When Dave Graney Got the Call: Celebrating Lou Reed Down Under. By Mark Jenkins

When Dave Graney Got the Call: Celebrating Lou Reed Down Under

By Mark Jenkins.

There's something perfectly fitting about Dave Graney answering the phone to his agent with that characteristic laconic drawl and agreeing to celebrate Lou Reed across Australia in early 2026. Two artists separated by hemispheres and decades, yet united by an uncompromising vision of what rock and roll could be when you stripped away the pretence and let the poetry bleed through.

The Celebrating Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground & Nico concert series rolls into Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide this January, and it's not your typical tribute show. This is Australian music royalty—Graney alongside Robert Forster, Mick Harvey, and Rob Snarski—taking on everything from the avant-garde menace of "Venus in Furs" to the street-level swagger of "Walk on the Wild Side."

They're not simply recreating; they're interpreting, channelling Lou's fearless approach to songwriting through their own decades of crafting intelligent, uncompromising rock music.

Lou Reed's importance to music can't be overstated. He took rock and roll places it had never been—into the underbelly of New York, into difficult emotions, into literary territory that made other songwriters look like they were writing greeting cards. The Velvet Underground essentially invented alternative rock before anyone knew what to call it, and Lou's solo work continued pushing boundaries when others were content to repeat themselves. His influence on Australian rock, particularly the more literate, art-damaged end of the spectrum, runs deep and often unacknowledged.

And Dave Graney? He's been Australia's most stylish outsider for four decades. With his trademark suits, his deep baritone, and his refusal to play by commercial rules, Graney has carved out a career that's as much about attitude as it is about songs—though the songs, from his work with The Coral Snakes through his solo years, have been consistently brilliant. He's won ARIA Awards, been called "one of the great Australian vocalists" by those who know, and maintained an unwavering commitment to doing things his way. That literary, art-rock sensibility that defines his work? That's Lou Reed's DNA running through Australian veins.

In our conversation, Graney was exactly as you'd hope—funny, relaxed, unpretentious. When asked how he got involved, he simply said his agent called. No grand narrative, no mythology. Just a working musician saying yes to celebrating another working musician who happened to change everything. That's very Lou Reed. That's very Dave Graney.

Enjoy:

https://youtu.be/85zbn0sjLqc

Catch these shows in Jan and also see the wonderful Dave Graney at any opportunity!

https://metropolistouring.com/celebrating-lou-reed-2026/