Tour Reviews and Other Memories from
LEONARD COHEN WORLD TOUR Summer 2010
July 31 & August 1, 2010
Sligo, Ireland
The Lissadell House
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Set List for July 31
Set List for August 1
Irish Times review & photos
Irish Independent review & photo
Drop-d Music Magazine review & photos
Irish Times article
Irish Central article & photo
The Sunday Business Post article
Irish Independent article
Irish Times article & photo
MayoToday.ie article & photo
Irish Times article
Irish Independent article
Youtube
Fan reports
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August 4, 2010
Malmö, Sweden
Malmö Arena
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Set List for August 4
HD.se review & photo
Nöje review & photo
Kultur & Nöje review & photo
Sydsvenskan review
Nöje article & photos
Youtube
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August 6, 2010
Oslo, Norway
Oslo Spektrum
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Set List for August 6
VG Nett review & photo
Puls review & photos
Dagbladet review & photo
Youtube
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August 8, 2010
Stockholm, Sweden
Globen
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Set List for August 8
SvD review
Youtube
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August 10, 2010
Helsinki, Finland
Hartwall Areena
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Set List for August 10
Original set list
Thanks to Jarkko for sharing
YLE.fi article & photo
HS.fi review & photo
SK24.fi review & photos
HBL.fi review
Svenska.YLE review
Helsingin Sanomat review & photo
From The Leonard Cohen Forum
Aamulehti, Tampere review & photos
Thanks to Jarkko for sharing
Youtube
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Previous
Zagreb, Croatia
Salzburg, Austria
Graz, Austria
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Next
Gothenburg/Göteborg, Sweden
Odense, Denmark
Berlin, Germany
Gent, Belgium
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Sligo, Ireland
Set List - July 31, 2010
First Set
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
The Darkness
Born In Chains
Waiting For The Miracle
In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz by W.B. Yeats (recitation)
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
Gypsy Wife
Feels So Good
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Lover Lover Lover
Sligo, Ireland
Set List - August 1, 2010
First Set
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
Heart With No Companion
The Darkness
Chelsea Hotel
Born In Chains
Waiting For The Miracle
In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz by W.B. Yeats (recitation)
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Sisters Of Mercy
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
That Don't Make It Junk
I Tried to Leave You
Sligo, Ireland
Cohen serene under Ben Bulben
Irish Times
- August 2, 2010 by Paddy Clancy (Photo: James Connolly)
PEOPLE OF all ages gathered, carefully corralled, to walk along a path through the woods. They walked towards the light reflecting off the water in the shadow of a great house. They came to hear a poet sing his songs in a place still associated with another, earlier poet, long dead and revered, writes EILEEN BATTERSBY.
Under the shadow of Ben Bulben's distinctive flat profile, made famous by Yeats, the faithful waited for Leonard Cohen, veteran Canadian singer songwriter, a poet who has pursued personal experience to its limits. His meditations on life and love, the spiritual and the sexual, the hunted and the haunted appeal to all ages for their strange beauty, the gentle melodies; their romance and their solitude. Bittersweet romance, subtle observation and humour run through the songs; there is also the jaunty courage of his odyssey as an artist, a lover, a man and as a performer.
Many of the faces waiting for the music to begin seemed thoughtful as if remembering their younger selves, the people they had been when Cohen first began his career. For others, who had not even been born when Cohen was young, he is an icon, an influence. Girls in their 20s corrected their parents as to the titles of some of the songs. A father and son stood together, singing the opening lines of Famous Blue Raincoat and left the mother poised to photograph them, on her own figuring out how the camera worked. An older woman, her own raincoat at the ready, looked around and sighed, "The State should have bought this place."
She was not alone, aside from the eulogies offered as to the enduring genius of Cohen, the most common topic of overheard conversation was that this magical part of Sligo should have been secured for the people of Ireland.
