CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Europe and Israel (July 1 - September 24, 2009). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
reneny3
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by reneny3 »

Israel: Leonard Cohen Performs to Rave Reviews

Posted By Maya Norton On 2009-09-27 @ 5:19
Songmaster Leonard Cohen visited Israel this week, performing to a sold out crowd of 47,000 fans. Israeli bloggers who were lucky enough to attend gave rave reviews.

During his time in Israel, Cohen also stamped out his legacy, inaugurating the Fund for Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Peace, a foundation dedicated to promoting peace among Israelis and Palestinians.

The Concert–

In a post entitled, “The High Priest,” Jerusalem Wanderings reports [1]:
"I kept on telling everyone at work for the entire week that on Thursday I had a meeting with the Jewish High Priest - the Cohen Gadol, the Priest of Priests." (”Cohen” means priest in Hebrew.)

Leonard's voice was perfect. The band was incredible. He was incredible. The audience was great. Noisy when it had to be, yet when he spoke, you could hear a pin drop. Everything was incredible. So, yes, it was worth the fortune I spent.

Cohen's title is not for naught. Jerusalem Wanderings writes:

We must have been on the same wavelength somehow, either that, or I am psychic as all hell, because at the very end, right before he left the stage, he stood at the microphone with his hands up the way Jewish priests bless the people, and Leonard Cohen, the High Priest, blessed the audience in Hebrew with the ancient priestly blessing - “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look kindly upon you and give you peace.”

Leonard Cohen [Source: Mike Darnell, Digital Art Jerusalem
Mike Darnell of Digital Art Jerusalem is similarly reverent. In a post entitled, “I Saw a Living Legend Last Night,” he glows [2]:

The man somehow succeeded in granting the 50,000 people that came to hear him the feeling that we were all in some intimate jazz club, and Cohen, rather than was singing to a massive stadium was in fact just sharing the evening in the company of the most intimate circle of his closest friends.

View Darnell's photos of the concert [3] via Flickr.

An excerpt of the concert shared by CityMouseGuide on YouTube lends a sense of the event's flavor.


The Foundation–

Proceeds from the concert, an estimated $2 million, will be donated [4] to Cohen's own foundation, the Fund for Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Peace, as well as the Parents Circle-Families Forum, the Palestinian Center of Research and Information, Radio Kol HaShalom [Eng: Voice of Peace], and Saving the Children- Peres Center for Peace.

Robert Kory, Cohen's manager, elaborates: “Leonard decided that if he was going to play in Israel, he wanted the money to stay here. We've met so many Israelis and Palestinians in doing this who are committed to peace.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article printed from Global Voices Online: http://globalvoicesonline.org

URL to article: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/09/2 ... e-reviews/

URLs in this post:

[1] reports: http://jerusalemgypsy.blogspot.com/2009 ... riest.html

[2] glows: http://www.digitalartprintgallery.com/blog/44.html

[3] photos of the concert: http://www.flickr.com/photos/israeli-ar ... 448221666/

[4] donated: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite? ... e/ShowFull
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MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by MaryB »

sharon.e.,
Yours was a beautifully detailed and so well written review. Yes, I imagined it all with you - for a moment, I was there.

Linda/sturgess66,
The 'audience leaves' video is indeed striking. So grateful to you for all your links.

Habie,
How well you described all his qualities.

Seadove,
Such a beautiful photo.

Yaniev297,
What a great down-to-earth review.

flytomars,
You can never write too much about LC.

iamronan,
An extremely touching review.

Thank you all for taking the time to share your experience, post the media reviews, for the photos and videos, and links. All these things provide us with the opportunity to get a sense of what was experienced by all who were fortunate to be at this concert.

Best regards,
Mary
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by jarkko »

A selection of Ramat Gan videos here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... B92CA7515A
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by Wimmer »

Wow :D :D Thank You :D
A live DVD would be a dream :oops:

Many thanks for the posting and photographs and you tubes. :razz:

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MarieM
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by MarieM »

I searched back through this thread and couldn't find this mentioned. There was a sweet moment in Tel Aviv which I'm not sure has occurred before. Leonard allows the audience to finish I'm Your Man for him and they do a great job. He chuckles at their efforts.

illanaaron captures it here at about the 5:00 minute mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9oLtnrzO5Y
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by lizzytysh »

You're right, Marie. A very sweet ending that made.


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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by DanyaCohen »

The concert was truly awe-inspiring. It felt real and personal, even in a huge stadium. Leonard himself was touched by the crowd's energy and love. The only dissapointing aspect was that most of the tickets were bought out by a corporate sponoser and sold to their customers. The rest of us were forced to pay hideously expensive prices or be left out in the cold.
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by sturgess66 »

From NDTV Israel -

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_me ... 81222.html
Leonard Cohen Show in Israel Dedicated to Peace and Overall Reconciliation
2009-9-29 3:3110

[Click on link to watch video]

Thousands of people gather in Ramat Gan's stadium in Israel, waiting with anticipation for the beginning of one of the biggest music shows that Israel has ever known. Leonard Cohen, the legendary singer chose to end his concert tour in Israel.

