Leonard Cohen concert date changed
Due to an important schedule change, Leonard Cohen’s concert that had been set for Wednesday, May 28 at the Holy Heart Theatre in St. John’s has been moved to Sunday, May 25.
Tickets for the May 28 show will be honoured on May 25.
Refunds will be available at point of purchase until April 30.
The May 26 and 27 concerts are unaffected.
Please note that all three nights are sold out.
Box office info: Mile One Centre box office, Mile One phone orders at (709) 576-7657,
Admission network phone orders at 1-800-361-4595 and online orders at www.admission.com.
Glastonbury registration to re-open
Metro.co.uk
- April 8, 2008 by Ann Lee
Glastonbury organisers are re-opening registration for tickets this afternoon after the event failed to sell out.
Festival-goers will be able to snap up the remaining tickets at 4pm today from www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk.
To register you will need to submit basic personal details and a passport quality photo.
Another storey up in the tower of song
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye. In reality, I'd have given anything for a curt "Box office, can I help you?"
It had to be the right number. What else would be continuously busy for hours, me dialling and redialling, but just like a bad dream, no one picks up on the other end?
I was tickled the other week, just after Leonard Cohen was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, to learn the grand master of song had announced a world tour. But I was absolutely amazed to hear, a morning or so later on the radio, that he would be including our neck of the woods in his travels.
Whoa, so long Celine, forget Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and whoever else has slipped through the concert-promoting hands of our people in the provincial capital. We have a legend coming our way, no shenanigans, no ongoing negotiations. Hopefully nobody will screw it up this time, etc.
Not only that, but the gospel according to St. Leonard will be at the Rebecca Cohn, a venue I have never attended. Cushy seats, a predictable atmosphere. To tell the truth, I'm getting a little old for this going to concerts in fields -- even really expensive fields -- and listening to guys with dyed hair and facelifts coaxing out power chords.
There's another thing: missed opportunities. Once before, decades ago, I had the chance to see Leonard Cohen. It was in my university days, and he was playing at a neighbouring campus. The trouble was, it was the night of my anthropology course, an entire week's worth of lectures packed into one long evening. I really didn't think I could duck out on a triple session for a concert.
Talk about dedication, eh? Now ask me what I can tell you about Cro-Magnon culture. Then see if I can recite a Leonard Cohen song lyric. Guess what won in the end.
So the other day, when tickets were to go on sale, I asked my wife what she thought. She said let's go for it. We expected a tough slog nabbing seats for the planned two-night run, a Monday and Tuesday. I used the phone, and Shunda was on the computer trying for online sales.
This turned out harder than the time a couple of years back for Rolling Stones tickets. No dice online or by phone. I had the local Halifax number punched in on one phone and the 1-800 on another. I'd hang one up, pick up the other, hit redial. Back and forth, nothing but busy signals. The ticket website was also on time-out.
Eventually, with a note of optimism, I suggested to Shunda that they might add more shows. After all, I reasoned, he wasn't playing again after Halifax until the following Tuesday in Glace Bay. We took a breather, with me giving it a try every now and again while tidying up the kitchen, but still no reply.
That got me thinking about these phone and Internet lines. Obviously someone's getting through. You would think, with the non-stop redials, the time sitting online, that eventually by the law of averages it would be our turn. Why are the hinterlands second class? Surely there's a way to queue up the thousands of callers under such desperate circumstances.
Later, Shunda called to say she'd just heard on the radio they'd added a third show. I tried again, still with no luck. But I turned on the radio and learned they'd added a fourth. I dialled again, same result.
Finally, toward suppertime, Shunda gave it another try online and, amazingly, got through. We learned to our delight that a fifth show had just been added, Saturday night. Hallelujah. We gathered our wherewithal and successfully got tickets: centre, about halfway back in the main section. I couldn't believe the turn of events, from a technological dead end to this: instead of dullsville Monday, tucked in a corner by the janitor's closet, great seats on a sinful Saturday night.
I don't know if some god of the meek and powerless was on our side, but surely there's a wry yet wistful song in all this.
