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Original Velvet Underground members John Cale and Moe Tucker reunite to play ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’

Yesterday Rolling Stone premiered a clip of original Velvet Underground members John Cale and Moe Tucker performing I’m Waiting For the Man from the band’s seminal 1967 debut, The Velvet Underground and Nico.

 Velvet Underground

Watch original members John Cale and Moe Tucker performing I’m Waiting For The Man, from the band’s seminal 1967 album The Velvet Underground and Nico.

The performance was filmed at the Grammy Salute to Music Legends concert, and features a kilt-wearing Cale banging away at a Kurzweil piano and singing Lou Reed’s part, while Tucker takes on tambourine duties for that all-important driving rhythm.

Admittedly, its not quite the same without Reed’s acerbic drawl, but Cale does a damn good job of injecting a new energy into the track – giving it a bit of Bowie twinge with the subtly filtered vocals and off-kilter synth swells.

During the show the band also played The Velvet Underground and Nico opener Sunday Morning. Both performances will be available to stream on the Great Performances website soon.

Cale and his band have been busy touring the world doing special performances of the Velvet Underground debut in honour of its 50th anniversary.

Earlier in the year he spoke with Rolling Stone about the shows, and how he’d been having a blast experimenting with the old material.

“‘Heroin’ was really difficult, but it worked,” he said. “I don’t know how far astray I want to go in the arrangements. When you come to a 50th-anniversary show, you expect to hear exactly what you heard before, or you at least hope it’s just as intense as it was before.”

Check out the Cale and his band, and Tucker, doing I’m Waiting For the Man below.