CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 and 17

USA and Canada (April 1 - June 4, 2009). Special concert for fans in NYC (February 19). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
Cate
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by Cate »

JacquelineR wrote:"open. thighs. sex. lilly. Jane. hair. her. directions. love. hate. solitude. blue. time. hat. subway. voices. angels. harp. golden. fingers. repent. all. over. man. fingers. thighs. again. skin. deep. mouth. sweet. directions. please. girls. kisses. in. shadows. lose. keep. her. man. fly. future. friends. peace."

spiritual and orgasmic.
I don't usually read concert reports, at least not before my show.
I'm so happy that I clicked to peek, what a find.
I love your 'report' Jacqueline - yes, this is what it feels like at a Leonard Cohen concert and depending on your luck and who your with after as well. :)
ladydi
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by ladydi »

mnkyface wrote:Not bringing his "A" game???? And, um, hello, I don't think Leonard Cohen has a "tenor" voice. :roll:

What a moron. Everyone click on the link and leave him a negative comment. :idea: :lol:
Hi Esther... I've left my comments. What an arrogant blogger. Guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, however, he seems to think he is a little better than others. Spare me.

Diana
Evie B
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by Evie B »

by Iman Lababedi

Leonard Cohen by the numbers last night at radio City Music Hall

".... and while it's true he has always had a tenor voice this cracked tenor voice is not the same as the recorded voice and in many ways it suits the songs much better...."

I have cut out most of the quote because it is garbage and, for the most part, illiterate. I don't think we need to be subjected to having to read it again. Additionally, I suggest he/she/it turns on the word-checker facility, if this person is going to go public with his/her/its opinions it would be polite to at least try to spell the content correctly.

Of course, 'everybody knows' this person is just a fool. If Leonard Cohen is a tenor, I am a canary.
...he shows you where to look amid the garbage and the flowers
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by sturgess66 »

This is New York, Cohen. Don't tell the same jokes that are all over "Live In London". Don't throw "New York" in the middle of "Hallelujiah" (and don't kill the rhymes -you wrote em, sing em). Don't wait for the applause when you sing "First We'll Take Manhattan".... in a word, don't go on automatic, we're NYC, we know when you're faking it.
Huh? :? :lol:
mnkyface wrote:Not bringing his "A" game???? And, um, hello, I don't think Leonard Cohen has a "tenor" voice. :roll:

What a moron. Everyone click on the link and leave him a negative comment. :idea: :lol:
Moron is right - I just left him a "Podunk" comment.
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Violet
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by Violet »

.. oh, I can see not everyone was that happy with Leonard at Radio City.. In any event, I humbly share my morning's positive and loving reflections..

My Personal Notes.. Last Night at Radio City Music Hall

.. good morning, all... Well, he did it again... Leonard had me leaving the theater last night smiling and feeling his warmth and generosity, and with so many wonderful sounds and thoughts swimming in my head.. At first I worried because it is true that nothing could rival his night at the Beacon Theater where I saw his very first performance in New York City in umteen many years... The intimacy of the Beacon setting, and the emotion of the occasion.. it somehow made the theater seem energetically charged.. and I understand now even better how very lucky I am to have experienced that evening... But leave it to Leonard to be able to penetrate the more impersonal largess of Radio City Music Hall... it took a while.. but the crowd got more and more comfortable.. I myself hollered an awful lot... I felt I was helping out -- oh, actually, one of my hoots got a response from Leonard.. he himself was humbly playing this little keyboard for Tower of Song (the song I missed at the Beacon due to a long line at the bathroom) (and his policy is you can't go back in during a song)... Anyway.. I gave some kind of hoot or something as he did the keyboards and he smiled and said I was being too kind... (the anonymous hooter, that is)... I wasn’t as close to the stage as at the Beacon.. (and I had cheaper tickets at the Beacon, but had the help of Jarkko's presale)... Bird on a Wire stood out for me.. because he's changed the lyrics somewhat.. and they are interesting changes... (perhaps they’re in the London cd?)... The song Suzanne seems always to be mesmerizing.. This time I actually cried during the Webb Sisters' rendition of If It Be Your Will... with one of them playing the harp, the other a guitar.. and so the lovely plucking of the strings with their complementary angelic voices, and the celestial feel of the deep blue and gold lighting.. it’s just so terribly moving to feel so lovingly transported while still on earth... and so.. tears started streaming down my cheeks.. nothing to be done about it...