Tickets selling briskly for Leonard Cohen tour
Toronto — The death of a lady's man has been greatly exaggerated. Tickets for a string of Leonard Cohen comeback concerts across Eastern Canada, where the low-voiced Canadian troubadour will tour for the first time in 15 years, were snapped up at a ferocious pace yesterday. The dates, starting May 11 at the Fredericton Playhouse and continuing to theatres in Halifax; Charlottetown; Glace Bay, N.S.; Moncton, St. John's; and Saguenay, Que., are being billed as warm-up performances for a world tour that begins in earnest with three sold-out shows at Toronto's Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, June 6-8.
Long lineups were the norm, with extra concerts added in Halifax, Glace Bay and St. John's to meet the demand for an iconic, brooding bard acclaimed for songs such as Hallelujah and Famous Blue Raincoat.
Cohen coming to city
Leonard Cohen's first tour in 15 years will kick off in Fredericton.
The acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter and recent inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will play The Playhouse at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 11.
The Fredericton concert is the first Cohen is scheduled to play on his world tour.
Other cities include his hometown of Montreal, London and Athens to name a few.
The deal to bring Cohen to Fredericton has been months in the making.
The Playhouse executive director Tim Yerxa said it was difficult not to spill the beans.
"It's been a hard secret to keep," he said Thursday after the concert was announced.
"It's very cool. We've been working on it a long time and we're very happy to be seeing this concert take place here.''
The Playhouse is already getting plenty of calls about the show.
"We're getting inquiries from Europe, from people who ... are going to buy tickets to the entire tour," he said.
With shows in Europe and larger cities in North America scheduled for major venues, Yerxa said concertgoers at Fredericton's 700-seat playhouse are in for a special treat.
"I'm pretty sure it's the smallest hall he'll play in North America," he said.
"It's my understanding at this point that we are actually going to be the first concert on the whole international tour. That's my understanding anyway."
A concert promoter confirmed that Fredericton is currently the first date on the tour.
"As far as I know now, May 11 is the first date, but that could change," said Arlene Slavin of Rubin Fogel Productions in Montreal.
Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday in New York.
The 73-year-old is widely considered as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our times.
An author and distinguished poet, Cohen is best-known for musical pieces like Suzanne, First We Take Manhattan and the much-covered Hallelujah.
Cohen is considered a music luminary.
"We're so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is," Lou Reed said Monday as he introduced Cohen at the Hall of Fame.
The impact of the singer's work is undeniable.
It's estimated that his songs have been covered by other recording artists more than 1,300 times by artists such as k.d. lang, U2, Sting, R.E.M., Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond.
Cohen is also to perform Friday, May 23, at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton.
Tickets go on sale at noon Thursday, March 20.
Tickets to the show are $72.50 (taxes included, service charge extra) a limited quantity of Gold Circle seating is available at $100. Fredericton tickets at The Playhouse box office at (506) 458-8344 or 1-866-884-5800 and at www.theplayhouse.ca.
Still miserable after all these years, Cohen goes back on tour
The Independent - March 12, 2008 by Jonathan Brown
Leonard Cohen, the troubadour of melancholy whose career as a poet, writer and musician has spanned more than half a century, is to embark on a world tour featuring eight dates in Britain.
The 73-year-old made his announcement following his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York alongside Madonna. It is the first time in 15 years that Cohen has taken to the road.
He will open in his native Canada in June before travelling to Europe where he will play a series of concerts including Glastonbury and the Montreux Jazz Festival, concluding with two nights at the Opera House in Vienna.
Fans will be able to catch him at the Manchester Opera House, the O2 in London and Edinburgh Castle as well as the Big Chill festival at Ledbury.
Rob Hallet, of promoters AEG Live, said: "For many this tour will be the once in a lifetime opportunity to see the legend that is Leonard Cohen. We as a company are honoured to bring this long-rumoured tour to reality across the globe."
Cohen's songs explore themes of isolation and complex relationships and have little commercial appeal. Yet despite this he remains one of the most recorded and influential songwriters in history, with his work being covered more than 1,330 times by other artists, most famously by Jeff Buckley who recorded "Hallelujah" on his 1994 album Grace.