"He's from our generation, and he is a great singer…"

But what does Leonard Cohen symbolize?

"Romantic, love, good things…"

Before the show, outside the stadium, several bereaved families of Israelis and Palestinians, gathered together for another event.
What took place was a ceremony of grant giving by "The reconciliation fund of tolerance and peace" which Leonard Cohen established this year following his decision to arrive in Israel.

[Robert Kory, Leonard Cohen’s Personal Manager]:
"I've heard so many stories that break my heart and so it is our honor to serve."

A well-known Israeli author David Grossman lost his son in the second Lebanon war.

[David Grossman, Popular Israeli Author]:
"Some of the people who stand here today experienced something that would leave them wounded and scarred for the rest of their life."

Grossman talks about the change in perception due to the tragedies experienced on both sides.

"I feel that this deep crack within us... that allows us to understand better the values of compromise, of concession or forgiveness."

Ali Alouawwad from Ramallah, who lost his brother during the conflict represented the bereaved families’ from the Palestina side.

[Ali Alouawwad, Palestinian Representative, Ramallah]:
"You have to understand one thing... that people don't reconcile, not because they don't want peace. People cannot deal with the daily suffering. They don't know where to put the anger. Nobody's giving them another option."

Alouawwad, like his other associates at the conference, made a bravely decision – to manage the personal and national pain in a nonviolent way.

"Boycott, it is one part of a very huge, long and strong process of nonviolent resistance. But I also believe, that I cannot boycott a good heart, a heart like Leonard Cohen's."

Similar to the world view from Leonard Cohen's music, these courage's families are determined to work with forgiveness and understanding despite or maybe because of the tragedies they’ve been through. In their hands Leonard Cohen intrusted his reconciliation fund of tolerance and peace.

NTD, Israel.
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by sharon.e »

MORE PHOTOS!!
Ziv Koren is one of Israel's leading photojournalists, known for his unique style, was very generous and agreed to share some of the photos he took at the Tel Aviv concert with the forum members.
You can check out his award winning work at http://www.zivkoren.com
The way he caught Leonard's expressions facing the 50K crowd is fantastic.
I am posting here a sneak peek and the rest were sent to Jarkko to upload on his site.

hope you enjoy them (plz do not re-post - I promised him that it'll only be here and on Jarkko's site)

--Sharon

2009 Tel Aviv; San Jose
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by sturgess66 »

Sharon - where is the sneak peek? I couldn't find any available at Ziv Koren's site.

That sent me looking on the worldwide web and I visited the Getty Images site and found 14 pages for your perusing pleasure. Lots from the tour - and "I'm Your Man" premiere (the stahs came out) - and there are some interesting ones as you get further back. (Just ignore Lester and Michael Cohen. :lol: )

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Searc ... rd%20cohen

Like -
Getty1.jpg
Getty1.jpg (21.79 KiB) Viewed 7874 times
and
Getty2.jpg
Getty2.jpg (14.21 KiB) Viewed 7873 times
But - I digress.

Back to those Ziv Koren photos.
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by sharon.e »

sharon.e wrote:MORE PHOTOS!!
Ziv Koren is one of Israel's leading photojournalists, known for his unique style, was very generous and agreed to share some of the photos he took at the Tel Aviv concert with the forum members.
You can check out his award winning work at http://www.zivkoren.com
The way he caught Leonard's expressions facing the 50K crowd is fantastic.
I am posting here a sneak peek and the rest were sent to Jarkko to upload on his site.

hope you enjoy them (plz do not re-post - I promised him that it'll only be here and on Jarkko's site)

--Sharon

Sorry Guys,
I have no idea why the sneak peek photos were not uploaded here - a technical issue I can't seem to overcome now. So let's wait for Jarkko's page and reference link.
The photos are not on Ziv Koren's site. He sent them to me personally, I mentioned his site for people who are not familiar with him, thinking it might be interesting for them to know more about him.
--Sharon
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by Happygirl »

Hi all,

Just found this article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-klo ... 03827.html) this morning, does somebody know if the recording mentioned (which I highlighted below) is available somewhere?

Originally posted on: http://www.canadasisrael.ca/2009/09/boy ... in-israel/ (includes link to Hallelujah during the gig on 24the September: http://www.youtube.com/user/TaliaE)

Leonard Cohen played to a sold-out crowd on September 24 in Ramat Gan, Israel. About 6 months ago when the tickets started going on sale, the country was abuzz: are you going to see Leonard Cohen? It was a question asked by grandmothers to young teens. A Canadian friend of mine, Mark, stationed in Qatar, was even mulling coming to Israel for the show — despite the fact that he’d have to do it clandestinely through Jordan since Israel and Qatar do not have diplomatic relations. Tickets sold out in 12 hours, so if you didn’t act fast there was no point.

