CONCERT REPORT: London, UK, June 21, 2013

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HelenOE
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by HelenOE »

Born With The Gift Of A G wrote:Review in The Guardian (not exactly an insightful one though...):


http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/ju ... hen-review
It's certainly the first time I've seen a reviewer take the trouble to review Leonard's legs. Or his haircut. :roll:
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musicmania
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by musicmania »

Oh dear G-d. To think she probably got paid to write this. " joining his paws"............ I'm flabbergasted.
2009 Dublin 2010 Lissadell Katowice LV x2 2012 Ghent x2 Dublin x4 Montreal x2 Toronto x2 2013 New York x2 Brussels Dublin x2

Gwen's Leonard Cohen Journey: http://myleonardcohenjourney.wordpress.com/

"I did my best, it wasn't much"
HelenOE
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by HelenOE »

musicmania wrote:Oh dear G-d. To think she probably got paid to write this. " joining his paws"............ I'm flabbergasted.
Well, at least this flabbergasting review has now acquired a fairly funny first comment, on the subject of knickers checked at the door and what that might mean for the content of Leonard's next album.
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mnkyface
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by mnkyface »

Funny UK/US English confusion for me here. When I first read "green pants deposited onstage", I thought surely it had to be something closer to leggings? Perhaps a nod to Nancy's stockings. Because who would put pants onstage? Unless it was Anjani...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater
:lol:
As I read further, the penny (panty?) dropped and I realized this was green panties/underwear as we would call it in the US. :lol:

Err...green? Not my first color choice for that kind of gift...
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MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by MaryB »

And what is this - 'A Thousand Kisses Deep' sung :?:
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FOXWOOD
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by FOXWOOD »

mnkyface wrote: As I read further, the penny (panty?) dropped and I realized this was green panties/underwear as we would call it in the US. :lol:

Err...green? Not my first color choice for that kind of gift...
They were not gift wrapped. I thought they were a large blue cloth - but then I was 14 rows back.
Lets just say that it would not be appropriate to use the word "Skimpy" in this context.
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musicmania
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by musicmania »

FOXWOOD wrote: Lets just say that it would not be appropriate to use the word "Skimpy" in this context.
:lol: Really laughed out loud at this. :lol:
2009 Dublin 2010 Lissadell Katowice LV x2 2012 Ghent x2 Dublin x4 Montreal x2 Toronto x2 2013 New York x2 Brussels Dublin x2

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Paul Zagreb
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by Paul Zagreb »

MaryB wrote:And what is this - 'A Thousand Kisses Deep' sung :?:

It was spoken as per usual ... not sure if the Guardian reporter was actually at the concert :o
2008: Manchester 20 June /Vienna 24 September /Berlin 4 October / Cardiff 8 November/Manchester 30 November 2009: Liverpool 14 July / Belgrade 2 September / Barcelona 21 September 2010: Zagreb 25 July /Sankt Margarethan 5 September 2012: Ghent 12 August/Verona 24 September/Lisbon 7 October 2013: London 21 June / Berlin 17 July / Ljubljana 25 July / Pula 2 August / London 15 September
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somewhat_nifty
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by somewhat_nifty »

As I mentioned on Facebook, that particular Guardian reviewer has got form for dreadful reviews! You wouldn't know it was a 5 star review from the text...

Anyway, I've been very slow to write up my concert review, apologies for slackness. I hadn't seen Leonard and the band since last September at Wembley, so found myself getting quite excited as the 21st drew round. I managed to get row E seats in the presale (thanks again Jarkko et al), though I was worried I would be off to far to one side, but actually I had a much better view than I thought. The only problems were not seeing Alex or Mitch Watkins, but luckily I could look up to the big screen when they were active. Leonard was on incredibly good form, chipper and cheerful, with a selection of 'new' anecdotes for us all (I see he's recycling the magnifying mirror one from 2009 :lol: still he makes a good point). I'd happily have a song or two less so I could have more of Leonard's chat. As usual, he promised that they would give us all they had, and I really felt it that night. Leonard was almost ferocious during Everybody Knows and The Future. I enjoyed 'Amen' from the new album, I think it really fits in well with the feel of the set. All in all, I'm glad I got tickets for the return gig in September, even if I am up in the gods. I'll follow Leonard's advice and not lean too far forward :lol:

My experience was somewhat marred by the people in the row in front almost descending into fisticuffs. Why they ply people with so much alcohol at these places I'll never understand. It's far easier to buy beer/wine than it is to get water or soft drinks. Not only do we have to out up with people going back and forth to the bar and loo (as noted above), but they get much more tetchy and argumentative. I must say, I have had the most problems with drunks at the London shows. It does make me sad. You wonder what they're taking away from the show.

