CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Everything about the first leg of Leonard Cohen's World Tour 2013
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sue7
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CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by sue7 »

No reviews yet, but here are Joey's photos from Miami, to start the thread.

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Keep Calm Miami

It’s the Heat & the Humidity

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It’s a sit around and shoot the breeze kind of day today in camp.

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The thick humid air bakes in the flavor.

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Quicker than a NASCAR pit crew, UHTC techs Chris Bynum & Benni Johl tear down and rebuild Sharon Robinson’s wireless pack during the recitation of Thousand Kisses Deep.

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Ascension
sue7
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by sue7 »

And here are some of the tweets from the concert. Realized too late that they go in backwards chronological order!
E H Kern ‏@EH_Kern 1h
Saw Leonard Cohen live in concert in #Miami last night. Sublime, beautiful, moving.
@longplaymiami
#LeonardCohen #Miami pic.twitter.com/Hgxmv6ADRWImage
Kate ‏@efemmera 17h
"I struggle to get up in the morng, I look in the mirror, and I say, 'Cohen, can't you lighten up for chrissakes?'" -Leonard Cohen in #Miami
Gwen Filosa ‏@KeyWestGwen 17h
MIAMI- Leonard Cohen approaches Springsteen-length show. Seamless. Without a peer.
Gwen Filosa ‏@KeyWestGwen 18h
MIAMI- Sharon Robinson is singing "Alexandra Leaving." Leonard Cohen is giving her the spotlight. All is right in the world.
Steven Machat ‏@smachat 18h
Leonard Cohen tonight in Miami singing Suzanne. pic.twitter.com/z3doiKnX4cImage
Joan Cochran ‏@WordsByJoan 19h
At leonard cohen concert in miami with old hippies and poets. Some things get better with age.
Stephanie Owitz Stephanie Owitz ‏@stephanieowitz 19h
Couldn't be any happier ... Because I am at the Leonard Cohen concert in Miami! Still in love after all these years !
Gwen Filosa ‏@KeyWestGwen 20h
Leonard Cohen in Miami: "I look in the mirror and say, 'When are you going to lighten up, Cohen?" Intro to "There ain't no cure for love."
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Hydrogal
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by Hydrogal »

And what a show it was! I wasn't sure what to expect from this Miami crowd. There had been virtually no chatter on the forum about Miami so I wasn't sure if this was a popular destination or not. Since this is my stomping ground, I was so hoping that the local flora and fauna-poets and hippies- and other assorted South Floridians would be up to par with some of the other venues I have attended. As it turned out, the Miami audience was super. Leonard and company started about 15 minutes past 8. I'm not sure, but I believe it was because there had just been a bit of bad weather and many people found themselves stuck in traffic. For a long time! They opened with Dance Me to the End of Love, of course and went on to give us 3 hours and 15 minutes of pure perfection.

I am only a veteran of the 2012 season (4 venues :D )so my experience is limited, but it seemed like the whole band was in high spirits. Leonard said he plans on taking up smoking again in 2 years and then proceeded with a detailed scenario of how his first cigarette would arrive -- very funny- and then segued into his stage version of 'Anyhow'. During the recitation of 'A Thousand Kisses Deep', the audience held their collective breath and listened with reverence to every syllable. I could listen to that poem in his voice a thousand times and never tire of it. He continued his antics with Tower of Song.

I don't have the brain power to keep track of the set list, but I can say they played Lover, Lover, Lover - one of my favorites, Closing Time- My husband's very favorite, Famous Blue Raincoat..........and on and on.

Sharon got a well deserved standing ovation for 'Alexandra Leaving', as did the Webb Sisters for 'If it be Your Will'. All in all it was perfect.
By the end of the second set everyone in our row, we had front row girls side (again :D ) we were all swaying in time, clapping and softly singing along with the chorus. As the first encore began, the aisles filled with people standing-lots of young people-applauding and just enjoying every song. As Leonard left the stage after the final encore, he stopped for an extra moment or two,gazed into the audience and with a really beautiful smile he tipped his hat and seemed to say an extra 'Thank you' to a very enthusiastic crowd.

So, there you go. My first official concert review. All from the heart. (and just a bit disjointed--I know)
Barbara
we are so lightly here
it is in love that we are born--in love we disappear

Verona 2012, Paris 2012, Detroit 2012, Boston 2012, Miami 2013, New Orleans 2013
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joyezekiel
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by joyezekiel »

Lovely review Barbara - thanks!

