somewhat_nifty wrote:mnkyface wrote:Thanks for all the reports everyone!
I just found I'm Your Man from Barcelona:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmErVWalPbo
I notice he has reversed the boxer/doctor verse!! I noticed it in another video too, from Zaragosa. First time I heard it I thought he just messed up...hehehe...and covered by reversing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4nINVNQ8EE
Personally, I like Doctor at the end of the verse ...it lingers more, or something.
I'm wondering if he's doing that because he's got fed up with all the ladies giving an extra big cheer when he says 'I'll examine every inch of you"! I'll admit I was planning to do it in Barcelona, in fact the banner that burningviolin and I made kind of hinged on it, but never mind...
Obviously Nifty he did actually read our banner
(bless his eyesight we were a bit back) and decided it would be better not to have us faint from the excitement of it!
Ok, so a concert report...its taken me ages to get something coherent together partly due to tiredness and partly because this concert and the whole weekend itself seemed to be such an out of body experience! A hugely happy experience.
I have never been to a more intense concert, I don't know about Leonard but I was exhausted after it! As described earlier we were privileged to witness a really lovely sunset over Barcelona while waiting around outside the Palau Sant Jordi. Earlier we’d enjoyed a huge feast of Tapas in the Sala Vivaldi, had some great conversations and then cake and cava!
(skip down two paragraphs if you want to just get to the concert stuff, this bit is more of a before the concert section...)
Both Somewhat_Nifty and I had been out and about sightseeing on Monday morning when we got a little disorientated on the metro and ended up getting off at the wrong stop only to find Leonard in the form of an advert screening what was presumably some of Live in London. Unfortunately the advert ended before pictures could be taken as evidence. So having been out since morning we took the opportunity after dinner at Sala Vivaldi to go back to the hotel to freshen up before concert time. We were both saying how excited we were to be going to the concert when we actually happened upon...............a stationary shop. Yeah I know, not Leonard or anyone related to him but it was then we reallly got excited! Even before we came to Barcelona we had agreed that we would love to have a banner to wave at the concert
(Being part of the mosaic, the meetup, posting Birthday greetings on the forum and going to the concert itself was not enough for us, (and of course we didn't think to write a card and hand it to the crew at the stage for him
) we needed to say it with a banner!) Neither of us had figured out how we were going to put one together so to find a shop stocking items suitable to make said banner, we jumped at the chance...it was a sign...or it would soon be if we could make one...
So newly armed with some white and pink paper, scissors, chunky black marker and sellotape we went back to the hotel and after one and a half hours of ‘make and do’ we had our sign.
Newly refreshed and now furnished with our banner that we were trying not to squash we headed through the park to meet everyone outside the venue. We sat on the steps watching the sunset and the lights coming on and trying to make the banner look inconspicuous enough so that the security guards wouldn't make us put it in the bin! It was such a beautiful evening and a really beautiful sunset. We really had fun waving it at appropriate intervals and happily we didn't distress anyone around us by blocking their view so it seemed to work out apart from the reversed Doctor/Boxer.... We shall never know if Our Man saw it, (we did think he might have glanced at it though...!)or even remotely cared about it but we wanted to make a gesture and we did. Make what you will of the second line of the banner, it was well intentioned.
Here are some photos.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... e7128eb9e4
So back to concert details... when we got into the stadium both Somewhat_Nifty and I thought that the sound wasn't going to be that good. There aren't full length walls between the outer area around the hall where the food and toliets are and the inner arena itself so the sound travels out to those areas and bounces around. So there was an echo but I didn't find it that off putting. IAs for the sound volume, I could feel the bass a little in my tummy which is how I like it! The only thing was the bass and bass drum did seem to drown out LC a bit at times making it a little difficult to hear what he was saying, it sounded like he was missing the consonants at the end of words at times but I didn't know if that was him or due to the sound quality. All in all I was amazed that the quality was as good as it was.
Looking around the auditorium it was great to see lots of people around my own age and some younger. As far as I know tickets varied from upwards of €30 for the really really high up seats to over €120 so maybe gives greater access but maybe its just that young Spanish people really like LC!
