Leonard Cohen tour!!!

[Otis Westinghouse]

I vomit on her version! If Hallelujah isn't sacred, I don't know what is (with the 'moved in you' line followed by 'and the holy dove was moving too'). Moving to Croydon is obviously about her level.

[bambooneedle]

Leonard Cohen tickets went on sale today, but for $150-190! I'd pay that to see something dynamic like The E Street Band but not for an LC performance. I'd be tempted to pay up to $120 if it was an up close and intimate venue, but it's not. Oh well.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I'm paying all of £12 for Fleet Foxes. That's more like it!

[johnfoyle]

Top that!

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/le ... 47109.html

The Independent

Letters

Tuesday, 2 December 2008

Birthday song by Leonard Cohen

Like Howard Jacobson (29 November) I am of an age to return to Leonard Cohen's poetry. But on my 21st birthday, in January 1960, Leonard really did sing to me, just me.

At that time I was living in an attic in Hampstead and Leonard and another young tenant, Nancy, had rooms downstairs, all ruled kindly but firmly by our landlady, Stella. My mother had recently died and I did not feel like a party. But Leonard and Nancy brought me one, up to my garret. We sat on the floor and Leonard sang to me. I'm afraid I have no recollection of the words, but I still have my now brown-paged Penguin Book of Canadian Verse (three shillings and sixpence) with Leonard's dedication "with restraint and affection" in acknowledgment of Stella's strict 1950s house rules.

I too, recently bought a ticket to a Leonard Cohen concert. But I cannot get past his bodyguards and I don't suppose he is into a cuppa and a chat nowadays anyway. But I do remember the occasion, with restraint and affection of course, when he let some light into my sad birthday.

Mary Harris

London W11

Howard's column -

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/co ... 40271.html

[Otis Westinghouse]

Such a shame she didn't get past the bodyguards so he could sing it again to her, or at least reminisce.

I like the Jacobson article.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

Who would have thought that this year's X Factor winner's song would be Hallelujah!?
I can't imagine what the boy Eoghan Quigg would have made of it, but Alexandra has a damned good stab at it.
Could this mean, Leonard Cohen get's the UK christmas #1 slot?

[Otis Westinghouse]

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Well it's to know that Leonard will pick up some fat cheques from it to help further his dented finances, but in what strange cultural mindwarp does the intense poetry above end up as part of Cowell's pap?

The victory speech by Alexandra is brilliant! I was waiting for her to throw up.

I must say I've enjoyed the gorgeous Geordie tones of Cheryl's accent. Shame about her husband, though.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

I must say I've enjoyed the gorgeous Geordie tones of Cheryl's accent. Shame about her husband, though.

Aye, shu sounds a dead canny lass.
Mind you, shu's built like a spelk, tha's nay meat on them skinny bones, though but. Nowt tu get a hold of.
Hey, mebbees that's the problem hubby wise - aah bet he's a chubby chaser!
P'raps she shud put in a standin' order @ Greggs?

Yes, that lady seems to be a good sort.
However, she is perhaps a little on the slim side, such that one might fail to retain a firm grip.
Perhaps her husband prefers a more rounded figure.
If the good lady ate more of the fine cuisine offered by a successful North East bakery she might more successfully retain his attentions.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Lovely, shame we can't have a sound file. hard to read, though, without thinking of Sid the Sexist or Aufwiedersehen Pet.

[Who Shot Sam?]

The warm-up show at the Beacon sounds like it was a knockout. I'm going to try to get tickets for the show in Waterbury. From Billboard...

Leonard Cohen Dazzles At New York Tour Warm-Up
Leonard Cohen
February 20, 2009 02:38 AM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Tuning up for a spring North American tour, Leonard Cohen played his first show on American soil in 15 years last night (Feb. 19) at New York's Beacon Theatre. The three-hour performance featured all of Cohen's classics, including "Suzanne," "Bird on the Wire" and "Hallelujah."

