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Iconic New York group The Velvet Underground have shared a stage together for the first time in over a decade.

The Velvet Underground are one of the most influential groups of all time. Emerging from New York’s bustling arts scene, the band first gained the patronage of iconic painter Andy Warhol who produced their debut album.

Departing from The Factory the band then lost iconoclastic viola player John Cale, with Doug Yule coming into the group on bass guitar. This line up recorded two albums together, regarded as some of the finest rock ‘n’ roll ever recorded.

Lou Reed, Moe Tucker and Doug Yule confirmed last month that they would take part in a debate on the legacy of The Velvet Underground. Taking place on Tuesday (December 8th) the session threw up some intriguing revelations.

Set in New York’s Public Library the debate saw Lou Reed hail Moe Tucker as the finest drummer he has ever worked with. “I’ve tried since then to get a drummer to do what she did, and it’s impossible. They can’t,” Reed said.

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme reports the singer as saying: “If we sped up, she sped up. Instead of having a drummer who’ll sit there trying to hold the beat down, our songs speed up and slow down all over the place.”

Lou Reed also praised Andy Warhol’s involvement in the band – a subject of much retrospective controversy. “Warhol was one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life,” Reed explained.

“Without him, (The Velvet Underground were) kind of inconceivable. When they hired us to make a record it wasn’t because of us, it was because of him. They didn’t know us – they thought he was the lead guitarist or something!”