CONCERT REPORT: Hamburg, October 31

September 21 - November 30, 2008. Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
leonardo
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:54 pm

CONCERT REPORT: Hamburg, October 31

Post by leonardo »

I posted the set list of the show in the set list thread some minutes ago. more about the concert later, I´m too tired from driving back home by now.
courage
Posts: 70
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:19 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by courage »

From German - Hamburg paper
http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2008/11/01/963193.html

As said before - the aplause for the Partisan for non-expected and very long. People where standing.
The article said 8000 - but it felt much more.
19xx - Göteborg
2008 - Got 12 Oct, Sto 15 Oct, CPH 17 Oct, Ham 31 Oct.
2009 - Cologne, Berlin,
2010 - Göteborg
2012 Copenhagen, Alborg, Göteborg
2013 Stockholm, Oslo - August
Anatomi
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2008 4:23 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by Anatomi »

My first posting here.

A GREAT concert! More than a concert.

I've been a fan for 25 years and I travelled from Finland to Hamburg to see Mr. L.C (since I was away for the time he was in Helsinki), but still never ever expected the experience to be THIS good.

He certainly meant everything he said, was in a good physical condition and gave good glimpse of all that he's done over the years. However, the main thing was the man himself; me and my friend both family-men in our forties both after the concert decided to try all we can to become a better person, to try to live the moment at the moment and to act kindly to all the people our life touches.
Not bad influence for a singer-songwriter.
tigrib
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:31 am
Location: Berlin

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by tigrib »

Berlin on Oct 4th was wonderful, but the concert in Hamburg was even "better" to say it in simple words. Tonight I am in Oberhausen and I wish I it would never end. I am deeply impressed each time. Will let you know later how good it was here :)
2008 Berlin, Hamburg, Oberhausen, Cologne, Berlin, Colmar, Barcelona, Las Vegas, San Jose, Salzburg, Berlin, Strasbourg, Marseille, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Las Vegas 2010
2012 Ghent (x2), Berlin, Moenchengladbach, Lisbon
2013 Berlin ... Pula ... ?
courage
Posts: 70
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:19 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by courage »

One more thought about Hamburg.
There has been a lot of chat about the "thanks to the musicians".
It is now only 2 rounds BUT
in Hamburg the audiance clapped their hands WITHOUT the thank you being told. Nice!

the thank you - is ok - without the the band and the girls no concert.
19xx - Göteborg
2008 - Got 12 Oct, Sto 15 Oct, CPH 17 Oct, Ham 31 Oct.
2009 - Cologne, Berlin,
2010 - Göteborg
2012 Copenhagen, Alborg, Göteborg
2013 Stockholm, Oslo - August
User avatar
Caren
Posts: 264
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:56 pm
Location: Berlin

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by Caren »

That concert in Hamburg was very very good. Especially the second part after the short break.

It was special to me because I took my daughter who is a teenager now, on the last time I saw Leonard in 1994 I was pregnant with her. Until today she has a special taste in music, very unlike other kids in her age. I am sure that concert back then has played a part in this.

Berlin wasn't bad either but in Hamburg the sound was so much better, crystal clear. They are such outstanding musicians, everyone in the band is and due to the perfect sound it became even more obvious. It was such a joy to listen to each and every song.

I had so hoped to hear The Partisan on one of those concerts and hardly believed my luck when the intro started. That song brought the whole audience to their feet and resulted in a lengthy standing ovation. I think causing the rather cool Hamburgian audience to react in such an enthusiastic way is an achievement for sure. It was great to see the joy about all this on Leonard Cohen's and his band members' faces.

That night's rendition of 'Boogie Street' was the best I have ever heard. Knocked me off my feet.

So thank you everyone for a special night. First of all Leonard and Sharon, Roscoe, Raffael, Dino, Hattie and Charley Webb, Bob, Neil, Javier. It's great to see you all perform as one unit of people who truly seem to enjoy playing together.

Image

Image
1990s Berlin 2008:Amsterdam-Berlin-Hamburg-London RAH 2009:Berlin-Barcelona 2010:Odense-Berlin-Gent x3 -Wiesbaden-Marseille-Hannover-Las Vegas x2 2012:Gent x5 -Amsterdam x2 -Berlin-London-Verona-Toulon-Paris x2 -Barcelona 2013:Paris-Antwerp-Mannheim-Brussels-Rome-Lucca-Berlin-Lodz-Prague-Vienna-Pula-Odense-Zurich-Manchester-Leeds-London-Rotterdam
Amrei
Posts: 207
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:36 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31 - now with pictures

Post by Amrei »

Hi Caren,

how funny - I brought my daughter, too - and we thought she was the only kid there. Aged 12 and grown up with Leonard Cohen´s music she could sing the songs before she even was able to speak English and understand them.
We were so lucky to get seats in the 1st row in block 12 - right before Leonard Cohen and he and the musicians smiled at her several times and Roscoe waved to her. She came back with me to the hotel tired, but singing and talking about the concert nonstop - here you have another fan, Leonard. :D

It WAS a marvellous concert - as superb as you ever could expect - and I was especially happy to hear Famous Blue Raincoat. I also think Leonard and the musicians were touched by the massive applause and the standing ovations - let´s hope, it makes them come back!!! :razz:

If we were rich I´d hurry and buy tickets for all the concerts left including those in Australia and New Zealand.
I love hearing the albums - but just one concert like this turns you into an addict ...

