CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Europe and Israel (July 1 - September 24, 2009). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
chelev
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:20 am
Location: Hungary, Sopron

CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by chelev »

Mister Leonard Cohen!

Thank you for the last night on Budapest! This is was incredible fantastic and very lovely!!!
As when I first saw the sea!!!

Thank you!
Päivi from Finland
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:41 am
Location: Finland

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by Päivi from Finland »

We came to Hungary for 12 days. The country has been a very nice acquaintance, but the best thing during our journey has been LC concert. It was perfect! Leonard Cohen and the band gets better and better! We hope that they would never finish the tour!

All the best songs were presented. Something new and exciting to hear as live was Lover lover lover. It was not necessery to ask Miracle, because it was already in program, and the arrangement was even better than in Helsinki, Finland.

Thanks to Budapest too: the taxies were easy to find, there was good acustics in the Papp Lazlo Budapest Sportarena and the arrangements of the concert were succesfull.

We will never forget the concert as a whole: unique music nearly three hours heard and seen from the best seats of the first raw!
Thank You, Leonard and the band!!
Päivi from Finland

1993: Helsinki
2008: Copenhagen, Helsinki
2009: Budapest, Barcelona
2010:Helsinki, Stuttgart
2012:Ghent 17th and 18th Aug, Helsinki, Bucharest
2013:Brussels, Berlin, Pula, Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam
captain kate
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:21 am

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by captain kate »

Dear Friends,

An article was published in one of the Hungarian musical portals about yesterday's event. This is not a word for word translation, I summarized the main points, tried to focus on the unique ones.
The link (Hungarian version, with pictures) http://quart.hu/cikk.php?id=4111

"The musician's body is the song: Leonard Cohen in Budapest

An elevating, overwhelming experience.

The author talks about LC's origins, how his sound was unique even in the 60s, how he was not fashionable but had a hardcore fanbase. He fills the Arena easily (Papp László Sports Arena "The Pebble", can hold 12.500 people http://en.budapestarena.hu/html/), while at a Britney Spears concert there was only half-house. The concert holds no surprises, the song list is the same as in Prague (with one exception), every moment is well-rehearsed, but it is to its advantage.

The event is like theatre, but in the good sense. It feels like the excellent band plays to support the reward performance of the actor king. One expects from a theatre performance no original texts, but that it should be inspired and inspirational.

The ensemble is accomplished: the instrument solos are beautiful, the three vocalists show a talent that is on the verge of being out of this world.

Cohen is irresistible: a lean, fragile, elderly figure, with eyes fixed downwards and his hat pulled into his eyes almost all along. Only when he bows, taking off his hat in front of the arena full of people who applaude standing up, does every individual feel that his bow is a response to their applause alone. I have never been to a full-house concert in the Arena which had so many intimate moments. ...

Judging from the applauses most of the audience understood and knew the lyrics....

When Cohen got to the point: "I've been dreaming about you, baby", in Waiting For The Miracle, time and everything else stopped in the arena. That was the only time when he had his eyes wide open. ...

During the song "Halleluja", even my fried, whose soul is hard as a rock, smeared a teardrop in the corner of his eye.

Theatre, as we know, is a ritual. Certain words are said and sung in a specific order so that every member of the audience can connect to something that is hidden so deeply inside them that they have no awareness of it. And to connect to something infinitely large, that is impossible to communicate with in any other way. The bridge in between is the song, the people only operate it, even if they are the chosen ones. This role can only be played by someone who is perfectly identical with the songs he is singing. Leonard Cohen thanks the audience for keeping his songs alive for years: I must say, we are the ones who must be grateful.

These strange, sublime words are difficult to write down, but the concert was like that and this is what the performance deserves. I would like to participate once at an event held at a smaller place with an audience of only 200 people, but it I will only see that in my dreams. Yesterday was such a magnificent experience that I do not even regret that."