Joy
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by sturgess66 »

Here's a gallery of pictures from ContactMusic -
http://www.contactmusic.com/photo-archi ... 3_21x03x13

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Leonard Cohen performs at James L Knight Center - Wednesday 20th March 2013
Singer- songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist LEONARD COHEN performs at James L Knight Center - Miami Florida United States - Wednesday 20th March 2013
imaginary friend
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by imaginary friend »

Thank you for the sweet review, Hydrogal.
Very dear friends of ours, who went with us to LC's concerts in Montreal, San Jose and Vegas, were at the Miami concert last night.
Wish I could have been there with them. I'll forward them the link to this thread.
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by sturgess66 »

And 27 more pictures from MiamiNewTimes - some of them are of audience members -
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/slideshow/ ... 9194070/#1

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Leonard Cohen at James L. Knight Center
Leonard Cohen and his nine-piece band filled the James L. Knight Center with adoring fans. The 74-year-old Cohen, a prophet of sorts, captivated the sold-out house with a three-plus hour stunning performance of poetry, stories and song.

Published on March 21, 2013
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by sturgess66 »

And - a video uploaded by plisplaiet - Thanks!
It's not complete - but it's sweet - :D

So Long Marianne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdegCVw90bA
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by sturgess66 »

Another nice video - uploaded by "hea ther" - Thanks!

Famous Blue Raincoat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViFuGHto7kE
Gordana
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by Gordana »

And another partial video by plisplaiet
Thanks! :D

Hallelujah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl6kD8Dn ... dg&index=2
Beograd 2009
MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by MaryB »

Barbara - thank you so very much for your review!
1993 Detroit 2008 Kitchener June 2-Hamilton June 3 & 4-Vienna Sept 24 & 25-London RAH Nov 17 2009 NYC Feb 19-Grand Prairie Apr 3-Phoenix Apr 5-Columbia May 11-Red Rocks Jun 4-Barcelona Sept 21-Columbus Oct 27-Las Vegas Nov 12-San Jose Nov 13 2010 Sligo Jul 31 & Aug 1-LV Dec 10 & 11 2012 Paris Sept 30-London Dec 11-Boston Dec 16 2013 Louisville Mar 30-Amsterdam Sept 20
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by sturgess66 »

Article in MiamiNewTimes - and a set list. [There are a lot of photographs throughout - click on link to view]
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/crossfad ... 0_2013.php
Leonard Cohen Contemplates Love, Death, and Other Old Ideas in Miami, March 20
By S. Pajot Thu., Mar. 21 2013 at 12:00 PM

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Photo by Marta Xochilt Perez

Leonard Cohen's Old Ideas Tour
James L. Knight Center, Miami
Wednesday, March 20, 2013


Now 78, Leonard Cohen almost certainly wouldn't be pounding the tour trail, if his finances were still flush.

Circa 2004, though, fate intervened. (Or rather, a personal manager did, ripping him off to the tune of approximately $9 million over a period of years.)

And that's essentially how the Canadian Jewish Buddhist bard in a suit was forced to work the tour circuit on a full-time basis again.

Of course, Cohen, a formerly reclusive figure, might have preferred to spend his unknown number of remaining years on this strange spinning rock, sitting in peace atop a California mountain with loved ones, friends, and his own flawed self while contemplating love, death, and other Old Ideas.

But he also relishes the stage life, playing up his puckish artistic persona as a poet, prophet, and pervert for the benefit of fanatics, fellow fighters, and the gods -- not to mention himself.

So, last night in Miami at about a quarter-hour past the advertised "8 p.m. sharp show time," the theater went dark. And still. And silent. And then it erupted into a standing ovation as Cohen jogged out, clad in his signature late-life uniform of gray dress shirt, black tie, black suit, and black fedora.

He briefly tipped his head in thanks, with a wide, thin-lipped smile shining through the shadow beneath the brim of his hat. He grabbed the microphone in his right hand while curling its cord into a loop with the other. And he descended to his knees, singing, "Dance Me to the End of Love," in his infamously seductive, gravelly croon, as if it were a reverently filthy prayer.

All night, as he sang, Cohen created a ritual of genuflecting in praise of his bandmates.

He bowed before the string virtuoso Javier Mas. He was humbled by Neil Larsen, "the foremost exponent of the Hammond B3." He kneeled in honor of "our timekeeper" and drummer Rafael Gayol; "the professor" and guitarist Mitch Watkins; the master violinist Alexadriu Bublitchi; "the sublime" singing Webb sisters; "our musical director and survivor of these many campaigns" Roscoe Beck; and finally, his lovely longtime collaborator and co-writer, Sharon Robinson.

But just as often, Leonard sat crouched in the spotlight, staring off into the beyond, trying to decipher the darkness, attempting to channel its mysteries.

"We were here a few years ago," Cohen uttered in his distinct careful way, addressing the theater and referring to the Miami stop of his two-year 2008-09 world tour, which had been his first in over a decade and a half.

"And maybe we'll be here a few years hence. One never knows for sure," he joked, darkly. "But tonight, we'll give you everything we've got.

"Thank you, friends, for the warm welcome."

He glimpsed "The Future," singing a string of slightly altered lyrics, "There'll be phantoms/There'll be fires on the road/And the white girls dancing," as the Webb Sisters (but not the darker-skinned Ms. Robinson) swung their arms in a pantomime of the Mashed Potato.