Thank You, Leonard Cohen and all the musicians, for THIS concert!

Amrei

PS. I took a lot of pictures - here you have three of them. There are some more later in this thread.
Attachments
Webb Sisters and Sharon Robertson
Webb Sisters and Sharon Robertson
LC HH 28.jpg (86.21 KiB) Viewed 17879 times
LC HH 24.jpg
LC HH 24.jpg (102.77 KiB) Viewed 17856 times
LC HH 30.jpg
LC HH 30.jpg (75.22 KiB) Viewed 17843 times
Last edited by Amrei on Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
___________________________________
1988: Århus 21.04.
1993: Holstebro 25.4.; 26.4.
2008: Århus 06.07.; Copenhagen 17.10.; Hamburg 31.10.
2009: Berlin 02.07.
2010: Hannover 27.09.; Dortmund 29.09.
2012: Copenhagen 25.08.; Aalborg 26.08.; Berlin 05.09.
2013: Hamburg 14.07.
abulafia
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:37 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by abulafia »

There is a very good recording of this show on dimeadozen, highly recommended. :D
kmbruce
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:43 am

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by kmbruce »

Hi Amrei
I want to make some artworks from Hamburg. Is it possible, that I can use some of your pictures.
Best regards
leonardo
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:54 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by leonardo »

thanks for the link to Abendblatt, courage. the article was obviously written before the concert but it contained a hint, that in the monday edition there will be a detailed review. well, here it is:

http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2008/11/ ... 8.html?s=1

for those of you, who don´t speak German, I try and translate a few lines:"
"......after "Avalanche" from the early album "Songs From(!) Love And Hate" the complete audience stands up and applauds the the stirred (moved?) and surprised Cohen for some minutes.this song ist not his best known one, or it is specially surprising interpreted - his fans look for the moment of a spontaneous ovation and find it collectively after "Avalanche". "

my gawd, how can one mix up The Partisan and Avalanche........that the author of the article counts 25 songs one can at least discuss. the concert consisted of 26 songs, 2 of them without Cohen singing: If It Be Your Will and Boogie Street, that means Cohens sings 24 songs, but well, when you also count the recitation of If it be your will, 25 could be justified.....

by the way, in Berlin Leonard was still backing Sharon Robinson at Boogie Street. does someone know, whe he stopped this practice?

well, and Berlin leads me to some more remarks. I was in Lörrach in summer and in Berlin and Hamburg in the autumn leg of the tour.you can compare the 2 autumn shows very well. both took place in very modern multifunctional halls,one day Leonard singing, a few days larer Klitschko boxing or you can wath an ice hockey match. modern is a very important criterium - nowadays they build such halls in a way, that ythere is excellent sound even in the upper rows in the very back of the hall. that is why I did not go to Munich, though until 3 years ago I used to live there for 36 years and myparents are still living there. the Olympiahalle has a very poor sound, when you are far away from the stage/speakers. back in 72 they did not care for the sound in a sports hall. most of the fans dont worry about the acoustics of a venue, because they sit in the front part of the hall, where they have excellent sound directly from the speakers, but as my wife can walk only short distances, she has to use a wheel chair and the wheelchair blocks are usually in the upper row at the back of the hall.
We were very grateful for the 2 screens, left and right of the stage, full body pics of Leonard and his musicians at their solos and close up shots, at which I could see Leonards face even better, where I was without my wife, standing about 5 rows from the stage
( 2 meters right of the big stone, for those of you , who were there or checked the 360° panorama pic of the marketplace with the stage of the music festival on the homepage of the town of Lörrach).

For me Berlin and Hamburg were 2 excellent, solid shows. I could not make out differnce in quality of sound or performance.
As I had heard Avalanche and Famous Blue Raincoat (2 of my favourite songs)in Berlin before, I was happy he did The Partisan- not completely unexpected, the Frankfurt concert a few days before had this song too.
...."when they poured across the border"....I got goose bumps. by the way, does someone remember, when it was, that Leonard sang"when the Germans came" instead of "when the soldiers came"? I have to check my old tapes, must have been in the seventies.

some smaller remarks to changes
at the beginnig of the 2nd set, before Tower of song Leonard said in Berlin, he sang in Berlin 14 years ago, that he was 60 then, a kid with a crazy dream (according to a local newspaper in Munich he even mentioned there the venue, where he sang back then, Circus Krone. the paper qoutes Leonard with the words "I miss the elephants").I Hamburg he did not talk about former performance. At the end of Tower Of Song he did a long doo-damm-damm ending, saying thigs like before - do not stop, sing me to sleep, but he omitted the "answer to the riddles of the cosmos" joke.

