Live: Lunafied

When I saw Lou Reed in winter of 1996 I was very excited to see a legend in the music world.  I heard his music, loved it and even more loved his band The Velvet Underground.  What I did not know was the opening at that well.  A band called Luna were the openers and I heard a few albums and liked what I heard.  They had a modern day Velvet Underground feel to them and they were a descendant of another band I liked Galaxie 500.  I was expecting them to sound like their albums and be off the stage quite quickly.  What I did not expect the power this band had.  In other words they blew me away.

When I got back home after the show I told the friend I went with to make me a Luna mix. I only have a few songs and some of the music they played tonight really, really rocked.  He agreed and next time I saw him he had a few CD's from the record store he worked at and a mix. Each song Luna song that was on the mix was better then the previous one. This band was amazing.  On the second side he gave me a few Galaxie 500 songs.  They were just as cool as the Luna tunes.  In my collection  I had a few Luna tunes, but this music he gave me was so much better.  I was speechless.

By the end of the year I collected everything I could from Luna.  I had all the albums up to that point and the same friend who gave me the mix gave me a bootleg live show from 1994.  I was happy and now a serious Luna fan.  This music wasn't over the top, but it was serious and somewhat simple.  I liked the lyrics and I loved the occasional choice of covers.  The cover songs made me explore the originals.  Dean Wareham picked interesting covers just like he did in his previous band Galaxie 500. in Luna he covered Tom Rush, Talking Heads, Serge Gainsbourg and a few others.  They were not your normal covers that all bands do, but when you hear "Ride Into The Sun" by Velvet Underground then you know he has great musical tastes.

A year later Luna toured by themselves and I was on it. I saw the tour and this time I was in awe even more.  As I said before it was mind blowing with out the fancy guitar solos, but with the way everything  was so streamlined.  It was like going to a reading of a play and everything went according to plan, the actors made their mark, the scene went well and they did not need any more practice. They were truly amazing.

From that point on I would see Luna every chance I got.  At last count I have seen them at least a dozen times.  In 2005 I got sad.  I was sad because they announced they were disbanding.  I was like, how this band can be so good and call it quits?  I had the memories and also look forward to the future of what any member of the band would do.  I took myself to see Dean and Britta one day and it seemed like the band had never skipped a beat.  Their music was fresh, but the rest of the band was missing.  It was not the same to me, it felt odd.  Then my dream of them reuniting came true.  It took ten years but in 2015 the band got back together.

So if my little obsession got you thinking of Luna and how cool they were then you need to hear the Luna Live album. It maybe a simple greatest hits looking at, but to the crowd and myself is the best way to hear the energy they put on stage.  It's pretty awesome and you can see the beautiful flow the music possesses.  Sadly the only issue I have is they don't include their unique covers.  The only one that shows up is the Serge Gainsbourg, and Brigitte Bardot song "Bonnie and Clyde." It's a great song, but hearing Luna cover songs are a treat to any show.  One night they played "Sweet Child O' Mine" the Guns N' Roses song.  When they pepper cover songs by Wire, Alice Copper, Donovan, and Pink Floyd among others in a live show then you know you had a great time.  Luna Live is awesome because it's the band in their element and good for the listener to seek out seeing them live. I only hope to see them again soon so I can be that loyal fan again.  LUNA ROCKS!!