Nico & Kevin Ayers - Arènes d'Arles, Arles, France, August 6, 1975

Nico & Kevin Ayers - Arènes d'Arles, Arles, France, August 6, 1975We mentioned that forthcoming Can live release a couple weeks back — and we noted that the lineup for that 1975 night in Arles also featured everyone’s favorite former Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico! Is there a tape of Nico’s set? Oh yeah, there is. And it even features a special guest appearance from her old ACNE pal Kevin Ayers. Like so many others before him, Ayers had been bewitched by Nico, writing his classic tune “Decadence” in her honor a few years before. “A very inspirational lady whose aura I absorbed slightly,” he said. And their auras sound nice together, with Kevin adding a little lightness to Nico’s otherwise doomy solo harmonium situations — especially when their childlike duet on Kev’s “Falling In Love Again” rolls around. The crowd is a little rowdy for this kind of music, but Nico still casts a spell; it must’ve been haunting to experience in a crumbling Roman ruin. And hey! There was a third act…