WILLIAMS, VICTORIA & THE LOOSE BAND - Town Hall 1995 (Sealed) (CD)

Features Lou Reed. In 1995 Victoria Williams toured with the Loose band. Critics swooned and acclaimed her live shows as "beautiful" and "intimate", set lists varied every night, special guests happened along. Seven of the 14 tracks are taken from 'Loose' but they are reduced Darwin-like, made even more personal. She harks back to the earlier Donnie Darko-like strangeness of 'Crazy Mary', sketches small town America on the 'Summer Of Drugs' and welcomes Lou Reed for a duet on 'Sweet Jane'. This live set, with its laissez faire feel and impromptu vibe is as close as it gets to a personal performance. Van Dyke's veneer is rubbed off and every song positively tingles right through to a gorgeous version of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'. It's a fairytale to believe in.