CONCERT REPORT: Palma, Mallorca, August 11

Europe and Israel (July 1 - September 24, 2009). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
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boirina
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CONCERT REPORT: Palma, Mallorca, August 11

Post by boirina »

This is the setlist:

First set:
- Dance Me To The End Of Love
- The Future
- Ain't No Cure For Love
- Bird On The Wire
- Everybody Knows
- In My Secret Life
- Who By Fire
- Heart With No Companion
- Waiting For The Miracle
- Anthem

Second set:
- Tower Of Song
- Suzanne
- Sisters of Mercy
- Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
- The Partisan
- Boogie Street (Sharon Robinson)
- Hallelujah
- I'm Your Man
- Take This Waltz

Encores:
- So Long, Marianne
- First We Take Manhattan
- Famous Blue Raincoat
- If It Be Your Will (recited by Leonard first, then sung by the Webb sisters)
- Closing Time
- I Tried To Leave You
- Whither Thou Goest

Here are some press reports:

http://dbalears.cat/actualitat/Cultura/ ... palma.html
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/08/1 ... 58387.html
http://www.diariodemallorca.es/actual/2 ... 93193.html

I promise I'll come back later on today and I'll write my own report of the show. All I'll say now is that the concert was brilliant but I missed the audience in Lisbon. ;)
* Palma 1988 * Lisboa 2008 * Lisboa 2009 *
* Palma 2009 * Lisboa 2010 * Lisboa 2012 *
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bridger15
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, August 11th

Post by bridger15 »

Thank you, boirina, for your post wih the three review links. I tried using Google Translate for all of them with mixed results. The middle link came through the best. As it turns out, this is an excellent review with some great insights other than just straight reporting.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/08/1 ... 58387.html
Cohen, seriousness and power forty years later
Fernando Merino | Palma

Members of the House yesterday did not want to miss one of the most awaited evenings of Mallorca in August. The Infanta Elena and Cristina, Inaki Urdangarín, Prince Kiril of Bulgaria and his wife, Rosario Nadal was left to see in the Palma Arena to share with nearly three thousand spectators, among whom was also the filmmaker Fernando Trueba-Cohen returns to the island Their presence increased the security of the site and turned it into a miniature cage.

Last night hosted Mallorca Mallorca Leonard Cohen to two decades after his first visit. Then he was at the Auditorium of Palma, the year I'm Your Man, 1988, and the reference on this occasion was Live in London, reflecting the legendary concert in July last year at the O2 Arena in London, which marked the return to Canadian singer-songwriter scene after having spent fifteen years away.

In the Palma Arena is clothing six musicians and three vocalists, while he appeared impeccably dressed in dark suit. Spanish guitar chords and a Leonard Cohen classic hat topped with pulled out his first notes of Dance me to the end of love. From there he was preparing to donate a sentimental journey for his four decades as a songwriter.

At 74 years-the second part of his tour he will celebrate Spanish and 75 - shows that it is still able to resist on the scene about three hours in front of the microphone retaining the power and seriousness of the subject. His perfection is undeniable and absolute. A team arrived from Belgium was responsible for his voice to sound throughout the velodrome.

There were references to Bird on the wire Everybody knows, Who by fire or In my secret life. A battery of songs without pause that ripped fervent applause. The tour promised hearts intertwined pure mystique, with constant references to pacifism and a Leonard Cohen kneeling on the stage.

After half past ten p.m. The rest began. A break of 20 minutes to rest and to reinvent the concert. A compact is a first part followed the singer accompanied only by the vocal trio and keyboard. Each song was used to retrieve a member of the band to reunite in Sisters of Mercy.

This journey of 40 years of history as a subject-say that the good-great classic for the outcome. Sustained in a climax that happened I'm your man, or Allellujah Suzanne, now become an icon of his music from that recorded in 1967. Just a few chords so that the voice of silence between the applause Cohen.

The unexpected return to the stage has to do with the weak financial position of Leonard Cohen, because of the diversion of funds by its former representative, Kelley Lynch, loot up five million dollars. Once called the ruling favorable to Cohen, she fled and then returned to Canada has overturned on the road for a monumental world tour which began in Spanish stage Leon on July 31.

Years ago the same happened to Sting, who organized a tour to recover in Mallorca which was also one of the scales. His concert at the Hippodrome de Son Pardo became memorable night in order to account for his more recent work, Ten Summorner's Tales.

Before the editorial Leonard Cohen Live in London last March, was kept away from the production of records from the edition of Dear Heather in 2004. In fact had slowed down their activity, with the previous reference Ten new songs, album released 2001.

The solid literary career of Leonard Cohen predates his involvement with music. Being college students published a book of poems Compare Mythologies 1956. Even before editing their first album in 1967, Songs of Leonard Cohen-Suzanne-which had already published two novels: The favorite game (1963) and the beautiful losers (1966), both written in his retirement on the Greek island of Hydra.