Leonard Cohen, serene and smiling, dark grey fedora firmly on his head, took the stage, along with his smartly suited band of musicians and singers. From the distance his figure seemed small against the flowing fabric backdrop of changing colours, but the huge TV screens provided close-up views of his wonderful face with its expression of benign irony. Here is a man who has seen most things and pondered them deeply. He knows about despair but he also sees the jokes. His repertoire includes many of the most distinctive songs written anywhere since the late 1960s. Along with Bob Dylan and the great Paul Simon, Cohen inhabits a sacred place. His songs are poems; the lyrics live off the page. As a performer he is generous; his band is his family, his audience his friends, and "friends" was the word he used to address the thousands who came to hear him.
Several of the gardaí on duty looked wistfully, assuring us that they would be up at the concert if they weren't on duty. It was that kind of night; that kind of place, even the police seemed happy. It was obvious that the combined musical talent was overwhelming; Cohen showed them off like a proud parent, although the great Spanish guitarist, Javier Mas, is not all that much younger than Cohen, who was born in Montreal in 1934. We knew the songs, and the musicians did too, but when you're that good and the atmosphere is perfect, it is easy to improvise further. The show, now on its way to Copenhagen, is terrific, no doubt about it, possessing an intriguingly European quality, yet at times, particularly with classics such as Suzanne, Famous Blue Raincoat, Sisters of Mercy and So Long, Marianne , it would have been even more satisfying just to hear Cohen's tender, softly growling baritone. As a singer he is alert to every nuance; every word counts and with Cohen, every word is sung clear and emphatic. He is a lively, engaged performer but the wonder of his songs is best enjoyed in a more intimate setting because his songs are like poems and deserve pauses and space and time to absorb them fully.
Earlier on Saturday he had visited Drumcliff churchyard and paid his respects at the grave of Yeats, a poet whose work he had first read, as Cohen told his audience, "at home in Montreal, about 50 years ago". He smiled his wry, rueful smile.
In the visitors' book at Drumcliff church he wrote Leonard Cohen, Montreal, with a simple comment "Sublime". Some four of five songs into the concert he looked into the crowd and spoke of how privileged he felt to be at "this most historic setting". His humility and calm demeanour gave new life to those most evocative lines. "The light of evening, Lissadell,/ Great windows open to the south,/ Two girls in silk kimonos, both/ Beautiful, one a gazelle." (From In Memory of Eva Gore-Both and Con Markievicz; The Winding Stair and Other Poems, 1933.)
Cohen began the concert saying that he did not know if he would pass this way again, but promised to give "everything we have" on behalf of his band and himself and his backing singers, Hattie and Charley Webb, whose ethereal voices are ideal for Cohen's songs, and his collaborator, Sharon Robinson. They did and more.
Cohen at 75, singing his much-covered Hallelujah, on a drizzly Saturday evening in historic Lissadell outperformed the current version by opera singer Renée Fleming, such is his art and kindly humanity. The audience, growing in confidence, thundered its appreciation singing along with more and more songs. Each time Cohen skipped - and skip he does - off stage, the applause brought him back. His generosity as a performer is well known, he graced Lissadell. Yeats, a life-long presence for this singer of songs, would have approved.
Lissadell House to reopen to public for two months
LISSADELL HOUSE is to reopen exhibitions and gardens to the public after closure for 18 months.
The owners have decided the estate in Sligo will reopen as a tourist operation later this week after Leonard Cohen and Westlife played to 30,000 people there at the weekend.
The estate has been closed to the public since a rights-of-way dispute flared between the owners and Sligo County Council. A decision is awaited from the High Court in the Autumn. Estate manager Isobel Cassidy, said: "After all the effort and energy we put into making it look fantastic for the concerts, it will be reopened for August and September."
Lissadell has been closed to the public following a decision by Sligo County Council to amend the county development plan to provide for preservation of a public right of way at Lissadell. The owners insist they were assured there was no public right of way when they bought the estate in 2003. They set about a multi-million euro project to restore the property to its original state and claimed before closure in January 2009 an increase in the number of visitors from 4,000 to 40,000 annually without public funds.
Sligo, Ireland
Review: Leonard Cohen
FOR the third successive summer, we've been blessed by the presence of Leonard Cohen.
While a little bit of the shock and awe of witnessing his brilliance the first time around diminishes, a repeat viewing also presents an opportunity to fully savour the spectacle.