Cohen, 74, broke a 15-year hiatus from touring in 2008 with shows in Canada, Europe and New Zealand. His AEG-promoted North American tour will begin April 2 in Austin, Texas, and run through June 2 at Red Rocks outside Denver. He will also make a previously announced appearance on April 17 at the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif.

In what was just the second show at the newly reopened Beacon, Cohen dazzled the sold-out crowd with a career-spanning set, backed by an ace six-piece band and three female vocalists.

He frequently thanked the audience for its devotion, and the crowd ate up Big Apple references in songs like "Chelsea Hotel" and the funky "First We Take Manhattan."

Cohen was in fine, deep voice throughout, dropping to his knees to sing "Hallelujah" and dabbling in guitar and synthesizer throughout the performance.

As previously reported, Columbia will on March 31 release Cohen's "Live in London," taped last summer at the city's O2 Arena.

Here is Leonard Cohen's set list:

Set one:
"Dance Me To The End of Love"
"The Future"
"Ain't No Cure For Love"
"Bird on the Wire"
"Everybody Knows"
"In My Secret Life"
"Who By Fire"
"Chelsea Hotel"
"Hey That's No Way"/"Sisters of Mercy"
"Anthem

Set two:
"Tower of Song"
"Suzanne"
"The Gypsy's Wife"
"The Partisan"
"Boogie Street"
"Hallelujah"
"I'm Your Man"
Poem
"Take This Waltz"

Encores:
"So Long. Marianne"
"First We Take Manhattan"

"Famous Blue Raincoat"
"If It Be Your Will"
"Democracy"

"I Tried To Leave You"

"Whither Thou Goest"
"Heart With No Companion"
"A Thousand Kisses Deep"
"This Is a War"
"One of Us Cannot Be Wrong"
"That Don't Make It Junk"
"Passing Through"
"Waiting for the Miracle"
"Avalanche"
"Closing Time"
"Sisters of Mercy"

Here are Leonard Cohen's North American tour dates:

April 2: Austin, Texas (Long Center)
April 3: Grand Prairie, Texas (Nokia Theatre)
April 5: Phoenix (Dodge Theatre)
April 7: San Diego (Copley Hall)
April 10: Los Angeles (Nokia Theatre)
April 13: Oakland, Calif. (Paramount Theatre)
April 17: Indio, Calif. (Coachella Festival)
April 19: Vancouver (GM Place)
April 21: Victoria, B.C. (Save-On Foods Memorial Centre)
April 23: Seattle (WaMu Theatre)
April 25: Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Place)
April 26: Calgary, Alberta (Jack Singer Hall)
April 28: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Credit Union Centre)
April 30: Winnipeg, Manitoba (MTS Centre)
May 3: Minneapolis (Orpheum Theatre)
May 5: Chicago (Chicago Theatre)
May 9: Detroit (Fox Theatre)
May 11: Columbia, Md. (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
May 12: Philadelphia (Academy of Music)
May 14: Waterbury, Conn. (Palace Theatre)
May 16: New York (Radio City Music Hall)
May 19: Hamilton, Ontario (Copps Coliseum)
May 21: Quebec City, Quebec (Pavillon de la Jeunesse)
May 22: Kingston, Ontario (K-Rock Centre)
May 24: London, Ontario (Labatt Centre)
May 25: Ottawa, Ontario (National Arts Centre)
May 29: Boston (Wang Theatre)
June 2: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks)

[BlueChair]

Glad to hear Leonard is finally showing the U.S. some love. Tickets are sure to be steep, but trust me, they're worth it. Easily one of the best shows I've ever been to.

No Toronto dates this time around, but Hamilton is only about an hour away, so I may look into that show.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Yikes. Ticket prices are extortionate. I would love to go, but cannot justify the expense, however great the performance.