The perfect combination of poetry, novels and music, always brilliant, and always resolved their various activities in his unmistakable, minimalist style make him an artist as an integral few. There are also in the life of Leonard Cohen elements that make it different, like being Jewish in a predominantly Christian community, where English-speaking and the majority language is French. Now back to reside in Montreal, in the Portuguese district of this beautiful Canadian city which also saw him.

After his stop in Palma, seven other cities are waiting to turn singer in Spanish. Gijón Girona and shall be in and visit them before they give Cohen a jump to its international tour by several Central European countries. On September 12 will return to Madrid, Spanish farewell final chapter of the world tour September 21 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.
2009-San Diego|Los Ang|Nashville|St Louis|Kansas City|LVegas|San Jose
2010-Gothenburg|Berlin|Ghentx2|Oaklandx2|Portland|LVegasx2
2012-Austinx2|Denver|Los Ang|Seattle|Portland

Arlene's Leonard Cohen Scrapbook http://onboogiestreet.blogspot.com
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ForYourSmile
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, August 11th

Post by ForYourSmile »

Moltes gràcies Boirina ;-) . We wait for your report it seems that you are our unique representative there. 8)

Palma Arena... a cycle track, in other sites bullrings, with bad sound... I think would have been better the Palma Auditorium. I do not understand it. The Auditorium is a very nice place I have good memories.

I suppose that the obsession for the safety had a lot of protagonism, I have read that Cohen spoke about peace.

I have entertained me very much the Carles Mulet's chronicle in Diario de Mallorca: "Levitando con Cohen" (Levitating with Cohen). He writes "En zona vip, y habiéndose rascado los bolsillos: las infantas Elena y Cristina,.." (In a VIP area, and they have been scratching their pockets: the Infanta Elena and Cristina,..) Does he believe it? No, I suspect he's a bit ironic.

Thank you bridger15 too.
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boirina
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THE REPORT: Palma, August 11th

Post by boirina »

So, I guess it’s time for me to write the report.

I had to run some errands today, and when I came back home I sort of passed out (hubby says I fell asleep, but it felt like passing out) because it was really hot today and I have some low blood pressure issues every now and then in this weather. Now it’s past 5 am and I’m not sleepy at all. So here I am, cup of herbal tea with honey at reach, ready to write about the concert.

I must say that when I got home yesterday I was feeling sort of disappointed in the audience. You see, we (by that I mean Majorcans) tend to be respectfully silent at concerts. We aren’t inclined to join in the singing, or to clap to the music, or anything like that. I remember my other favourite singer talking about it in an interview. He said it took him some time to learn to recognise that attitude as one of reverent admiration. I guess this is what happened yesterday. Or a part of it.

I was terribly shocked when only a tiny percentage of the audience reacted to the “I didn’t come to Palma to fool you” (I remember mumbling in desperation to my husband “They haven’t even noticed!”), or when Leonard remained silent to let us sing “Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye”. Or when so very few joined in “So long, Marianne” or “Hallelujah”. And I must admit I looked at the central aisle when “Take This Waltz” started, sort of hoping that someone would start waltzing there, as it happened in Lisbon. I even missed the screams of the woman next to me in Lisbon (“put your money where your mouth is!”) when Leonard said “if you want a father for your child…” while singing I’m Your Man, or the general response to that song.

I suppose that there are more factors that had to do with this lack of response than the reverent attitude I mentioned before. One is the (lack of) English language skills of the people around here, and the other, I guess, is that I expected too much of the audience. What I mean is, I had learnt the ritual before and they hadn’t. You see, by the time I went to Lisbon last year, I had already watched many YouTube videos of the previous concerts, and I knew when we were expected to join in. I knew that he had said “I didn’t come to (name city) to fool you”, and so I waited until I heard the word Lisbon to respond. And of course, all the rituals were reinforced this year in Lisbon. So I suppose one could say that yesterday I was a pro and the others were just amateurs, or at least that’s how it felt.

The concert was amazing, I think I said that much yesterday. The performances were brilliant, and Leonard came in and out of the stage jumping about and in a very good mood. He didn’t speak much during the concert, though. He did say that he didn’t know when they’d be coming this way again and so they were determined to give us all they had, and they did. When he introduced “Anthem” he recited a poem, he didn’t introduce it the way he did in Lisbon, which wouldn’t have been appropriate here after the recent events, of course. I got to see the gymnastics for the first time. Now I don’t know if the other times I just wasn’t looking when they happened, or if they just didn’t happen.

When “Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye” started, I was the one who couldn’t help a big, delighted “Ohhhh”. Just in case it was too loud, it was me. I just didn’t expect the song, and it made me happy. “Chelsea Hotel” would have made me happier, but… at least I got to listen to “Famous Blue Raincoat” twice in a fortnight. My first other two concerts always ended with these words from me: “Too bad he didn’t sing FBR…” and a sigh, these last two ended with “Wow! And he sang FBR!”.