Cohen has been hosted in a different venue every year, but none have been as beautiful and fitting as this. Even though a large cloud nestles over the board top of Ben Bulben for the show's duration, there still can't be a more stunning live backdrop in Ireland.
He's visibly moved as he takes to the stage greeted by a rapturous reception.
"Thank you for inviting me back," he humbly remarks.
His manner is so gentle and moving, it's hard not to feel that this is a personal one to one dedication rather than a crowd-pleasing platitude. Opening with an exquisite 'Dance Me to the End of Love', the sound quality is impeccable and does full justice to an artist of Cohen's calibre. The phrase backing singers underestimates their astonishing talents. Pristine accompanists would be more appropriate.
An early highlight that also totally nails Cohen's class is 'Bird on the Wire'. As the song pauses, he takes off his hat, smiles broadly and bows to the crowd's applause, before concluding the number with added flourish. "Thank you music lovers," is one of the best performer acknowledgments I've ever heard. 'Tower of Song' beautifully kicks off the second half after the interval. As night falls, the spellbinding majesty of Cohen and his amazing band assumes a dreamy, otherworldly quality, infused with the spirits and blessings of Cohen's hero WB Yeats.
He playfully changes some of the lyrics of his classic studded repertoire. "I didn't come to Yeats' county to fool ya," he quips during 'Hallelujah'. Another mesmerising performance, evident in the thousands of beaming smiles all around Lissadell House.
Sligo, Ireland
Leonard Cohen, Lissadell House
Leonard Cohen and Lissadell House surely a match made in heaven were the thoughts that crossed my mind many times over the last few months as I waited for what could be the most magical concert I'd ever be lucky enough to attend. Cohen having been a lifelong fan of the work of W.B Yeats relished the thoughts of performing there as much as we the fans relished the thoughts of seeing our hero in possibly the most amazing location possible.
Having seen Cohen live last year and that gig transcending Cohen to a god-like status in my mind I have never before felt so much excitement and impatience in the build up to a gig. Could the tantalising mixture of Cohen and Lissadell really be a recipe for a night we would never forget? The answer to that is a resounding yes. From start to finish this was the most amazing concert I've ever been at.
Having possibly the greatest poet of our times performing in the place that inspired his hero added a certain magic that I don't believe I'll ever witness again in my lifetime.
Playing for an impressive 3 hour 45 minutes with only a 20 minute interval Cohen and his fantastic band delivered to the highest possible standard playing the songs his fans so love to hear and adding in a couple of new songs to wet our appetites for the promised new album due in the spring of next year. Dance Me to The End of Love was the opening song of this wonderful night followed by The Future and Ain't No Cure for Love in what was a serenely mellow first half. I find it impossible to pick a highlight for this half as every song is a highlight in itself.
The mix of Cohen's sultry tones and the fabulous musicianship of his incredible band was musical poetry to me ears. As wonderful as all the familiar tunes were I was delighted to hear the first of three new songs, Born in Chains. This new song showcased that even in his mid seventies Cohen can still write great melodies and fantastic lyrics. What I especially loved was that Cohen shared the singing of this song with the sublime Webb Sisters and his extremely talented co-writer Sharon Robinson.
Possibly the highlight of the first half wasn't even the music but for when Cohen said he was delighted to be playing at Lissadell and quoting Yeats "The light of evening, Lissadell, great windows open to the south, two girls in silk kimonos, both beautiful, one a gazelle" before quoting what is possibly his own greatest lyric "Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in". He then preformed Anthem from which that song lyric came from to take us to the interval.
Like the first time I saw Cohen live the second half proved to be my preference even though nearing the end Mother Nature treated us to misty rain. My favourite Cohen songs Hallelujah and So Long Marianne were preformed in this half. Hallelujah is in my humble opinion the greatest song ever written and it has to be my ultimate concert highlight hearing it sung live by its creator. Cohen starts and ends this song on his knees and delivered an outstanding performance that even though familiar to my ears gave me goosebumps and had tears streaming down my face. Even now as I'm transported back to that moment I find my eyes filling up.
Hallelujah aside, like the first half it is extremely difficult to pick individual highlights as everything was sublime. I am probably starting to sound like a cliché but I was overwhelmed by the intensity of this amazing experience and feel so lucky to have witnessed this magical encounter. It must be noted how brilliant Cohen's band are.
