buffalo: 

          Gimme Some Good Times

          Satellite of Love

          Leave Me Alone

          I Wanna Be Black

          Walk on the Wild Side

          Coney Island Baby

          Dirt

          Street Hassle

          Sweet Jane

          Rock & Roll

          Heroin 

Ian Dury formed the Blockheads in 1977 to play the songs he was writing with pianist and guitarist Chaz Jankel. After creating a sensation on Stiff Records’ Live Stiffs Tour that year with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Wreckless Eric, Stiff began throwing a lot of promotion behind him. Jankel and Dury left in the early 1980s and the band broke up. After reuniting  sporadically in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dury and Jankel rejoined them full-time in 1996. Dury, diagnosed with cancer in 1996, died six weeks after his last appearance with the band in 2000. Setlist.fm doesn’t acknowledge their Buffalo date.



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