CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Europe and Israel (July 1 - September 24, 2009). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
sanneka
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by sanneka »

Unfortunately I did not see the concert i Langesund on July 16th, but I found this interview in a Norwegian Newspaper, that I thought some might find interesting.
Since we all know the Google Translations comes out very funny, I will do my best to translate the interview from Norwegian to English myself.
However, since I am Danish it may not be much better than google.

With Cohen's old girlfriend in Langesund.

Marianne Ihlen, Leonard Cohen old girlfriend was in Langesund to see the Leonard Cohen Concert. She was in company of Nikolai Lange-Nielsen and Bjørn Melleby from Stavern.

"So long Marianne, come here" shouts a guest, seated in the restaurant "Victoria Gaestgiveri" in Langesund
The 75 year old X-girlfriend of Leonard Cohen enters the restaurant with a smile, along with her two Grandchildren.
After a nice dinner "Telemarksavisen" gets a few words with Marianne Ihlen, the lady who lived with Leonard Cohen for more than ten years..

"I don't go to concerts to meet Leonard", she says, "I do not bother him when he is on tour.

Many years has passed since the famous love-relationship, that started on the Greek Island Hydra, has ended.

"He is my best and closest friend, we share a love that never dies. says Marianne, It is not a "Couple-love"; I have been happily married for 30 years. It is a different kind of love. He has always held a protective hand around me, Marianne says of Leonad Cohen.
Marianne prefers to talk about Nicolai Lange-Nielsen's production of "Wolf and Angel- a meeting with Cohen", but still the conversations turns to the man who later became so famous.
"I knew he would be something great. He is a great poet. Ahead of his time. He could write about things before they started to happen, she says.

Q. Did Cohen ever ask for your advise when he wrote?

A. He said "Thank you for making me so miserable, without you I would not have written a word" she laughs. That was a great compliment, he has a great sense of homour, and explains: "Leonard Cohen's lyrics a very serious, and still they are not, if you look closer."

Q: How do you like the song "So long Marianne"?

A: "It is a sweet song and it is nice to have your name in a song, but many can identify with the story in the song. she says.
Marianne , who last saw Leonard Cohen in concert last year in Bislett, likes other songs better than the one dedicated to her. "Bird on a wire" is very good and others that he doen't sing in concerts.

Q: Are you happy for the years you spent with Leonard Cohen?
A: "Yes, I am very grateful. He saw me." She gets a thoughtful look on her face.

Now it is time for Marianne to experience her legendary "old" boyfriend from a seat in the audience.




From Susanne
Denmark
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bridger15
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by bridger15 »

Photo of Marianne Ihlen in a recent article about Nicolay Lange-Nielsen who performs his own translations of the Cohens songs.
http://www.varden.no/article/20090610/K ... 1186/NTB02
..........................
GOOGLE Translation
.........................
Leonard Cohens world takes Langesund church a few weeks before the legend even takes Krog Harbor.
Helge Ottesen
It's about performance "Ulv & Engel - a meeting with Leonard Cohen", as shown in Langesund church Friday 19. June. It is in cooperation with Wrightegaarden, and can act as a vorspiel to Cohens own visits.

It is acting Nicolay Lange-Nielsen who has studied Leonard Cohens life and writing. Accompanied by bass and piano performing his own translations of the Cohens songs. He also weaves in the letter, roma excerpts, poetry and quotes.

Lange-Nielsen had great success with this performance in Stavern last year and it is shown around the country afterwards.

- A good and authentic portrait of an old friend. Got goosebumps from the first tone, "said Marianne Ihlen, after having been over teaterkabaretens première in Stavern.

Marianne Ihlen lived together with Leonard Cohen, as the girlfriend and muse, on the Greek island of Hydra. Marianne figure in the picture on the back of the Cohens second album and it is she, he sings about on the classic "So Long, Marianne".

Tickets to the show in Langesund church are available on the Ticket Service.

