Just got home last night, & forgive me for being redundant, but once again, the concert was absolutely fantastic! Thanks to all who bring us the wonderful presales, I was in the front row center, & completely ecstatically mesmerized throughout the incomparable 3+ hours. The atmosphere was overflowing with love & joy & gratitude, & there is definitely no such thing as too much Leonard Cohen.
Most people here probably know this, but in case anyone doesn't, I must correct an unforgivable, grievous error in the review by Andrew Douglas which was posted in this thread: he says that in Leonard's intro to Anyhow, "our hero" is in a hospital bed (!!) when a nurse brings him his first cigarette when he turns 80; oh no, no, no: according to the story, Leonard is onstage, giving a concert (okay, there is mention of an IV at the end, but there no hospital & no bed), & it is at this moment in the concert - when he is about to start his performance of Anyhow, that a nurse comes onstage with a tray containing a pack of cigarettes, gleaming like the columns of a miniature parthenon. . . - & in Halifax, Leonard added, "it could be a male nurse. . .but let's say it's a female nurse in a crisp white uniform. . ." And since there hasn't been a video upload of the Halifax performance of this song, I might add that in the middle of the song, right before one of the instrumental breaks, Leonard put his 2 fingers (forefinger & middle finger) to his mouth & then moved them away - pretending to be smoking -
- precious! Another precious moment was when Leonard was reciting Thousand Kisses Deep & after he recited the line "but you look good/ you really do. . .", he started laughing!
When they did Manhattan in the first set, I thought maybe it was because they would do Different Sides in the encores, which would be wonderful (I'm happy to see St. John got that one), but that was not to be, but it was a great treat to see Leonard do Save The Last Dance again - haven't seen that one in a while, & I love the way Leonard does that song. And when Leonard returned for a third encore, I was literally jumping up & down (as was another woman 2 seats down from me), so excited & happy that he returned to give us a few more precious moments. It never gets old - not even a tiny bit. So Long Marianne seems to be undergoing some kind of rebirth in the realm of passion - not that it wasn't always extremely passionate, but wow, it's been more mind-blowing than ever lately. The multi-textured sounds of Alex's violin add so much dimension & atmosphere & depth of beauty to so many songs, he is really an exceptionally talented musician & I'm very grateful to him for joining the band. The whole performance, every song, was infused with so much passion & precision & transcendent beauty, I didn't want the night to ever end.
Thank you a million zillion times to Leonard Cohen & all the members of the UHTC for continuing to reach out to us & touch our hearts with your brilliant artistic gifts. I will cherish these experiences forever.