Also among his followers is Lou Reed, who he first met at the notorious Chelsea Hotel in New York in the 1960s. The former Velvet Underground star described him at Monday night's ceremony as "without question one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, a figure whose body of work achieves greater mystery and depth as time goes on."
Other fans included the late Johnny Cash as well as Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave and REM.
Cohen began his career as a poet while still studying at McGill University, producing his first book Let Us Compare Mythologies in 1956, and a series of novels in the 1960s including Beautiful Losers. But it was as a performer on the New York folk scene that he came to popular attention, signing for Columbia Records and writing "Suzanne", later a hit for Judy Collins.
His 1967 album Songs of Leonard Cohen made him famous in Britain yet the reclusive star was to spend the following decades embroiled in a spiritual quest which saw him spend five years as a Buddhist monk.
A long-running legal battle against his former manager left him financially destitute but age has done little to dim his output with further music, collections of poetry and drawings continuing to appear. In October 2004, he released Dear Heather, a musical collaboration with the jazz chanteuse Anjani Thomas. He also received a Grammy nomination in 2007. In 2003 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Cohen hits the road
He may be Montreal's man, but Toronto might just be his mistress.
Iconic Canadian singer-songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen has revealed plans for his first proper tour in 15 years, and it kicks off in Toronto, at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, on June 6 and 7. It's not the first time the cloistered Cohen has picked Toronto for a comeback.
In May, 2006, having not toured for 13 years, he appeared at a Toronto Indigo store for the launch of Book of Longing, a collection of poetry, prose and drawings. Sharing a stage with Ron Sexsmith, the Barenaked Ladies and his paramour, Anjani Thomas, the so-called “poet laureate of pessimism” sang three songs. As well, Toronto audiences saw the premiere of a concert version of Book of Longing, a joint project for words and music with composer Philip Glass that bowed at last summer's Luminato festival.
The announcement of the dates, which includes three nights at Montreal's Place des Arts (June 23-25), comes on the heels of Cohen's conscription into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York on Monday evening. There, after an introduction by fellow gloom-setter Lou Reed, Cohen – not a rock artist – noted the relative unlikelihood of his Hall entry. “It is not a distinction that I coveted or even dared dream about,” he quipped, before wryly adding a 1970s quote from Jon Landau, who said, in regard to young lion Bruce Springsteen, “I have seen the future of rock 'n' roll, and it is not Leonard Cohen.”
The announced shows so far mostly cover an eclectic mix of sites and venues in England and Europe, including appearances at Copenhagen's Rosenberg Castle, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Manchester Opera House and Italy's Lucca Summer Festival. A North American slate of dates, likely beginning in September, will be revealed later according to the tour's promoter. “It's a world tour, a world commitment,” said Rob Hallett of AEG Live. “He's such an icon in Europe, and the summer is the time when all the iconic festivals like Glastonbury are on.”
Cohen's last album of new material ( Dear Heather) was released in 2004, and although a new record is expected to be released later this year, fans should not expect much in the way of new material when the 73-year-old artist takes the stage. “People want to hear everything from Suzanne to Hallelujah to I'm Your Man to the whole gamut of his career,” said Hallett. “There will be a couple of new songs, but not many.
What kind of audience awaits Cohen is hard to say. His 1993 North American tour included three nights at Toronto's Massey Hall and a later show at the O'Keefe Centre (now the Sony Centre), and 18 other Canadian concerts, from Victoria to Quebec City. Tickets for the Toronto shows go on sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday at 11 a.m., while seats for the Montreal shows are available tomorrow at noon. Greg Kitzler, an official with the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (the host of Cohen's Montreal gigs), speculated that at least two of three shows at the 2,300-seat venue would sell out quickly. “I'm not sure what to expect,” said Kitzler, “but the vibe is excellent right now.”
Leonard Cohen to return to Montreal stage at jazz festival in June
MONTREAL — Music legend Leonard Cohen will bring his trademark smoky voice to the Montreal stage this June with his first performance in his hometown in 15 years.
Cohen, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, will give three shows at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on June 23-24-25 at Place des arts.
His performances will be a prelude to the festival, which runs June 26 to July 6.
Cohen has an album coming out this year and will perform new work at the festival as part of his tour - the singer's first such endeavour since he released "The Future" in 1973.