Published Wednesday 10. June 2009 kl. 09:18.
Last edited by bridger15 on Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2009-San Diego|Los Ang|Nashville|St Louis|Kansas City|LVegas|San Jose
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Arlene's Leonard Cohen Scrapbook http://onboogiestreet.blogspot.com
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Anne R
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by Anne R »

I have posted some pics from Langesund here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anneri

Anne R
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1976 Oslo | 1979 Oslo | 1985 Oslo x 2 | 1988 Oslo | 1993 Oslo | 2008 Manchester, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Helsinki | 2009 New York, Langesund, Barcelona
1976 Oslo | 1979 Oslo | 1985 Oslo x 2 | 1988 Oslo | 1993 Oslo | 2008 Manchester, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Helsinki | 2009 New York, Langesund, Barcelona | 2010 Oslo, Helsinki, Las Vegas x2 |2012 Helsinki, (Verona)| 2013 Oslo
j9sunny
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by j9sunny »

Many thanks for the links to the fantastic photos - and I'm fascinated by Marianne's appearance too. How fab that they have retained a great love for each other after all these years.
MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by MaryB »

Thank you Anne, they're beautiful. I love the depth of color on #13!
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
May-Brit
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by May-Brit »

His voice, his music, his humility... This wonderful person gave us the time of our lives!

Where can I send him my deep-felt *thank you*?

- May-Brit
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Womanfromaroom
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by Womanfromaroom »

May-Brit,

address your letter / email to Leonard's management:

Robert Kory
RK Management, LLC
9300 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 200
Beverly Hills, CA 90212, USA
info@rkmgment.com

Good luck!
And all the best...
"You thought that it could never happen / to all the people that you became"...
Love Calls You By Your Name
paal
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by paal »

Here is the report from VG; Norways leading newspaper.


http://www.vg.no/musikk/artikkel.php?artid=563598


In short it says:
"HUMBLE AND TENDER"
All should retire "The LC way" 6/6
It was a triumph.. Every song is classical. Under the most sublime of them - "Anthem," "Who By Fire," "If It Be Your Will", "Famous Blue Raincoat" - it was simply magical to be alive and present.
He introduced his six man strong, eminent band of multi-instrumentalists twice; not because he had forgotten that he had already done it once, but as a graceful gesture, of respect and love.
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mirka
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by mirka »

mnkyface wrote:These google translations are cracking me up!!!
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Esther, you are not alone, imagine how does they make feel non-native English speakers: dazed and confused most of the time :razz: :razz:.
I hope Marianne and Leonard met in private though...
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BlizzardofIce
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by BlizzardofIce »

My Concert report from Langesund, late but now I have the time I need to make a descent one (at work....)

The support:
Vamp - norwegian "irish" band, ok for a start, heavy rain.

Sivert Høyem - a great singer from the former band "Madrugada", heavily influented by Leonard Cohen.
This was a great concert, I really enjoyed it.
When he was going to play the song "Honey Bee" he said he almost didn't have the guts to play the song, because he was afraid that "the man sitting behind the stage, eating his dinner (cohen) would come to the stage and claim the song back... The band startet laughin, kind of embarressed. You can hear the song, GREAT SONG, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJuahpTzOlQ , those with a good ear can maybe tell us witch song they stole? Famous Blue Raincoat in some parts maybe?
He also played this great song :http://www.youtube.com/user/EMIMusicNor ... djtnFjXN30
Band/singer worth checking out by any Cohen fan!

The Cohen concert:
The venue was great in some ways, terrible in other ways. There were just an open field, 12.000 tickets sold.

Great for those of us who could stand in the front, just a few meters from the stage, and chose not to drink or eat during the day (getting back to toilets and back in front almost impossible...)
The sound was really bad in the back, I've been told. In the front I had a great time, if u choose to ignore the 5% drunk people doing their best to ruin the concert....

