The use of an acoustic instrument is a bit of a departure for Reed who once admitted to not even owning an acoustic guitar. In a small setting, however, it clearly makes sense to employ the acoustic medium, as Reed did for the concert. He opened with "I’ll Be Your Mirror" from the first Velvet’s record and went on to perform such classics as "Satellite of Love" and "White Light/White Heat", in addition to some newer material such as "Dirty Blvd" and "Busload of Faith" from the New York album. The Reed entourage included long-time sidekick Fernando Saunders on bass and saxophonist David Sanborn who joined the band to perform excellent renditions of "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Vicious."

Reed, who has a sharp, engaging sense of humor, was not in the talking mood during the show, preferring instead to concentrate on his performance. I don’t think that many in crowd minded his reticence. The audience, instead, seemed quite content with having the opportunity to experience Reed in such close quarters.

Seeing Lou Reed in a small club like the Knitting Factory, where the standing capacity is roughly 300 to 400 people is something of a nugget, not unlike having Lou strumming a few tunes for you in the comfort of your own living room. Of course, with wall-to-wall people jammed in a limited amount of space, one must deal with a certain lack of oxygen and an inevitable dose of claustrophobia. This, however, was a small price to pay to see the King of New York up close and personal, as he was in the Knitting Factory on Sunday night.