Anyway, looking forward to September (Cohen) :D
I'm chained to the old masquerade...
2008: London O2 14th Nov, RAH 18th Nov; 2009: NY RCMH 16th May, Weybridge MBW 11th July, Barcelona 21st Sept; 2010: Sligo 31st July, Lille 25th Sept, Las Vegas 11th Dec; 2012: Wembley Arena 8th Sept, Dublin 11th Sept 2013: London O2 21st June, London O2 14th Sept
HelenOE
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by HelenOE »

Maybe Leonard should put "That Don't Make It Junk" in the London setlists...

Anyway, Rock Club review.
stephencharlton
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by stephencharlton »

musicmania wrote:
FOXWOOD wrote: Lets just say that it would not be appropriate to use the word "Skimpy" in this context.
:lol: Really laughed out loud at this. :lol:
Where I was sitting in the cheap seats, couldn't see much at all let alone pants!
Trouble is, I was spoiled at Manchester in 2008, intimate the O2 is not !


2008 Manchester.London x3.Berlin.
2010 Poland
2012 Belgium
2013 London
2008 Manchester
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2013 London 02
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by sturgess66 »

Mabeanie1 wrote: One of the sternest critics is no longer with us. From my point of view, what I dislike most is that most of the concert reports were started by the same person, hundreds or thousands of miles away from the action. Why not let the people on the ground start the reports? Why not give someone else a chance? This is not a personal criticism of Linda but more of the way she has often taken control
of and managed the concert reports in the past.

As for my frustration
:roll: :(
To each his own I guess - but also, folklore is folklore.
And right now - that's all I've got about that :razz:

A few other things -

I know Foxwood has already posted this nice review in another thread - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34006
And I'm putting it here in the concert report thread as well (as I am wont to do - :lol: ) -
I'm copying the text in full. The reason I do that is not to be ostentatious (although I do like the pictures :D ) - but links tend to go bad after a while - and especially newspaper links. Does it matter? I dunno - but when reading through older threads - a lot of links no longer work.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/musi ... eview.html
Leonard Cohen, O2 Arena, review

Moving and Majestic, a Leonard Cohen Concert is the 'Sistine Chapel of Live Performance', says Bernadette McNulty.
5 out of 5 stars

Image
Leonard Cohen Photo: REUTERS

By Bernadette McNulty

1:46PM BST 23 Jun 2013 - 12 Comments

According to a recent survey, the over 65s are working longer than ever, plugging a pensions gap or keeping young people out of work, depending on your point of view. Nowhere is this more evident than in music. With everyone from the Rolling Stones to Neil Young, Iggy Pop, Elton John, the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen playing gigs in the UK this month, it might seem, despite the weather, like a golden summer for baby boomer rock fans. The allure of the music of their youth has ripened rather than withered, superseding in prestige and ticket prices the acts that have followed them: the young punks and techno wizards who once banished them – or at least tried to – to the ageing pop stars’ retirement home.

Nobody is raging against the dying of the light more spectacularly than Leonard Cohen. Since his return to touring in 2008, the 78 year-old must have more than filled his own unexpected pension shortfall, created when his former manager embezzled millions. But Cohen keeps going, still selling out enormous arenas, surely exhausting the concert-goers motives of novelty, nostalgia or the worry that this might be the last chance to see the singer-songwriter before he pops his clogs.

What keeps the thousands coming back, myself included, is the sensation that seeing Cohen live is like going to see a finished masterpiece by an Old Master. His three-hour sets are the Sistine Chapel ceiling of live performance: their exquisite beauty renders you silent, sometimes tearful but always grateful to have been able to experience such radiance and majesty.

The long-term fan next to me had been going to see the Canadian play since the early Seventies and reflected that Cohen had inevitably lost some of the intensity that he used to possess and is thankfully preserved in Tony Palmer’s fantastic 1972 documentary Bird on a Wire. But that film also shows that Cohen always sounded old and wrote songs that sounded old, grappling with themes of mortality and the meaning of love that he can now fully inhabit while finally being able to give full reign to the humour that was sometimes obscured by the darkness of his themes and his own depression. In this way Cohen standards such as Suzanne and Hallelujah sit perfectly alongside newer material from his 2012 album Old Ideas.