A touching report, I think :)
captain kate
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:21 am

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by captain kate »

Some sources not so easy to find: gallery of the Budapest concert here: http://galeria.fn.hu/3/34949/0/1

Dance me to the End of Love, Budapest, HQ video of one of the local channels: http://www.rtlbulvar.hu/video/67907

The leading daily newspaper called the event "the concert of the year".
captain kate
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:21 am

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by captain kate »

Some larger photos are available here, although not too crisp, the photographer was sitting in one of the last rows:

http://galeria.alon.hu/thumbnails.php?album=297&page=1


Image

All credits go to http://galeria.alon.hu


Another source of the Hungarian News Agency's photos, this time larger in size:

http://galeria.index.hu/kult/2009/09/01 ... ge_size=m#

Click on the magnifying glass on the right (Nagyobb méret) for a larger size version.
grumpy
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:46 pm

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by grumpy »

Mr. Cohen, thank you for coming to Hungary (we have never believed in it, so we went to Lucca concert last summer). Thank you for the perfect and unforgettable night, for the three-hour-happiness, for the heart-warming songs, especially the touching Hallelujah, the ethereal If It Be Your Will and my favorite one: Famous Blue Raincoat.

Dear Leonard, you’ll be in my heart forever.

Andrea from Hungary
captain kate
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:21 am

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by captain kate »

Cheers to all of you from Budapest!

Here is a gallery with some nice close-ups and Leonard smiles: http://www.zene.hu/cikkek/galeria/popup.php?id=2644

P.S. Is anybody else a fan of Javier? His guitar solos are just mesmerising!
User avatar
sturgess66
Posts: 4110
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:50 pm
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by sturgess66 »

captain kate wrote:Cheers to all of you from Budapest!

Here is a gallery with some nice close-ups and Leonard smiles: http://www.zene.hu/cikkek/galeria/popup.php?id=2644

P.S. Is anybody else a fan of Javier? His guitar solos are just mesmerising!
Beautiful pictures captain kate. Thank you!

Javier is an amazing musician. Mesmerizing indeed. I think you mentioned in the Belgrade thread about reading an interview with Javier Mas. By any chance, do you have a link for the interview?
captain kate
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:21 am

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by captain kate »

You are welcome! :)

Here is the interview, Javier is very nice, a perfect match with Leonard. The way he says Leonard makes sure "he is allright". :D
http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/leonard_co ... ures/12410

And, surprisingly, Javier Mas has a Myspace page (with an email address) :D
http://www.myspace.com/maodeoro
istvan
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 12:31 am
Location: Budapest

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by istvan »

Örvendek,hogy legalább egy magyar van még rajtam kívül a fórumon.
Tavaly augusztusban Amszterdamig kellett repülni Cohenért, mert akkor még nem lehetett tudni, hogy az Eu turné folytatódni fog.
Ott, akkor 60 Euró volt a tikett ára. Nekem az itthoni ár most sok lett volna.
Kár Leonárdért, nem kellene a színpadon meghalnia. Rohadjon meg aki rádumálta, hogy még nyomjon le még egy évnyi turnét. Újra lesz USA is - szerintem fölöslegesen.
Istvan.
In a dream of Hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
User avatar
sturgess66
Posts: 4110
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:50 pm
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by sturgess66 »

captain kate wrote:You are welcome! :)

Here is the interview, Javier is very nice, a perfect match with Leonard. The way he says Leonard makes sure "he is allright". :D
http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/leonard_co ... ures/12410

And, surprisingly, Javier Mas has a Myspace page (with an email address) :D
http://www.myspace.com/maodeoro
captain kate - thank you so much! I had not read that. Actually - if you do a search, there is a treasure trove of articles there - ones that I have not read.

Thanks again!! :D :D
iveta
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 1:33 am
Location: slovakia

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by iveta »

As when I first saw the sea!!!
Thanks Chelev for this most expressive microreport.

Most grateful for the articles, too.
Of course I´m pathetic, I´ve spent my life getting the most impressive stuff out of the most impressive books. Malcolm Bradbury
captain kate
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:21 am

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by captain kate »

sturgess66 wrote: there is a treasure trove of articles there - ones that I have not read.
Great, I have to look back and check, too :D
willo
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 9:29 pm

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by willo »

Chelev, I am happy you enjoyed seeing leonard so much. Your comment at the end about seeing the sea reminded me of a girl called Judith who is from Budapest. She came with our family on a first visit to the sea and the joy on her face was something to behold.

Willo
User avatar
remote1
Posts: 2503
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:59 pm
Location: between the snowman and the rain

Re: CONCERT REPORT: Budapest, August 31

Post by remote1 »

Päivi from Finland wrote: We hope that they would never finish the tour!
Perhaps they could emulate the Grateful Dead and go on a never-ending tour... ;-)
"We are so lightly here"
Post Reply

Return to “The Summer Tour in Europe 2009”