CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Concert reports, set lists, reviews, photos and You Tube links. Fan meet-ups before and after the concerts.
User avatar
lightasabreeze
Posts: 601
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:55 pm
Location: London

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by lightasabreeze »

Enjoyed fantastic concert Sunday, was it any shorter than Saturday's, due to the late start?

I noticed that there were two cameras filming, does that mean we will be getting another cd by Christmas?

I thought £15 for a souvenir programme a bit over the top though. It is very good quality, but more expensive than a book!
it has some stickers you can press out to stick somewhere else if you want to !

If you were a lady trying to get to the loo at half time, you will agree that the venue needs some BIG BIG changes.

But nothing will take away the magic of a superb concert. Thank you Leonard.
Somebody must have died for you
A Thousand Kisses Deep

London 02 x 3..... Radio city New York... Wet Weybridge..... Wembley Arena... Brighton..
User avatar
somewhat_nifty
Posts: 688
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:23 am
Location: London, UK

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by somewhat_nifty »

lightasabreeze wrote:
If you were a lady trying to get to the loo at half time, you will agree that the venue needs some BIG BIG changes.
.
That was RIDICULOUS! For the first time ever I missed the start of the second half, so annoying. When you have to queue to leave the auditorium due to queues for drinks and the loo, you know something's going badly wrong...
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
James T
Posts: 266
Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:39 am

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by James T »

Security said they were filming both nights for "his website" and "a dvd". Not sure they have a clue though.
User avatar
comehealing
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:27 am
Location: Wales, UK, The World
Contact:

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by comehealing »

What an unbelievable evening Saturday proved to me.

I can't really add anything to what has already been written here except
to say Leonard is majestic. He and his magnificent band transfigured the
Wembley Arena into a cathedral with their heavenly music. Loved the lighting,
bathing the band in an ethereal glow.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay around for the encore. Marvellous, however,
to see everyone in ecstatic rapture as I left the venue.

My highlight? Difficult to choose. But the rendition of "Bird on the Wire"
was of the most hauntingly evocative nature I have ever heard. Thank you
L Cohen. Your music is a blessing.

(Oh, and a quick word about the drunken antics of a few. Well, I guess that's how
it goes: devils always try to sup with the angels. Let's hope some of the magic
rubbed off. Unlikely perhaps, but one should always hope. For isn't this one of the
defining messages of Leonard's work? That no matter how far we may fall,
hope is that sweet balm that we can always reach for and embrace.)
Alexis
"Who, being loved, is poor?"
(Oscar Wilde)
"That love is all there is" (Emily Dickinson)
"A miracle, just take a look around: The inescapable earth" (Wislawa Szymborska)
User avatar
hydriot
Posts: 886
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 3:07 am
Location: back in the UK

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by hydriot »

Two weeks ago I won the lucky-dip at a fete, and decided to use that modest win to subsidise a ticket at the Wembley Arena on Sunday. As I went on line, I discovered good tickets had suddenly became available, so was able to sit in the fourth row. Boy, was I glad I had chosen an aisle seat: I had a massive guy sitting next to me so spent much of the time with a leg in the aisle.

I was a little disappointed by the show inasmuch as it was very much a repeat of the previous tour with just a few tweaks here and there, and on Sunday none of the charming banter of that tour, other than a disclaimer that Democracy doesn't support any particular candidate (nor encourages the support of neither candidate). I was also sad to have climbed that wretched hill to the Green Man for the meet-up to find nobody there I recognised. Nor did I see any familiar faces at the venue itself.

It was great to have the new texture provided by the Moldovan violinist. It was good to see Charley playing the clarinet, but I agree with a previous writer that the mix was wrong when she was playing, so we never heard her. For a time, I thought she had just raised the clarinet to her lips getting ready to play too soon: it took watching her fingers for me to realise she was actually playing! Charley sings in a lower register than Hattie (alto versus soprano I would say), so it was Hattie's voice that broke through and wowed me in their duet (nothing will beat their If It Be Your Will, but this was a nice try).

I don't like the album Old Ideas: too mellow for my taste. (To clarify: I love what I call the new Old Stuff, like the Darkness, the things we heard on the last tour; it is just the old Old Stuff that leaves me cold and makes me feel those tracks are just fillers). So I was glad the new album barely featured in the set. I missed Closing Time at the end. I guess Leonard decided he has enough polka-dot dresses in his wardrobe now, after the final show of his previous tour.

I am glad I went to this show, but I am not sad to be going to no other.
“If you do have love it's a kind of wound, and if you don't have it it's worse.” - Leonard, July 1988
User avatar
Hartmut
Posts: 1438
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:08 pm

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by Hartmut »

Quite a well-written review:

'Leonard Cohen, Wembley Arena, London'
The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 21300.html
User avatar
comehealing
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:27 am
Location: Wales, UK, The World
Contact:

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by comehealing »

Lovely review, thanks for sharing.

