Lisbon pays tribute to Lou Reed

Portuguese musicians join this Friday for an open air concert, covering the repertoire of the late Lou Reed, thus paying tribute to this influential musician.

The former red light district and drug hotspot of Intendente, now a reconverted neighborhood, home to the Lisbon mayor’s office and to a couple of groovy bars was the chosen location to host a concert for the memory of Lou Reed, the man who covered all walks of life in his songs and the wild side of human existence. Nearly 30 Portuguese musicians have confirmed so far acts in this gig gathering some of the best names in the country’s Rock, Pop and New Fado scene.  “This will a tribute to Lou Reed by the rock people”, Nuno Duarte told Portuguese news agency Lusa. Witty singer Rui Reininho, from GNR, a man clearly influenced by the likes of Ferry, Bowie, Reed and the lot, is one of the names who has confirmed his presence, along with Anamar, known for her reinterpretations of Fado and for her fondness to cover songs from Bowie to Brecht/Weil, who will take also to the stage this Friday. JP Simões, former singer of easy listening crooner band Belle Chase Hotel, a man who has a way with words and a remarkable humor, now engaged in a solo career, will also join in. Zé Pedro from the most popular rock band in the country, Xutos e Pontapés, and a clear fan of heavyweight rockers like Reed to Richards will also be performing in this concert that promises to attract a huge audience considering the vast list of some of the best musicians paying tribute to Lou Reed.

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Lou Reed, who died last Sunday at the age of 71 leaves a huge body of work, having worked with a myriad of big names in music from David Bowie to John Cale or Marianne Faithful just to new a very few. His death caught all by surprise and the world immediately shared his condolences and messages of grief from his former band mate John Cale to David Bowie who produced “Transformer”, one of his best albums. The Lisbon concert is one of the many scheduled for the coming weeks and months, along with numerous versions of his songs being played and announced by names from Arcade Fire to Artic Monkey through to Nick Cave or Pearl Jam.

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