Renowned for his poetry and novels since the 1950s, Cohen has produced classics such as "So Long, Marianne" and "Everybody Knows."
In announcing the appearance by the 73-year-old poet, novelist, singer and songwriter, the Jazz Festival described him as "one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time."
"A great humanist, his songs explore the issues of spirituality, religion, sexuality, power, loneliness, interpersonal relations - simply put, the human condition."
There are more than 1,200 cover versions of his songs, including those done by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash, U2, Tori Amos and Rufus Wainwright.
Leonard Cohen Cooks Up An International Tour
Harp - March 11, 2008 by Fred Mills
The day after his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the legendary Leonard Cohen has announced a major international tour that will have him much of June and all of July in the U.K. and Europe. A present there’s only one North American date (the tour kickoff, June 6 in Toronto) but more shows on this continent are expected.
This will be the bard’s first tour in a decade and a half.
Just to refresh your memories, Last year, in the June issue of HARP, Cohen disclosed that he was working on a new album and that upon its completion he would strongly consider going out on tour again. “Yes, yes,” Cohen told HARP. “I haven’t been out since ’93. The years went by and I thought ‘I’ll never go out again.’ But every so often you do have that itch. You’ve heard that saying in rock ‘n’ roll, they don’t pay you to sing, they pay you to travel.
“But you forget about that stuff. The actual concerts are always compelling. If you’ve got good musicians, and you’re playing, and people know the songs, and they want to hear them live, it is a wonderful thing. And so I’m drawn to that.”
Got all that? Good. Accumulate all your essential Cohen musical ingredients, insert into your mind, and press “puree”....
LEONARD COHEN ANNOUNCES FIRST WORLD TOUR IN 15 YEARS
Uncut - March 11, 2008
Legendary singer and poet Leonard Cohen has announced his first world tour dates in fifteen years, to start in June.
Following his induction into the US Music Hall of Fame yesterday (March 10), the reclusive singer has announced a mammoth tour in association with AEG Live.
The world tour will open in Toronto on June 6 and 7, before performing across Europe in the Summer. The dates include the previously announced festival appearances at Glastonbury, Big Chill and Bennicasim festivals.
Cohen's celebrated albums include Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967), Songs Of Love And Hate (1970) and I’m Your Man (1990).
Cohen’s songs have been covered by several other artists, including U2, R.E.M., and Johnny Cash.
For the world tour, Cohen will be joined by a full band of renowned musicians: Roscoe Beck (bass & vocals, music director) Neil Larsen (keyboard, accordion, brass instruments), Bob Metzger (guitar, steel guitar & vocals), Javier Mas (acoustic guitar, oud & misc. string instruments), Christine Wu – Violin, viola, cello & keyboard, Rafael Gayol (drums & percussion) and Dino Soldo (keyboard, saxophone, wind instruments & vocals).
UK dates include four nights at Mancheser's Opera House this June and Edinburgh Castle and London's O2 Arena in July.
The full Leonard Cohen world tour dates confirmed so far are listed below.
More dates are due to be announced within the coming months, fans should keep checking http://leonardcohen.aeglive.com for information.
Leonard Cohen announces world tour
press release - March 11, 2008
Immediately following his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Leonard Cohen announced his world tour...
Marking a return to the live arena after 15 years, he is scheduled to open in Toronto on June 6 and 7, the city that gave birth to his career as a recording and literary artist, and then play Europe in the remainder of June, July, August and early September.
Cohen is arguably the greatest singer songwriter of modern times. At his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, he as recognized by Lou Reed as without question one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, a figure whose body of work achieves greater mystery and depth as time goes one. Among those inducted with Cohen were: Madonna, John Mellencamp The Dave Clark Five, and the Ventures.
A celebrated and much lauded singer/songwriter he first emerged as a major and influential talent in the early 60's. Albums like Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967), Songs Of Love And Hate (1970) and Im Your Man (1990), right up to 1992s The Future, 2001s Ten New Songs and 2004s Dear Heather are rightly considered classics. Uniquely for a revered musician, Cohens literary plaudits rival those for his music.
