CONCERT REPORT: Amsterdam (July 12)

[NinaMaastr]

Nina, can I use some of your pictures? Mine are crap.

Sure!

[Night Dancer]

Great! I will post them "by permission" and tie the link to your site.

"From bitter searching of the heart
We rise to play a greater part"

Thanks Nina,

[Stranger]

I had the chance to be at the Brugge and Amsterdam performances, my first ever Leonard Cohen concerts. Both fantastic, unforgettable experiences, even though at each concert my standing place was not very close to the Master. Later, at home, I listened to some of the songs on CD and it was obvious that the live performances were so much stronger. I can't wait for the DVD and CD set to be released (assuming that that will be the case). Hats off to the band and singers as well, that so convincingly and enthusiastically enhanced Leonard's voice and gaved it a robust support. Also the camera work in Amsterdam was great; was it a coincidence that Halleluia came up when the sun went down? By the way Mike 35, we saw your banner on the big screen and it gave us a good laugh.

One last thing: they looked like angels and they sang like angels. I don't think that we will ever hear a more moving rendition of "If it be your will".

[Womanfromaroom]

By the way Mike 35, we saw your banner on the big screen and it gave us a good laugh.

Dear Mike, I was in Amsterdam too, but I didn't see your poster... it is mentioned all the time here, so I am getting really curious: What exactly was on it? Enlighten me, please...
Thanks!!

[suzannejager]

http://www.verspers.nl/?categorie=8&soort=foto&id=84

Here you also can find the artikel I wrote about the concert

[Reindeer]

As a new member to this forum, I will tell you a short story which plays in Friesland, a northern province of the Netherlands. Back to where it all began.

It was a rainy summer day in 1979 and I was trekking and had pitched my tent on an island in one of the many lakes. I was still a young boy, almost fifteen years old and sailing on my own. Then another boat sailed by and landed near mine. It had the hammer and sickel stitched on the cloth of its sail. Two guys were in that boat, one was blond and the other a bit darker. They did not have a tent. They would pull a cloth over them and sleep underneath.

The young men said they were students from Delft. Mining engineers, though the last mines in the country had been closed for decades. They had built the boat themselves. That's why they stitched the hammer and sickel on the sail. They were shouted at from the shores, where old men thought they were communists.

It was getting colder with a drizzle of rain now and then. We collected wood and gathered around the fire. One of the young men got a guitar and a song book. They asked me if I was a believer. I shrugged my shoulders, did not know what to say. Then the blond man looked me in the eyes and solemny declared: "We believe in Cohen". They opened the songbook and started to sing and play.

When summer was over and school began, I bought a guitar. I bought the records from Leonard Cohen and his songbooks with scores, chords and photographs. I learned them all and soon gained a reputation as a performer.

Last saturday in Amsterdam I saw Leonard Cohen live for the first time. When he thanked us for keeping his songs alive all these years that was right. That's what we' ve been doing. I guess the mining engineers too. Thanks to Leonard for a very memorable experience. We all witnessed something singular. I never realized there are so many of us.

[istvan]

Just arrived from Amsterdam!
Itravelled from Budapest especially to this concert. I'm a big fan of L.C. but I never ever seen him in live, never ever heard in live. (now I'm 55)
It's a great moment was in my live and I was happy to be there!
Leonard! Budapest still waiting for you!

[Womanfromaroom]

Reindeer,
thanks for your story. I was really moved... I am 32 and I cannot even say what exactly started my Leonard-Cohen-enthusiasm, but I think listening to his songs (in rather low quality on an old cassette recorder) in a summery Oxford college garden with a boy whom I hugely admired 9 years ago might more or less have done the trick! The boy has long gone from my life, but Leonard, fortunately, has stayed and will forever!
Listening to the Amsterdam version of "if it be your will" right now; already a memory, but one of a lifetime!

[dmtindian]

So far - six days after the concert….
I tried to leave you
(I have tried to take the CD out of the car)
(I have tried to stop playing his music on the computer)
As for playing his music during dinner - my 12 year old daughter asked her dad – how long is this ‘Leonard Cohen’ thing going to last with mum? He replied – ‘oh – at least another 7-10 days’…

[Womanfromaroom]

God, yes, same with me... I am completely hooked right now, even more than before the concert (if that is at all possible), really and utterly adicted now - th the extent that I get no work done at ll these days (with sinister deadlines approaching!) because I keep returning to the Cohen files and forum all the time and watching him on YouTube... Danced me to the End of Reality, that Amsterdam event!

[Caren]

This was a very touching experience. And certainly worth all the travelling.

The first and last time I have seen Mr Leonard Cohen perform live was way back in the 90ies. I was pregnant with my daughter, feeling sick and weak for the entire 9 months but still stood happily at the second row through the entire gig back then. I had feared this to remain my first and last opportunity to see him live but fortunately history proved me wrong. Amsterdam was truly special. I second everything said by the posters above and just would like to add that in Amsterdam he was even better than back then. A lot of people around me had to shed a tear or two because this was such a beautiful and emotional experience and so had I.

My daughter obviously was influenced by her very early first musical experience and never stopped loving Leonard's music. She who is a teenager now will be accompanying me to see him again in Berlin on October 4th and in Hamburg on October 31th.

A lot of very good pictures were posted above, thanks a lot for those. Here is one I took in Amsterdam.

[rega3]

By the way Mike 35, we saw your banner on the big screen and it gave us a good laugh.

Dear Mike, I was in Amsterdam too, but I didn't see your poster... it is mentioned all the time here, so I am getting really curious: What exactly was on it? Enlighten me, please...
Thanks!!

IIRC it said something like "Leonard, if you forget any of the words, just ask me, I'm your Man!"

[Geert]

Otherwise a great show and he got to see and nod to my banner again. Roll on Edinburgh

Mike is this your banner?


BTW: The photopage is updated with some new pictures..

[Jim Williams]

What were the audience figures/how many tickets were sold for the Westerpark show?

[rega3]

What were the audience figures/how many tickets were sold for the Westerpark show?

At a guess I would say there were 10-12 thousand there, but I could be miles out.

He sold out the three shows in Dublin, about twenty thousand total I would say. Must have gone well, because he is coming back in December, I will be there for sure.