Cohen has surrounded himself with a phenomenal band who he spends a good deal of time genuflecting to on knees James Brown would have envied. You get the feeling that they, as much as the audience, don’t want this magic to end.
Someone included a nice picture on Twitter -
‏@TheRockClubUK
Leonard Cohen, The O2, 21/06/2013 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNhiguXCIAA8LA7.jpg
“carolinetillyann” at YouTube has uploaded three more videos and they are all very good. 8)

First We Take Manhattan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1cndt52KlQ

Going Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui6EW1rU4HA

Famous Blue Raincoat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-vMmo4K6KE

*****************
Editing to add -

Uploaded by messalina79 a/k/a somewhat_nifty a/k/a Ruth - Thanks! :)

Lover, Lover, Lover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeerbAXZUC0

The Darkness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OSgS5KH99c

****************
Uploaded by philbsixtysix - Thanks!

I'm Your Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roRXbEsQdxg
Last edited by sturgess66 on Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:00 am, edited 3 times in total.
SeventhSon
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by SeventhSon »

Leonard was fantastic as always and I really liked that Lover Lover Lover and especially the amazing recitation of A Thousand Kisses Deep was included in the setlist. Also, Anyhow sounded absolutely brilliant.

However, I will never go to the O2 again. The sound (especially at the beginning) was horrible. I heard Leonard's voice twice. When he was singing a new line, I could still hear the echo of the previous line. Horrible. It really ruined Dance me and The Future for me. :( They could also turn up the volume a bit. In the background I could hear people chatting all the time.

Fortunately it got better as the concert went on and during the second part, the sound issues were gone (although I still think that it was not loud enough).

What also disturbed me - and someone else already mentionned it - was people drinking alcohol. Seriously, do you really need to drink 2 liter of wine during a show? I had a couple sitting next to me who drank one bottle of wine after the other and when the encore started, the woman was clearly drunk and disturbing everyone. Totally embarrassing...

So, although a great show as usual, one with a few downsides for me. Fortunately the friend I took (his first LC show, and I am the one that introduced him to the master ;-) ) was totally amazed and didn't notice the problems I had. My last concert was the Olympia in Paris, so the difference was too striking for me to ignore it. ;-)

Looking forward for Mannheim now.
James-on-tour
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by James-on-tour »

cohenadmirer wrote:Did anyone notice whether in ' the darkness' Leonard is still 'catching the future' :?:
I much preferred the older more 'raw' version of 'The Darkness' than the 'new' arrrangement that emerged
this time around.

This being said I really enjoyed the show (#28 overall and #3 at the O2 London).

I too tend get a bit annoyed with the now common journey to the bar during gigs
(it is the same for basketball etc) but I did not see this (around me at least) during Radio City concerts.
Maybe it is just me but if you can't go an hour without a refill .......

I was disturbed a couple of times last Friday but as the people were apologetic
and nice about it I had no real problem with them.

I spoke with a Scottish lady named Suzanne who's dad was a Cohen fan hence the name,
it was her second LC gig and she was thrilled.

I sometimes read reviews out of interest and some are excellent but I never write them as
all concerts, sporting events are personal and what YOU take from something is all that matters.

I know a few fans were going to the Moody Blues gig on Saturday, I really enjoyed it but
a lot of the crowd seemed to be half asleep. It was a nice change of pace.

Next gig ZZ TOP at the Marquee in Cork and the next Leonard outing is Zurich (with a
few in between) ..... keep on rocking and enjoy the music ... whatever your taste.
cohenadmirer
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: LONDON, JUNE 21, 02 ARENA

Post by cohenadmirer »

John Etherington wrote:Wendy - The great irony with this tweeting lark is that Leonard is primary a poet and man of literacy. The sad reality is that many people now think of him merely an entertainer.

Cathye - I didn't go to O2 this time, as I wasn't buying into the Ticketmaster game. However, I suspected it might be formulaic, and I see that the set list is virtually identical to Wembley last year. Since no-one here seemed able to get anywhere near the front for this one, Leonard may have felt he was playing to corporate poseurs. :)

But what a wonderful , to be celebrated reality that Leonard is now not only 'a poet and man of literacy' but also with the UHTC more widely recognised as a sublime entertainer who can fill a place like the 02.
Karma indeed that he might 'end' his career in this way which several years ago would have been unimaginable (including to leonard himself)
Last edited by cohenadmirer on Tue Jun 25, 2013 12:09 am, edited 4 times in total.
Leonard's work resonates
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