As much as I love Leonard Cohen (and the fact that I could easily have 2 of his songs on the soundtrack of my life: Dance Me To The End of Love, and Halleluiah) I couldn’t imagine forking out the equivalent of about $300 CAN for a ticket. So I stayed in Jaffa, and after a day of work went to visit my friend Rivi in Tel Aviv. We headed over to Tel Aviv’s famous Vegan restaurant Buddha Burger and for once since it was opened a year or so ago, it was virtually empty – as were the nightclubs on Lillenblum Street. It was as though the entire city had gone to see Leonard Cohen.

It’s like that in Israel when big acts come. People pour out of the cities to the 50,000 seat Ramat Gan stadium. Although we are only a short flight to Europe - about 3 to Germany, 1.5 to Turkey or an hour to Greece, it’s a big commitment for artists to come to Israel. I reason that most of them, unless they are die-hard fans of Israel or Jewish people don’t bother: I can’t think of one big act that has come to Israel without pro-Palestinian organizations boycotting against them. With all the bad press, who wants to be bothered?

Smaller acts like Regina Spector or MGMT don’t care, but once an artist hits it big: watch out. You’ll be boycotted, and none of quite frankly, including the artists understand how boycotting arts and cultural events in Israel will bring Middle East peace.

It happened with Madonna, who didn’t care. She’s Madonna after all. It happened with Depeche Mode, who says boycotts don’t bring peace. Same with Paul McCartney and recently Leonard Cohen. Unlike Madonna and the other big acts who come to Israel for the eager and captive audience (tickets sell like hotcakes - this year 50,000 for Cohen), Leonard Cohen decided to make any wrongs in this world right and has donated some $2 million USD in box office sales to a number of peace-making organizations in the region, including the Peres Center for Peace.

According to Haaretz, a local newspaper: “Seconds after Cohen took to stage in his legendary tailored suit and hat the 75-year-old singer-songwriter softly uttered a Hebrew prayer in front of some 50 thousand people curious to see how the frail looking man planned to overcome the distance between the stage and the people tens of meters in the back.”

So me, tired of hearing news about boycotts — the tiring antics around the Toronto Film Festival and the attempted boycott of Israeli movies – was so proud of Cohen when he turned those proposing a boycott and flipped the idea on its head: The $2 million he’s earned in ticket sales is now going towards dialog and peace work. It was money, any way that he said to the media which should stay in the region.

“Everyone in the audience felt like Cohen was personally singing to them and the enthusiastic and even ecstatic crowd wouldn’t let the singer leave until his third encore,” noted the Haaretz reporter.

Sigh.

Well, I can’t say I missed Cohen completely. After returning from Tel Aviv with a seaweed/tofu salad in my belly, washed down with orange juice and a tofu milk latte and soya cheese panacotta, I opened the big blue gate to my house to face the 250 person wedding in the front yard. (I live in a house that is also a venue for arts events and celebrations, managed by my friend BH).

More than half of the guests at the wedding looked about 30 and under. Obviously they’d sacrificed more than a big fat wedding check, the custom in Israel, to go to their friend’s wedding. Worse: they’d missed their chance to see Cohen. The bride’s uncle decided that the guests would not suffer. He’d arranged an online recording of the show and screened the video to a teary bride while onlookers mouthed the lyrics by heart.
Projected on the wall of the house, we all looked to the new married couple and swayed to Cohen’s “Dance Me To The End of Love.”
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by mnkyface »

sturgess66 wrote: "I'm Your Man" premiere (the stahs came out)
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by bridger15 »

The Legacy Of Leonard Cohen's Tel Aviv Priestly Blessing...

Dr HGuy, aka Allan Showalter, published today on his website, an extraordinary scholarly written, beautifully iillustrated description of the Birkat Kohanim.
A recently posted video is included.

I left the following comment on his website:
Thank you so much, Allan, for your very beautiful and eloquent exposition of Leonard Cohen invoking the Birkat Kohanim. Your intricate and deeply moving presentation together with the most powerful 1.57 minute video by PetSounds69, left me trembling and in tears. Yasher Koach!
http://1heckofaguy.com/2009/09/30/a-vid ... v-concert/
The link to the video is included.

This video also has excellent audio of LC's remarks to the Israeli and Palestinian members of the Bereaved Parents for Peace.

Thank you, Allan for doing this
---Arlene
Last edited by bridger15 on Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Arlene's Leonard Cohen Scrapbook http://onboogiestreet.blogspot.com
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

Post by Ann1952 »

For all of you that missed the Tel-Aviv concert - completely sold out, well you probably missed the best concert ever - truly magical. Only in Israel can 48,000 people sing Hallelujah with Leonard Cohen and be on their feet for at least an hour swaying with green sticklight in the air. He was very moved and you could hear it in his voice. It was as though he was singing to every person in that stadium. I wish he would have stayed on that stage for another 3 1/2 hours. Nobody would have moved. The media and reviews were unbelievable - praise and more praise. Once in a life time. I wish I could see him on stage again. Maybe one day! From one Canadian living in Israel - it was FANTASTIC - A DREAM COME TRUE TO SEE HIM AGAIN ON STAGE!!!! :lol:
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