THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Chelsea Town Hall resurrects a 1985 live performance from The Velvet Underground’s cult icon. Nico’s doom-laden contralto, the bizarre choice of a harmonium for accompaniment, and the sheer eeriness and other-worldliness of her repertoire mark her as one of the most extraordinarily original performers of the rock era.
The Velvet Underground were criminally neglected while they were still a working band. Nico’s solo career also suffered from being too dark to turn her into a mainstream success. It didn’t help that the odds were also stacked against her. She was a female artist at a time when rock was mostly male dominated, and a German during an era when few non-British or American acts were given the scope to make their mark on the world stage.
Foolishly dismissed by many as little more than a junkie’s role model, Nico’s work was vastly undervalued during her lifetime; her self-destructive tendencies got far more attention than her music. This reissue features period liner notes from Fraser Massey and a previously unpublished photo from the show. The set list features a career-spanning selection from the Velvets through Drama Of Exile — and the appropriate Doors cover.”