So, LC. His voice was super as usual, and ‘footwork’ was a thing of beauty, its got to be seen from up high! As mnkyface says he moves so swiftly around and seems to do a kind of moonwalk shimmy sideways!! His voice sounded strong, I love the middle to high notes he was hitting, they seemed really sweet but I will note that he wasn't quite on pitch a few times, settling a little below the note (tiredness?) but considering his last few days that was a minor point. It seemed he was saving himself in more quiet songs for other songs. This is not to say however that he was shallow in his delivery of the songs or wasn’t ‘giving’ to them, in fact the opposite, I’ve never seen him perform in such a raw emotional way on this tour before, there was such poignancy to each song and the music seemed to totally possess him. Not only that but he drew me in with him in such a way that when the lights came up at the end of the first half I felt as though a hypnotist had clicked his fingers and said “you’re back in the room”...I had been somewhere else.
For me this concert was the dream setlist that I'd hoped for, I'd not heard Gypsy's Wife, Hey thats No way to Say, nor Lover Lover Lover before and I was delighted to get to hear them. Thanks so much LC!! As I mentioned I loved hearing the Gypsy Wife, someone shouted out just at the right time at the end of Javiers solo introduction to compliment him! I have missed having a violin playing in this tour at some points even though Dino is the best 'wind violinist' going and was wondering if my love of the 1979 version of GW with Rafi Kakopian playing violin would be greater than this version but Dino used a really nice cello/viola sound on his 'electric wind instrument' to compliment Javier on this one and I loved it! It was just the right type of sound I'd wanted to hear then, great contrast to Javiers high pitch. Also Roscoes bass on that is just exquisite. Somewhere in the middle LC forgot to come in, but I don't blame him, listening to that band its almost too nice to interrupt! As for other highlights I thought Hallelujah in Dublin was just amazing, then Lisbon topped that and now I can truely say Hallelujah, in Barcelona is the pick of the bunch. Nobody else comes close to singing that song the way LC can but this version was so emotionally charged. (was he on the verge of tears in the lines about the beauty and the moonlight? and also a bit in Gypsys wife?)Of course as mentioned in previous posts the lighted candles around the arena as Suzanne was sung were magical. I'm going to try to paraphrase Judy Collins as she described that song as opening a door or as a magical song and shes very right. Those first 4 notes on the guitar and then little twinkles lighting up everwhere...I read Dino's tweet that said LC was touched by the candles being lit how could he not have been!
I just wanted to mention a few more of the band members, one is Raphael. We see him at the end doing his drum solo and the broad grin it brings to LC's face when he throws his drumstick in the air is priceless but his percussion is excllent as well, for some reason it stood out to me that night, he's nearly as busy back there as Dino is, hopping from one instrument to others. I just love Bob Metzger on Bird on a Wire, he is such a stark contrast to Dino alongside him, he doesn't really move around much but its all going on, great passionate guitar playing. He really got me as did Neil Larson on the organ for Hallelujah. I also just loved how as usual you could hear a pin drop during the Webb Sisters 'If it be your Will' and also the timbre of Sharon Robinsons voice is just so perfect in Boogie Street. She too seemed to be really singing from the heart, by that I mean its not as if she doesn't put her all into it every night but somehting something special going on in Palau Sant Jordi on Monday night. It seemed like it was more than just a performance of some nice words and music.
This concert reminded me of ones I've seen of him from the 1960's and 1970's or the clip of him on Julie Felix show were he's singing The Stranger song and he's so far into it that there is a single tear on his face at the end. He is such a rare and outstanding performer who really touches the audience by singing directly from the heart, every night, every time. It was so great to be there to celebrate his birthday with him and all the fourm fans, it was so nice to hear him thank the members of the forum but really LC, thank you. Both my inner and outer life has been emensely enhanced by getting to know your work, being at your concerts and meeting the like minded people on this forum. The summer of 2009 is one I'll never forget!
I had such a fun weekend and it was so nice to meet so many familiar strangers! Thanks to Jorcx and all who helped organise the meet up, the screening of the Isle of Wight was an inspired idea, I thorougly enjoyed it and also the meal was just so tasty and there was so much of it! Thanks again to all!
