The film depicts the first band practice of
The Velvet Underground and
Nico, and is essentially one long loose improvisation.
Lou Reed and
Sterling Morrison play their
electric guitars (
Gretsch Country Gentleman and
Vox Phantom respectively),
Maureen Tucker plays her 3-piece
drum kit consisting of a
rack tom,
snare drum,
bass drum and single
cymbal,
John Cale plays his
electric viola and
Nico bashes a single
maraca against a
tambourine. The boy at Nico's feet is her 3-yr old son Ari (
Christian Aaron Boulogne), whose father was the French actor
Alain Delon. Reed is shown teaching Nico the lyrics to "
Venus in Furs". There is also an attempt at a full song, "
There She Goes Again", with Nico on lead vocals. Cale subsequently switches to
bass and at some stage, he creates
feedback on a wooden frame from a
piano while Nico plays on Cale's
Fender Precision Bass. Cale soon switches back to his viola and near the end of the film, the rehearsal is disrupted by the arrival of the
New York police, supposedly in response to a noise complaint. The film was intended to be shown at live Velvet Underground shows during setup and tuning. ==See also==