Oh, on another personal note.. I would mention that the lighting in the Radio City Music Hall women's room is so amazingly soft and flattering (!).. for vanity purposes alone, I’ve decided to make it my mission in life to be enveloped by such loving light from here on out.. not sure how practical that would be.. but... Oh, and I did wear my short black skirt just for Leonard.. and I’m sure that deep down inside he sensed that...

.. back upstairs.. toward the end of the concert.. with I Tried to Leave You.. a song I really don't know.. but it’s just so very lovely that Leonard uses it to allow each member of the show to have their solo moment, which is part of that generosity of spirit that emanates from the man, and is built into how he does the show.. Oh, outside of that, there's this wonderful solo by that Barcelona mandolin player before one of the songs.. Who By Fire, I think.. just an exquisite performance.. with the stage dramatically lit so to have him all alone on stage.. all aglow in his sweet and agile Spain-imbued masterfulness…

So my doubts about doing this again so soon were assuaged, in that I am now very glad to have seen Leonard again.. I believe it was the same set list as at the Beacon.. but just to invest oneself even further in these songs and through such stellar performances.. Thousand Kisses Deep as a spoken poem seemed somehow more moving to me this time.. Sharon Robinson does Boogie Street all on her own, and she's just amazing.. her voice is so rich it easily fills the theater.. while our wonderful Leonard, though in very good voice, I must say.. but, well, he knows he hasn't that capacity, and so has to exert himself a bit more with that inimitable, deep voice of his... He is a charmer though.. his dancing off the stage like a little happy elf before every encore.. his kneeling on the stage.. (quite often he does this).. while practically worshipping that mandolin player (and who wouldn't?).. (I’m sorry, I really must look up his name).. Oh, the person doing the wind instruments was phenomenal too, as were all the musicians.. Take this Waltz I'm remembering now.. it enters you that song.. it's so darkly romantic and tinged with decay.. And so I guess to see the same set again so soon after the last venue means you find yourself studying the songs themselves more.. so there is another layer of experience in doing that.. Also, the set is a good one since it has the right build to it... you arrive at Hallelujah as if upon some golden plateau.. I really enjoyed hearing that song far more for some reason this time around..

I was thinking too of the condition I was in when I first went to see Leonard at the Beacon.. I remember feeling very low at the time.. and so that concert in a sense revived me.. saved my heart almost... This time was less dire feeling for me.. and seemed less emotional for Leonard as well, as he’d now performed here in New York City several times.. But still it was so very worthwhile.. and it seems to me that all who attend these concerts sense how lucky they are to be in the presence of so magnanimous and loving a force..

My deepest thanks to you Leonard..

with love,

v i o l e t , New York City.. May 18, 2009…



Violet
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mutti
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by mutti »

Beautiful
thanks
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joyceandoliver
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by joyceandoliver »

I was there last night. I laughed and cried and yelled I love you too many times. My lips moved too loudly I jumped and clapped and the people in front of me were annoyed. There were no lovers where I was sitting and I wished I was with them to rock the house to touch you back so you would know that we were there.
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Violet
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by Violet »

.. oh, it's too bad you weren't sitting closer to me, Joyce.. you'd have been in good company (!)... v. xxx
Violet
imaginary friend
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by imaginary friend »

Dear Vi,

That was a lovely report. Thank you. I hope the love and strength you experienced at that concert remain with you for a long time.

After the Vancouver LC concert, I believe I actually noticed a difference in people as they left the venue; strangers smiled gently at each other, knowing we had shared something extraordinary. There was a sense of having been comforted, blessed. (I would only dare to say these things on this Forum... ;-) )
Gerry
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by Gerry »

Brilliant opening report, Jacqueline R. I really loved it. Hope Leonard read it!
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by sturgess66 »

From NYPress.com

WARNING: There is a whole lot of hate spewed in a monsterous comment under this article. The comment should be removed - IMO



May 18
Leonard Cohen at Radio City Music Hall

Posted By: Patrick J. Doyle

- Leonard Cohen stepped onstage at Radio City Music Hall last night looking akin to Junior Soprano, wearing a black suit and fedora. He’s 74 years old, and before last year had not toured since 1994. After kicking off with the waltzy “Dance Me to the End of Love,” Cohen received several standing ovations during the next three-plus hours.

