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Lou Reed Thursday, June 26; 7:30pm; $35-$55 Mountain Winery, 14831 Pierce Road, Saratoga; 408.741.0763 Lou Reed. Try to imagine the course of alternative music without Reed's involvement. He forecasted everything that's come to pass in college-radio rock during the past 30 years, and his influence has not ended yet. Reed, a poetry student at Syracuse University who studied under Delmore Schwarz in both verse and substance abuse, drifted down the river to the city to become the brains behind the Velvet Underground. The ultimate high-toned garage band--the house orchestra for Warhol and his gang--was the laboratory for so many subcategories. Count them: Gender-fuck music (developed as Reed's lovable bisexual-pride solo album Transformer). Cacophony: Reed's infamous Metal Machine Music was considered the most unplayable record anyone had made, until the advent of Red Crayola. Lastly. Most lastingly, Reed and the Velvets sired both heroin-folk and its identical twin, emo. Yes, we must not forget King Cale and Nico's Arnold Schwarzeneggerian crooning, and how both artists contributed to the Velvet's peerless audio visions of ghastly hangover, rat abatement, junk sickness, sodomy ache and bounced rent checks. Yet Reed's offhand whine was the essence of the Velvets. If you seek a memorial to Reed, reader, stick your head into any nightclub today. Reed is on tour promoting his collected works: two dozen deathless songs bundled by BMG under the title NYC Man, to be released in the United States June 3. Here's a musical journey that tracks our hero from library to Factory to syringe-littered alley and back to the library again. Reed's newest work is a Puttin' on the Hits version of Poe's "The Raven," read aloud with musical accompaniment. Reed proposes that Poe's work sums up his two questions in life: "Who Am I?" and "Why am I drawn to do what I should not?" (Richard von Busack) Summer Music Guide 2003 Summer Sonic: This summer, Good Charlotte's Joel Madden looks forward to touring and working on his '65 Chevy. Perry-patetic: Lollapalooza's Perry Farrell attempts to recapture the spirit of 1991. Modern Love: The 1983 Day on the Green with the Police, the Fixx, Madness, Oingo Boingo, and the Thompson Twins blew open the alternative-rock movement in the Bay Area. Plus: an interview with Fixx frontman Cy Curnin. Ozzfest 2003: With Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Disturbed and Chevelle. Shoreline. Summer Sanitarium: With Metallica, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones. Candlestick. Wilco and R.E.M: Shoreline. Björk: Pier 30/32. Stanford Jazz Festival: With the Branford Marsalis Trio, alumni from Cal Tjader's groups, James Williams, Madeline Eastman, Dena DeRose and Geri Allen's Ensemble. Dinkelspiel Auditorium and Campbell Recital Hall, Stanford University. Comcast San Jose Jazz Festival: With Nneena Freelon, the Count Basie Orchestra, Greg Osby, ¡Cubanismo!, the Yellowjackets, Jimmy Heath and Ledisi. Dinkelspiel Auditorium and Campbell Recital Hall, Stanford University. India.Arie: Montalvo. Beck/Dashboard Confessional: Greek Theatre. The Dixie Chicks: HP Pavilion. Lou Reed: Mountain Winery. Shows: From Agenda to Zoë. Summer Festival Guide: Art, wine and more. Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com. [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]