The other concerts of John Cale in the Archa Theatre
John Cale
There are not very many artists whose name rings out like the fifty-year-old Welsh singer John Cale, with whom we have had the opportunity to get to know in several different concert forms. If we don't mention his local performance with the again-renewed Velvet Underground, then we can say that Cale has presented himself as a singer accompanied by the piano, later presenting himself with his first rock band - and finally in his most varied form. The latter, he suggested in the opening composition of Memphis Tennessee, in which he played the violin. Later, he took his electric guitar and after several songs, taken primarily from his recent album Walking On Locusts, he went to the piano and, for the audience's satisfaction, he revived several of his old hits - becoming more intimate, as opposed to the original rock feeling presented on album Fragments Of A Rainy Seasons. Richer arrangements with much more emotion created the opportunity to include such ballads as those from the famous album Fear. He also showed his desire to improvise not only with the piano intermezzo, but also with the ability to roar in the refrains. In this way, he brought to life other rock songs where he accompanied himself on the guitar with the sensitive accompaniment of the group... As John Cale had already chosen most of his positions and several of his instruments, the outcome had one thing in common - a ravishing atmosphere in which the calming passages were elevated and quickly made to dance... It is hard to say whether in the past, Cale was more convincing in Prague.
Honza Dědek, Rock & Pop, květen 1997