Cohen went for a layered live sound, similar to contemporaries Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. But while those performers often let the band do the heavy lifting, Cohen tried to rise above them with his voice and Sinatra-like confidence.

An early highlight was the sax-laden “Ain’t No Cure for Love.” Like most songs, he began kneeling, one fist clenched, eyes closed, two large video screens zooming in on each dramatic moment.

He appeared to live in each number. His creased face and weathered voice helped him convincingly take on a variety of personas; he was a crooner in “Ain’t No Cure For Love,” a guilty swinger in “My Secret Life” and a nostalgic balladeer in “So Long, Marianne.”

Cohen’s live numbers were far slicker than his stripped-down early recordings. His nine-piece band included keyboards, 12-string guitar, wind instruments and female backup singers. It was produced, but the dynamics gave his songs new depth. Cohen acted as cordial leader, switching between acoustic guitar and keyboard.

Band members were individually showcased. Javier Mas provided a captivating 12-string classical-flamenco flourishes during “The Gypsy’s Wife.” Late in the show backup singers Charley and Hattie Webb sang a good part of “If It Be Your Will,” harmonizing while playing acoustic guitar and harp.

During his second set, Cohen’s signature “Hallelujah” built and built. Afterward he brought the house quiet when with poetry behind string sounds during “Recitation w/ N.L.” The show ended with a marathon that included “Closing Time” and “I Tried to Leave You.”

The illusive Cohen broke character a few times. After the audience applauded his simplistic organ solo in “Tower of Song,” he smiled. “You’re very kind,” he said, with a hint of sarcasm.


http://www.nypress.com/blog-4126-leonar ... -hall.html
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PanCogito
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by PanCogito »

Leonard Cohen
Radio City Music Hall
May 16, 2009

Here is my two cents. First of all, the concert was just the most phenomenal I’ve ever experienced. After I left Radio City at about 11:30 PM I felt physically and emotionally exhausted and I tried to follow Leo’s last advice to not eat too much, so I didn’t eat at all. I went directly to my room in the Chelsea Hotel and shivering, probably having fever, fell asleep almost instantly. And what I can tell you, my brother, my master, what I can possibly say? I guess that I miss you (already), I guess I forgive you, I’m glad you stood in my way. And of course, I will remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel and I will think about you very often. You were not talking much this evening, just two or three words during the first half and a little bit more during the second. I like you talking between songs but it was great too.
Thank you Leonard for the poetry, for the music and for your truly golden voice. Thank you so much.

Roman
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kind regards -דרישת שלום
roman - pan cogito- מר קוגיטו
העובדה שאני שותק לא אומרת שאין לי מה להגיד - The fact that I am being silent doesn't mean that I have nothing to say
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by sturgess66 »

Leonard Cohen Lets The Light In

May 18, 2009 6:00 pm

We kept our eyes peeled for pieces by Raf Simons at Leonard Cohen’s packed Radio City Music Hall gig last night. The singer-songwriter had served as inspiration for the designer’s Spring ‘09 men’s collection, but we didn’t see any of the “extreme tailoring” that Simons put on his Paris runway, although there were plenty of fashion types in the crowd: Shalom Harlow, Amber Valletta, and Alexandra Richards included. Unfortunately, the beach towel that features the lyrics from “Anthem,” with which he started his set, wasn’t for sale in the merchandise booth, either—but you can get it at Colette.
—Kelley Hoffman


Check out the beach towel here - :)

http://www.style.com/stylefile/2009/05/ ... -light-in/
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Kenadian
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by Kenadian »

I caught both shows in NY and I have to say...

Leonard didn't break any new ground at either show...but he doesn't have to!!!

Note perfect and both truly wonderful experiences!

Cheers,
Ken(adian)

First I took Manhattan, then I'll take Hamilton.
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bandy711
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Re: CONCERT REPORTS: New York, May 16 & 17

Post by bandy711 »

I have been an avid concert goer since the early 1970's. I have seen just about any performer you can name. However I have never seen Leonard Cohen before last night (May 17th) at Radio City Music Hall. It was one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen. In a word, transcendent.
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