He tunefully recited "Bird on the Wire" and smirkingly conceded "Everybody Knows" before removing his hat to admire a four-minute flamenco-tinged guitar interlude from Mr. Mas.

He interrogated the universe, asking "Who by Fire," while tenderly plucking at the strings of a black, full-bodied acoustic as his own enormous, double shadow loomingly shuffled across pleated 100-foot curtains.

Cohen danced amid "The Darkness," during which he performed a strange vocal trick, grumbling percussively as the drummer, "our metronome," slapped out a jazzy solo.

He was clearly enjoying himself. "Thanks so much, friends," he said. "It's a great honor to play for you." And straightening his tie, the old songman smiled again.

Despite his gloomy reputation, pitch-black sense of humor, and a death fixation that's only been exacerbated by his age, Cohen is still a charmer. There is a purity about his pessimism. And he would rather laugh in the face of the reaper than weep. And he will always repent for his sins, even if he enjoyed committing them.

Yes, he is a septuagenarian. But he remains boyish. He jokes. He teases. He self-deprecates.

"Sometimes, I struggle out of bed," he confessed last night. "And I go to the mirror and I look into that mirror and say: 'Lighten up, Cohen.'

Pausing for laughs, he continued chastising himself. "'Your struggle has been intense. But intense compared to what? When are you going to get over the fact that there ain't no cure for love?'"

Yet in spite of "struggl[ing] out of bed," Cohen slips so spritely around the stage. And he performs for hours. There is an intermission. A second act to the show. And three encores.

The old songman moves promiscuously from instrument to instrument too. He caresses the microphone with both hands, singing or whispering spiritual, sarcastic, and occasionally explicit lyrics. He fondles the guitar. He twangs the Jew's harp. He even fingers the electronic keyboard a bit.

"I'm going to fire this machine up," he warned the theater, standing behind a fine piece of Casio-like plastic gear. "Don't get alarmed. You may never have seen anything quite like it. So steel yourself."

Still, though, the main source of Cohen's own amusement and inspiration (and perhaps existential terror) is death.

Along with love, it is one of those Old Ideas that most shaped his new album -- and has always most shaped his oeuvre.

"Are you humoring me? Patronizing the elderly? Do you think that's all I can do?" he jokingly ranted in response to the theater's applause for his electronic keyboard playing, as if defending himself against some sort of judgmental higher power.

He's even rewritten the come-ons in "I'm Your Man," crooning: "I'll wear an old man's mask for you."

In a certain way, all of Cohen's routines (especially the encores) are laid out in little life-death cycles. From the lusty hymn "Hallelujah" followed by the surreal goodbye of "Take This Waltz." Or the idyllic ode "Marianne" giving way to the apocalyptic disco of "First We Take Manhattan." Or the seething domestic drama of "Famous Blue Raincoat" sweeping into the submissive spiritual "If It Be Your Will" and then the joyously apocalyptic tune "Closing Time."

As he croons on his song of the same name, it's all about "Going home/Without my sorrow/Going home/Sometime tomorrow." This "lazy bastard living in a suit ... Going home/To where it's better/Than before."

Yet every time Cohen introduces his band one last time and bids his fine audience goodnight and skips with a hand fluttering over his head, waving comically as he rushes headlong into the wings, into the darkness -- the old trickster is never gone for good.

He always seems to return for another encore.

Critic's Notebook

Leonard Cohen's Setlist
-"Dance to the End of Love"
-"The Future"
-"Bird on a Wire"
-"Everybody Knows"
-"Who by Fire"
-"The Darkness"
-"Ain't No Cure for Love"
-"Amen"
-"Come Healing"
-"Democracy Is Coming to the U.S.A."
-"A Thousand Kisses Deep"
-"Anthem"

Intermission

-"Tower of Song"
-"Suzanne"
-"Waiting for a Miracle"
-"Show Me the Place"
-"Anyhow"
-"Lover Lover Lover"
-"Alexandra Leaving" (performed by Sharon Robinson)
-"I'm Your Man"
-"Hallelujah"
-"Take This Waltz"

Encore
-"So Long, Marianne"
-"Going Home"
-"First We Take Manhattan"

Second Encore
-"Famous Blue Raincoat"
-"If It Be Your Will"
-"Closing Time"

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karlasona
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by karlasona »

The concert in Miami on March 20, 2013 was a truly a life experience for me. People of all ages, shapes and colors melded into one as we were transfixed by Leonard, his being, his poetry and his humility. It was overwhelming in it's simplicity. Thank you for the experience, I will never forget it.

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rangerdad
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Miami, March 20, 2013

Post by rangerdad »

I am so envious of all you guys...we missed this concert in Miami last year because our RV was having transmission issues, and it spent most of it's time in the shop :(

Oh well, maybe next time we will be fortunate to enjoy Leonard's genius.

Cheers, Pete.
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
RangerDad
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