Re: previous comment about "Old Ideas". I think that it is an exceptional album, precisely
because of its mellowness. I was so thrilled that "Come Healing" was on the set-list as well
as "Amen" and "Going Home".
"Come Healing" is, quite simply, a beautiful song - infused, as ever, with Leonard's exquisite
lyrical artistry:

O Solitude of longing
where love has been confined
come healing of the body
come healing of the mind
Alexis
"Who, being loved, is poor?"
(Oscar Wilde)
"That love is all there is" (Emily Dickinson)
"A miracle, just take a look around: The inescapable earth" (Wislawa Szymborska)
User avatar
Mabeanie1
Posts: 2782
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:03 am
Location: UK

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by Mabeanie1 »

I have a photo, taken on Sunday, about 45 mins before scheduled show time, which graphically illustrates why both London shows started 30 minutes+ late (with people still coming in after the show started). I've uploaded it to Facebook here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =1&theater (sorry, only visible to "friends") but unfortunately the file is too big for the forum and I don't have the technology at the moment to make it smaller. Most of the people in the picture are waiting to pick up tickets from the Box Office. The queue snaked round the plaza in front of the venue then stretched off to the left, out of view, across the front of the venue and beyond.

In my view, the queues, and consequent delayed starts on both nights, were inexcusable. These were exceptional circumstances - late venue change/ ticket sales, unprecedented number of tickets on Box Office collection as a result - and they knew how many tickets there were to be collected at the Box Office and yet it appeared that the process was slow and they had insufficient box office staff. So far as I could see, they learned nothing on Sunday from the delays on Saturday.

This is an unbelievably bad venue. I hadn't been there since 1992 and Leonard is the only reason I would ever consider going there again.

Wendy
User avatar
comehealing
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:27 am
Location: Wales, UK, The World
Contact:

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by comehealing »

As you say Wendy, these were exceptional circumstances. I couldn't help but feel
the O2 arena in 2008 was a much slicker operation all round, even if that venue
is a cavernous dome. Cicrumstances aside, the evening was still bewitching.

What about the Albert Hall as a possible venue for London next time. Has Leonard played there
before?
Alexis
"Who, being loved, is poor?"
(Oscar Wilde)
"That love is all there is" (Emily Dickinson)
"A miracle, just take a look around: The inescapable earth" (Wislawa Szymborska)
User avatar
Mabeanie1
Posts: 2782
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:03 am
Location: UK

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by Mabeanie1 »

comehealing wrote:What about the Albert Hall as a possible venue for London next time. Has Leonard played there
before?
Oh yes, Leonard has played the Albert Hall many, many times before, the last time being 17-18 November 2008. The problem with the RAH is availability: it's tied up with the Proms for many weeks in the summer up to mid-September (incl last weekend) and has a pretty full schedule most of the year round.

I agree with you about the O2. A much nicer experience all round even though it is (to use Leonard's own words) "just the other side of intimacy".

Wendy
User avatar
StBruno
Posts: 144
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:03 pm
Location: Salisbury, UK

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by StBruno »

So sorry for not being someone you recognised Hydriot :D! It was a small gathering at the Green Man, but bar staff directed me to where the forum folks were -great to meet those who made it, as well as others inside the venue. With hindsight the pub was a long uphill stagger (no contours on google mapping) which may have put off a few.

Really enjoyed Sunday's concert, my first of this tour. The 'new' band had a more balanced (open?) sound, allowing more focus on the voice and the word than last time out, and individual instruments to be featured from time to time but with greater subtlty and respect. Highlights - too many to list of course, though the performances of NIght Comes On and Sharon's Alexandra Leaving will stay with me a long time. Paticularly liked LC's caveat after his critism of the Hop Farm fiasco to the effect that 'one lazy bastard shouldn't criticize another' (but hopefully someone got those words transcribed more accurately). Seeing the pride with which Charley and Hattie's father photographed his wonderful daughters' best moments was an added pleasure.

Sorry to hear about the drunken interruptions on Saturday, but everyone reacts in their own way to the experience of these concerts, whether attentive silence, joy, tears, calling out, waving phones and cameras about, throwing things at the stage - ok not sure where I was going with that one - I'm glad it was quieter on Sunday!

Only one minor grumble and I'd agree with Hydriot, it would be good to see more departure from songs featured in 2008-10 (although the new arrangements keep them fresh). LC's at the top and could take more risks, including more from Old Ideas and more rarely heard old songs. I'm sure he will as the tour progresses.
Oh, and bring back Light As the Breeze in time for Paris?

Best,
Bruno
...like one who believes
rmura
Posts: 57
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 11:13 pm

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by rmura »

sue7 wrote: I think it's close to this:
"I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I used to live in London. Yes, it was long before Hampstead became fashionable. I lived in a little road with Stella Pullman (?) called Gayton. I had to bring a coal bucket in the morning. Did this really happen?"

I'd read somewhere else (I forget where) that he had lived in Gayton Road in Hampstead, just off the High Street, for a few months. The very modest building is right next to what is now an Oxfam shop.
Leonard told a great version of this story during the May 10, 1993, concert in London. It may have been before "Everybody Knows," but I can't trust my memory about that. :-) I find May 10, 1993, to be one of Cohen's most impassioned concerts ever (his singing is incredible during "So Long, Marianne"), but I could never find a recording of it with excellent audio quality.

Ron
User avatar
sturgess66
Posts: 4110
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:50 pm
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by sturgess66 »

User avatar
sturgess66
Posts: 4110
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:50 pm
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by sturgess66 »

Good video uploaded by jasonbuck - Thanks!

Sept 9

Suzanne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxDhGDv67Y0

The Partisan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ugdsvkpASU

Sisters of Mercy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJjAvHmzEQs
Last edited by sturgess66 on Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
sturgess66
Posts: 4110
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:50 pm
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Re: CONCERT REPORTS: London, September 8 & 9

Post by sturgess66 »

Last edited by sturgess66 on Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Post Reply

Return to “EUROPE 2012 / CONCERT REPORTS & MEET-UPS”