[scielle]

Lots of Leonard on CBC.
Jian Ghomeshi's hour-long interview with LC airs on Q on Thursday:
http://www.cbc.ca/q/
A video excerpt of this was aired on The National last night and is streaming here:
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/a ... cts_1.html

Field Notes by Lani Selick, Producer of "Leonard Cohen in Three Acts"
"Please come in, friends” he says, opening the door to his home in Montreal. “How do you do? I’m Leonard.”

There are six of us altogether, a combined CBC production crew from “The National” and radio program “Q”, here for an exclusive Canadian interview with the famously media-shy Leonard Cohen. We introduce ourselves individually and he shakes hands with each one of us in turn, repeating “How do you do? I’m Leonard”. Then, “Would anyone like a coffee? I’ve just made a fresh pot.”

We hadn’t known what to expect of the man. Negotiating the interview with Cohen’s concert promoter had been extremely tough – often unpleasant. This “handler” had given us a time, date, place and city but was vague on details. What was the specific address? How much prep time would we get before “roll”? What sort of room was on offer, and was it large or small? When we emailed a list of basic questions and mentioned what conditions would work best for optimum quality broadcast – all standard stuff - he phoned and screamed at us, then dictated a bunch of rules ranging from a nearly-impossible-to-achieve time “window” for set-up (cut corners!) to technical constraints (not a lot of cables!) to crew conduct (don’t talk to Cohen!).

So what did it mean? Was Leonard Cohen, a man who represents himself to the world as a humble Buddhist monk, really a prima “don” who demands to be treated like celebrity-royalty?

As it turns out, definitely not! Leonard Cohen is unpretentious, accommodating, and gracious before, during and after the interview.

He has owned the same house in Montreal for some 35 years, located in the old Jewish neighborhood where he grew up. It is a modest, “just folks” kind of place, the opposite of upscale and trendy. The furniture looks unremarkable and from an earlier time. There are no fancy electronics. Kitchen cupboards may well be original. The living-room door-handle needs repair. The washing machine is well used: The entire street does their laundry at his place, he says. I ask Cohen about not being here much: he owns another house in Los Angeles, where he spends much if not most of the year, plus he travels a lot, especially lately with his concert schedule. He tells me he considers this place his true home, a place that connects him to his roots and to his family. “Who takes care of it when you aren’t here?” I ask him. “My neighbours”.

Cohen’s dining room table holds two candles and a cloth with the words “Shabbat Shalom”, meaning good Sabbath, suggesting rituals for a Jewish meal on Friday evening. I ask him about this. (From my research, I know that he does not see any conflict between practicing Zen Buddhism, which he considers to be a method of inquiry, a way of investigating the “self”, and practicing Judaism, which he considers to be his religion.) He tells me that this is a tradition he likes to keep.

Overall, Leonard Cohen treats us more like guests he has invited over for an afternoon of socializing than a group of strangers who have invaded his private domain, here to do a job. After the interview is over, he offers us more coffee, olives and “hamentashen”, a Jewish pastry traditionally served at this time of year during the holiday of “Purim”. Several people have brought digital cameras. He poses for picture after picture without complaint.

I have brought a copy of “The Book of Longing” with me. I ask him if he would mind signing it. He writes: “To Lani, thank you for coming over, warm regards, Leonard Cohen, Montreal 2009.”

[pophead2k]

LC is apparently coming back to the States after his European jaunt ........ AND HE'S PLAYING IN DURHAM! In case you couldn't tell, I am excited beyond belief. Tix on sale Friday, August 7 and the show is Nov. 3. Woooohooooo!

[martinfoyle]

You're in for a treat, last Thursdays show here in the wonderfully refurbished Point/O2 venue was special. Worth every penny, I'd go again tomorrow if I could.

[scielle]

I'm so glad to have had the chance to see the O2 shows in London - once in August, then in Nov. of last year, I think. Set list more or less same for both, as was the between-song chatter, but that didn't make it any less magical. I'm still disappointed he didn't do Famous Blue Raincoat though.

[scielle]

Happy 75th to Leonard today.

Hope he's feeling better after that ER scare several days ago.