As everyone before me, and the critics have stated, the concert was great, but I have to say that some things were disappointing compared to the other concerts I have seen and heared.
-Cohen did NOT speak at all during the concert, if you compare to other shows. the first time he spoke was when he introduced the band during Anthem, the last song in the first set. There were none of his regular jokes (keyboard playing by itself...kid with a crazy dream...the answers to everything and so on) The few times he spoke he stuttered a few sentences to thank the audience, but i could clearly see him having problems finding the words. It made me worry that he is getting tired, or just had a bad day. The only times he introduced anyone from the band was during anthem and take this waltz and tried to leave.
Compared to bislett, when he told stories, jokes and so on, it was a huge difference.
I also noticed him staying back from singing much more than i have seen him before on songs like boogie street and secret life, it looked like he saved his voice as much as possible when he had the chance.
He also had big problems with lyrics on some songs, first we take manhattan was a mess on some of the verses ( birthmark in the heavens, as an example...)

The setlist was OK, new songs for me was Partisan, Famous Blue Raincoat and Waiting for the Miracle.
To my big disappointment I missed "thousand kisses deep" this time too, no spoken words for me this tour.

Pardon my English, I will write more/edit later.
There are many ways a man can serve his time
Joseph Tee
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by Joseph Tee »

I think he generally speaks less on this leg of the tour. Obviously it doesn't make much sense to tell the same jokes as the last time he was here. I think the things he did say were quite moving, among other things that he feels a special relationship to his Norwegian audience (he's regularly number one here, which is probably a little out of the ordinary).

I think his singing was very good and the only song that didn't do much for me was "heart with no companion". Delighted to hear "waiting for a miracle" and "famous blue raincoat" this time. I was up front and I must say it was a thrill to be able to see pretty much every expression on his face and all the little communication with his musicians. The sound was good where I was, and my impresson was also that the crowd was pretty good. They usually aren't in this country, if we're honest..;)
BlizzardofIce
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by BlizzardofIce »

Hi.

I am happy he didn't tell the same jokes, it would be strange....But it was such a hugh difference from other shows, he did not speek at all before anthem...
I'm sure he has some stories to tell now at the end of the tour too... It's not like he told the same stories everywhere...

The relation to Norway was fine, though, that was at the end of the concert. After wither thou goes, if i remember correctly.

Standing in the fr4ont was great, I agree. I saw every expression on their faces, not to mention studying the magnificent webb-sisters....!
"heart with no companion" was strange, i agree. Very "danseband"-aktig. (try google-translate that word)

The singing was great, I agree. Sound good upfront too.
There are many ways a man can serve his time
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Anne R
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by Anne R »

I like the country version of Heart with no companion! Not "danseband" at all to me, good country music with pedal steel. Yes, different than the rest, but great. I noticed he stumbled with the lyrics a couple of times, and Sharon was singing Boogie street all by herself. I also noticed a little duet between Charley and LC on Waiting for a miracle. I was in the front line (right under Javier Mas) and the sound was excellent. Had friends further back and they complained about it. Loved it all. Want more. Counting days....

Anne R
1976 Oslo | 1979 Oslo | 1985 Oslo x 2 | 1988 Oslo | 1993 Oslo | 2008 Manchester, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Helsinki | 2009 New York, Langesund, Barcelona | 2010 Oslo, Helsinki, Las Vegas x2 |2012 Helsinki, (Verona)| 2013 Oslo
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tomsakic
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by tomsakic »

Excellent recording uploaded to dimeadozen.org (comments say one of the best bootlegs from the tour at all).
The band sounds great, there's no talking at all between the songs anymore, but LC changed the way of singing since the last recording I heard (April this year) - he even maybe rushed too quickly and impatiently through Everybody Knows (first time I didn't get the song, and it's one of my favourites on this tour), and was more delivering the snippets of lines than singing on The Future (he says two words then next two words etc.), what's a change (on Beacon Theatre CD he's really singing it out loud and energetic), but the show is really really great, one of the best recordings at all.
Elsie
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Langesund July 16

Post by Elsie »

I am glad that the Langesund concert was a happy and sunny event.
Two weeks later the shores here were covered by heavy oil, and the air stinks.
A big storm, and this ship ran aground in the middle of the night, just outside the concert area.
It carried 1100 tons of oil.

The coast, the birds, the beaches..... It is so sad.
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