During various moments during the night we were treated to solos from most of the band including Dino Soldo and Javier Mas. As mentioned before as always Cohen's backing singers, The Webb Sisters and Sharon Robinson were outstanding. The mutual respect between both Cohen and his band is plain for all to see and adds to what is already an excellent ambiance.
Even after the incredible 3 hours and 45 minutes Cohen, who will be 76 later this year, was still in top form but there had to be an end and it was a touching end when he performed Lover, Lover, Lover which wasn't even on the setlist. Other songs of note during the night included Famous Blue Rain Coat, Suzanne, In My Secret Life, First we Take Manhattan and I'm Your Man.
I know I could have easily listened for even longer to the concert but respect to Cohen that at his age he puts younger artists to shame and maybe they should take note on how to deliver a night of perfection where it is impossible to find fault in anyway.
As I walked out of the Lissadell Estate I had feelings of utter happiness and sadness mingled in. Happiness that not only did the gig live up to expectation but managed to surpass it in every possible way but sadness that what will possibly have been the best concert I will ever attend was over. I thank Leonard Cohen for the music, the lyrics and for being such an amazing human being and sharing himself with us and I also thank the Cassidy family for allowing this fantastic concert to take place in their front garden. I and all the other fans will be forever indebted to their generosity.
Sligo, Ireland
An Irishman's Diary
Irish Times
- August 4, 2010 by Frank McNally
I DROVE to Sligo on Saturday still feeling a little resentful that, after he gave the perfect concert - almost in my back garden - two years ago, Leonard Cohen had not quit while he was ahead. By "quit", I don't mean quit the mortal sphere. Retirement would have been enough: ideally to the Mount Baldy Buddhist retreat in California, where he could resume life as a monk, under his Zen name of Jikan, meaning "silence".
The slightly-cheated feeling persisted through the first few songs at Lissadell, an exact repeat of the playlist from the 2008 Kilmainham shows. Not only had I been suckered into forking out for two (pricey) tickets to see the same concert, I thought, based on a vague notion that this time, WB Yeats and Countess Markievicz might appear on backing vocals. But worse, the experience would now also tarnish the memories of the first occasion, which I could otherwise have treasured for years.
Then Cohen introduced some new songs. Then his backing virtuosos began to weave their magic again. Then the relentless beauty of the music washed over me like the misty rain that accompanied some of it.
And any remaining resistance was finally wiped out by the old charmer himself, whose definitive stage gesture these days is to take his hat off between songs, exposing his grizzled head in humility to an audience that - to his apparent astonishment - loves him.
No doubt the modesty is part showmanship. You can't perform to adoring crowds night after night without at least suspecting you must be good. But Buddhist monks are probably taught not to dwell on such delusions. And if it is an act, he does it very well.
For a performer long associated with gloom, the surprised boyish smile into which his features resolve themselves so often now is a remarkable thing in itself.
Naturally, he invoked the spirt of Yeats during the latest shows. And I wondered what WB would have made of the performance.
He was a mere 61 when he wrote that "an aged man is but a paltry thing/a tattered coat upon a stick".
To which, of course, he added the qualification: "Unless soul clap its hands and sing/And louder sing, for every tatter in its mortal dress".
So he may have been on to something about the power of song, even then. But I suspect that, being a ladies' man as well as a wordsmith, Yeats - if he was present at Lissadell - might have regretted not living in a slightly later era, when poets could front rock bands, perform into their late 70s, and still have women going weak at their every husky word.
I have suggested before in this paper that Ireland, in its search for an agreed anthem, could do worse than adapt Cohen's latter-day classic of that name (ie Anthem), with its soaring chorus: "Ring the bells that still can ring/Forget your perfect offering/There is a crack/A crack, in everything/Thats how the light gets in".
Not only has it an uplifting message about accepting - even rejoicing in - the imperfections of life. It also has special resonance in this country, on two levels. Firstly, every new thing we build here, from the Dublin Port Tunnel to the Luas rail-lines, seems to have a crack in it. A tradition now apparently continued by the Aviva Stadium, which, according to one of our letter writers yesterday, has a leaky roof.