His songs have been famously covered by the great and the good, each version a fascinating attempt to move closer to Cohens enigmatic muse. From Judy Collins Suzanne to Jeff Buckleys seminal rendition of Hallelujah, Cohens songs have traveled as far and wide as their author. U2, REM, Sting, Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright and the late Johnny Cash are among other famous devotees. It is estimated that his songbook has been covered over 1,330 times by other recording artists.
In 2008, Cohens live tour will be as varied as his influence. He plays the UKs legendary Glastonbury Festival on June 29, for 150,000 fans. The Montreux Jazz Festival and Spains Bennicasim are also stand out dates among arena shows at the O2 in London and more intimate dates such as Torontos Sony Centre and the Manchesters Opera House in the UK. Rob Hallett from AEG Live said, For many this tour will be the once in a lifetime opportunity to see the legend that is Leonard Cohen. We as a company are honored to bring this long rumored tour to reality across the globe.
In all, the tour will take in fans, from intimate theatres to rock festivals proving the remarkable reach of Cohens words and music across nations and generations. He will be joined by world renowned musicians: Roscoe Beck (bass & vocals, music director) Neil Larsen (keyboard, accordion, brass instruments), Bob Metzger (guitar, steel guitar & vocals), Javier Mas (acoustic guitar, oud & misc. string instruments), Christine Wu Violin, viola, cello & keyboard, Rafael Gayol (drums & percussion) and Dino Soldo (keyboard, saxophone, wind instruments & vocals).
Cohen has been a SONY/BMG recording artist for his entire career. He continues as an active songwriter with much anticipated new work that is planned for release later this year. Cohen is beyond comparison and a true original, providing some of music and literatures most illuminating writing on love, sex, death and religion.
This is a world tour of epic proportions, but it is something even more than that. Leonard Cohen's eagerly anticipated return to the stage after all these years is nothing short of musical history in the making.
AEG Live is promoting the tour worldwide. Cohen is represented by Los Angeles attorney Robert Kory and Core Management Company.
Leonard Cohen's World Tour Itinerary (as of 10-Mar-08) DATE CITY VENUE 06-Jun-08 Toronto Sony Centre For The Performing Arts 07-Jun-08 Toronto Sony Centre For The Performing Arts 14-Jun-08 Dublin IMMA 17-Jun-08 Manchester Manchester International Festival, Opera House 18-Jun-08 Manchester Manchester International Festival, Opera House 19-Jun-08 Manchester Manchester International Festival, Opera House 20-Jun-08 Manchester Manchester International Festival, Opera House 23-Jun-08 Montreal Place des Arts 24-Jun-08 Montreal Place des Arts 25-Jun-08 Montreal Place des Arts 26-Jun-08 Montreal Place des Arts 29-Jun-08 Glastonbury Glastonbury Festival 01-Jul-08 Oslo Aliset Stadium 03-Jul-08 Helsingborg Open Air 05-Jul-08 Copenhagen Rosenborg Castle 06-Jul-08 Arhuus Raadhus Parken 08-Jul-08 Montreux Montreux Jazz Festival 09-Jul-08 Lyon Festival 10-Jul-08 Bruges Cactus 12-Jul-08 Amsterdam Westerdam 16-Jul-08 Edinburgh Castle 17-Jul-08 London The 02 Arena 19-Jul-08 Lisbon Passeio Maritimo 20-Jul-08 Bennicasim Festival 22-Jul-08 Nice Jazz Festival 25-Jul-08 Lorrach Stimmen De Welt 27-Jul-08 Lucca Summer Festival 29-Jul-08 Athens Lykabettus Theatre [Note: We have since learned the dates in August have been withdrawn by AEG Live as being unconfirmed and/or incorrect.] 03-Aug-08 Ledbury Big Chill 05-Aug-08 Istanbul Arena 06-Aug-08 Istanbul Arena 10-Aug-08 Prague Castle 12-Aug-08 Budapest Sziget 14-Aug-08 Girona Cap Roig 15-Aug-08 Girona Cap Roig 28-Aug-08 Vienna Opera House 29-Aug-08 Vienna Opera House
Thanks to Tom Sakic for forwarding.
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