What else? I had never been to the Palma Arena, but I had heard it had terrible acoustics. Well, they weren’t so bad. Actually, the sound was great from where I was sitting. I can’t speak for the rest of the place, though. I also think that the Auditorium would have been a better choice. That’s where I heard Leonard for the first time in 1988 and I also have fond memories (of that concert and of all the other concerts and shows I’ve seen there). It’s true that it is much smaller than the Arena but the acoustics are wonderful. Actually, I thought that the tickets were very expensive for this concert, but I would have thought they were OK if the concert had been at the Auditorium.

The royalty. I must make a statement first. I don’t do monarchy, right? I couldn’t care less about them. I didn’t even notice them going past us, it was my husband who saw them and told me they were there. I don’t know if they paid for their ticket or not, but I suppose they didn’t.

When I went to get my tickets, the guy at the shop told me that strange things had happened with the first rows. Apparently the first 11 rows hadn’t been for sale from the beginning, then some rows were added, then some places were placed for sale… I suppose it means that those places were reserved for authorities.

They didn’t stay until the end either. When the people moved forward to the stage as “So long, Marianne” started, some alarms must have gone off somewhere in the security department, because when the song was over a group of people rushed out through the central aisle. So, you see, they still come here on holiday because they are not afraid of ETA, but they rush out of a concert when some LC fans get too close…

Also, the woman who was sitting next to me told me that Leonard and his crew were staying at the same hotel where she was staying, and that they had been there for a few days. It was nice to know that they chose our little island for a little rest between concerts.

As for the “priestly blessings” they were very similar to those in Lisbon. No mention of tricky weather or summer colds, though. I guess it’s just too hot here to think about that.

And I guess that’s it, at least for now. If I remember anything else, I’ll come back. ;)
* Palma 1988 * Lisboa 2008 * Lisboa 2009 *
* Palma 2009 * Lisboa 2010 * Lisboa 2012 *
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boirina
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I forgot to say...

Post by boirina »

...that I just LOVED the rendition of "Heart With No Companion". It was just beautiful and perfect.

I didn't expect it, which made it really special. Dino was great with the harpoon, and the Webb sisters did a little dancing. It really had me smiling all the time. :)
* Palma 1988 * Lisboa 2008 * Lisboa 2009 *
* Palma 2009 * Lisboa 2010 * Lisboa 2012 *
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boirina
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, August 11th

Post by boirina »

Another comment on a local newspaper. I usually like this columnist, but I cannot say I agree with all he says about Leonard in today's column...

http://www.diariodemallorca.es/opinion/ ... 93357.html
* Palma 1988 * Lisboa 2008 * Lisboa 2009 *
* Palma 2009 * Lisboa 2010 * Lisboa 2012 *
yaniv297
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, August 11th

Post by yaniv297 »

So Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye is back? gee,the setlist just gets better and better...
I just wish Chelsea Hotel will return...
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma de Mallorca, August 11

Post by tomsakic »

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boirina
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Who changed the thread name?

Post by boirina »

FYI, the official name of the city is "Palma", not "Palma de Mallorca".

So... please, either write "Palma" or "Palma, Mallorca", or "Palma (Mallorca)", that is, if you really think it's necessary to state that Palma happens to be on the island of Mallorca.
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, August 11

Post by tomsakic »

Corrected!

On all tour itineraries AEG says "Palma de Mallorca" so I edited the title of this thread; but I returned the thread back to "Palma" now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palma,_Majorca says it's unofficially called Palma de Mallorca. "The name of Ciudad de Mallorca (city of Majorca) was used before the War of the Spanish Succession and is still used by people in Majorca."
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boirina
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, Mallorca, August 11

Post by boirina »

Thanks!

Ciutat is used mainly by the people who don't live in the city, and it means city, as you may have guessed. It has never been official, though, only a way to refer to the city.

The town of Eivissa (Ibiza in Spanish) is also known as Vila, but that's because the island and the town have the same name, so many times vila was added to clarify that one was referring to the town and not to the whole island. :)
* Palma 1988 * Lisboa 2008 * Lisboa 2009 *
* Palma 2009 * Lisboa 2010 * Lisboa 2012 *
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, Mallorca, August 11

Post by sturgess66 »

I think this is from Palma -

A small clip of "The Partisan" on YouTube by "michelcampioni"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whukO7sgIJ4
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boirina
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My wordle for the night

Post by boirina »

Here it is the wordle I've made for the event. I'm thinking about printing a T-shirt with that. You can see a bigger image here.
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* Palma 1988 * Lisboa 2008 * Lisboa 2009 *
* Palma 2009 * Lisboa 2010 * Lisboa 2012 *
MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Palma, Mallorca, August 11

Post by MaryB »

boirina,

What a phenomenal tshirt this would make! Totally excellent!!!

Best regards,
Mary
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CONCERT REPORT:Palma de Mallorca 11-08-2009

Post by gosiorka »

I've just discovered this forum and noticed that there was nothing about de Palma de Mallorca-concert. In the meantime I've seen three of Cohens concerts, all of them very good.
The Palma-concert was sold out and drew Royal attention. Local TV-station ib3 made this video:

http://www.youtube.com/v/19k1AYB9kzQ?fs=1&hl=pl_PL>
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