the audience seemed to me a little bit more enchanted in Berlin than in Hamburg. Astonishingly in Hamburg there were much more not so well educated people than in Berlin (hope,there is no one from Hamburg, who is offended. the fans in the first rows do not notice that, but from the back of the hallyou can see, how many people, especially in Hamburg are late or leave before the end of the show, even before the encores. In Hamburg those coming late had to wait near the door. til the song was over. during the applause between songs they were lead to their seats by local security. the same procedure the first 5 or 6 songs! and in Hamburg there were more peole than in Berlin leaving before the end of the concert. I could not believe it, people coming up the stairs, while Leonard did Famous Blue Raincoat they left the room, not even turning around.

When you ask me, which of the 3 shows I enyoyed most, I have to confess, it´s Lörrach no hall can keep up with the atmosphere on a crowded marketplace, still hot late at night, kind of feelig like you are in the mediterreans.
And you are in high spirits, even before the concerts starts, when you are siting in a cafe there, with a glass of beer, and then Leonard comes with his musicians on the stage and does a soundcheck, 5 songs, the last one, If it Be Your Will, without Leonard. I am sure at least one fan (maybe more) filmed the concert from the upper windows of the hotel at the marketplace. hope the video turns up some day....
Amrei
Posts: 207
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:36 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by Amrei »

Hi KmBruce,

of course you may use my pictures - and everybody else can, too. If downloads from here are not good enough in quality, I can mail them directly, if you send your mail address.
(I guess I have to minimize them in size to be able to upload here - I never tried before.)
I need my husband´s help and computer to take them out of the camera, as I haven´t got the software. I will try to do it tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

Amrei
___________________________________
1988: Århus 21.04.
1993: Holstebro 25.4.; 26.4.
2008: Århus 06.07.; Copenhagen 17.10.; Hamburg 31.10.
2009: Berlin 02.07.
2010: Hannover 27.09.; Dortmund 29.09.
2012: Copenhagen 25.08.; Aalborg 26.08.; Berlin 05.09.
2013: Hamburg 14.07.
courage
Posts: 70
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:19 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by courage »

The disipline in Hamburg was terrible. the two ladies in front of us (one man inbetween) - started to talk to each other. One of the ladies - moved her head not back and forth - but left to right, so it was sometimes impossible to see, since there was no room inbetween. - the ladies - looked at each other - laughted , talked. they also left before the encore. I did not found out - if they left in order to come closer - or just left. Of course not all was of this kind - But this took it down a bit. Struggling to see (and hear!).

Of course the concert was very good. Travelling home, you cannot think of anything else.
19xx - Göteborg
2008 - Got 12 Oct, Sto 15 Oct, CPH 17 Oct, Ham 31 Oct.
2009 - Cologne, Berlin,
2010 - Göteborg
2012 Copenhagen, Alborg, Göteborg
2013 Stockholm, Oslo - August
Primate
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by Primate »

Hello,

We (my girlfriend and I) drove from Holland for 4 hours for what probably was the last change to see Cohen live. We were literaly just in time, Cohen just walked the stage as we sat down. We loved the performance and the atmosphere was really warm. A very special moment we felt was the standing ovation after 'the Partisan' . The only criticism we had was the sound quality. We sat on the so called unterrang on left side of the stadium (facing the stage) somewhere in the middle and few times we noticed a bad echo. Also we found it unbelievable that quit a few people left the inner-ring even before the 'zugabes' or encore's started.... Thanks Mr. Cohen for this warm and great concert !

Greetings to you all.
Amrei
Posts: 207
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:36 pm

Pictures - Hamburg, October 31

Post by Amrei »

If you want them in better quality or if you want more, send me a mail. :razz:
There are ca. 30. :D

I also added 3 pics to my previous comment above.

Amrei
Attachments
Listening to Sharon Robertson
Listening to Sharon Robertson
LC HH 31.jpg (102.23 KiB) Viewed 17849 times
Listening to Javier Mas
Listening to Javier Mas
LC HH 33.jpg (93.46 KiB) Viewed 17836 times
Singing
Singing
LC HH 27.jpg (99.24 KiB) Viewed 17837 times
___________________________________
1988: Århus 21.04.
1993: Holstebro 25.4.; 26.4.
2008: Århus 06.07.; Copenhagen 17.10.; Hamburg 31.10.
2009: Berlin 02.07.
2010: Hannover 27.09.; Dortmund 29.09.
2012: Copenhagen 25.08.; Aalborg 26.08.; Berlin 05.09.
2013: Hamburg 14.07.
User avatar
neo
Posts: 373
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:17 am
Location: Vienna

Re: Hamburg, October 31

Post by neo »

Thank you very much Amrei for sharing your pix here! 8)

(Great that you caught the cameraman too, so we have evidence that our hopes for a live DVD are not based on rumours. ;-) )
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