Secondly, it captures the spirit of what Yeats called the "indomitable Irishry". For it's not just when things are going well that we try to find the crack in them, although begrudgery is an honoured national tradition. But the converse is true too. No matter how gloomy a situation seems, there is a compulsion to find the crack (or the "craic", if you must) in that too, somewhere.
I was thinking about this in the early hours of Sunday, on the way back from Sligo. It was prompted by the automated toll-booth on the M4, which demanded €4.30 from me instead of the normal €2.90. I wondered if the price went up after midnight. But I was too tired to argue, and had fed the machine €3.50 before it corrected its glitch and raised the barrier (while keeping the change).
By the time I reached the M50, however, when only post-concert euphoria was keeping my eyelids open, it had struck me that the lyrics of Anthem had also been dramatically vindicated in Leonard Cohen's own life.
After all, it was financial ruin that forced him back on tour to recoup the millions misappropriated by his manager. Out of which catastrophe has emerged a new, wondrous chapter of his career. He seems to have been energised by the road. Not only was he skipping on and off the stage at Lissadell, he now has a new studio album planned, the first in years.
Countless others have also benefited from the fraud. Not his manager, obviously. In what looks like karma, her life has been a litany of disasters since. But for everyone from the "sublime Webb sisters" - elevated out of relative obscurity in England to join Cohens choir of angels - to the many fans who would otherwise never have seen him perform, the ex-manager's dishonesty has been a gift.
And in some cases, like mine, an education. By the time I was finally home on Sunday morning, I had learned one of Anthem's lessons. Namely, the futility of holding onto my memories of that perfect evening in Kilmainham two years ago, whose peerlessness, I now realise, was just an earthly illusion, shattered forever by the fact that I saw a concert just as good somewhere else.
Sligo, Ireland
Leonard Cohen pays tribute to WB Yeats in Sligo
Irish Central
- August 3, 2010 by Cathy Hayes (Photo: PA Archive/Press Association Images)
Leonard Cohen played before a crowd of 20,000 devoted fans at Lissadell House, Sligo, with two concerts over the weekend.
The house is located just miles away from Drumcliffe, the birthplace of Irish poet WB Yeats, and Yeats often stayed at the house visiting the young Countess Constance Markievicz.
While on stage Cohen repeated lines by Yeats about one of his trips to visit Markievicz and her sister Eva Gore-Booth. He quoted "Two girls in silk kimonos, both/ Beautiful, one a gazelle." He told the audience that he had learnt those lines 50 years ago in his hometown Montreal.
Again the singer with a "golden voice" quoted the poet again while singing, the his much covered song, "Hallelujah." He added the line "I've told the truth, I did not come to the Yeats County to fool you."
As always the Irish audience was deeply touched by Cohen's performance. One audience member Mike McGettrick has travelled from Canberra, Australia to see the concert. He told the Irish Independent "In all my life I have never seen a performance the like of which Leonard Cohen gave in Ireland this weekend. The whole atmosphere he created and the crowd's reaction. We were shaking by the end of it."
Lissadell House had been closed to the public in recent times due to an ongoing right-of-way dispute. Though they are still awaiting a ruling from the High Court a decision was made to keep the house and the Yeats exhibition open for the rest of the summer season.
Knowing that Cohen is a fan of Yeat's poetry much of the exhibition, including letters, was on show in his changing area. He commented "I could get used to this."
On Sunday the singer took officially opened the Yeat's exhibition. In the visitor's book he signed "Leonard Cohen, Montreal" and under comments: "sublime".
Sligo, Ireland
Cohen brings poetry back to Yeats country
It started with a first edition of WB Yeats, but could end up becoming a lucrative business opportunity for the owners of Lissadell House.
When legendary song-writer and musician Leonard Cohen was in Ireland last year doing a series of concerts for John Reynolds' Pod Concerts, the promoter gave Cohen a first edition of Yeats's poetry. Cohen, himself a poet, is an admirer of Sligo's literary giant who, in 1933, wrote:
The light of evening, Lissadell,
Great windows open to the south,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.
It gave Reynolds the idea of Cohen playing at Lissadell House in Sligo, where Yeats spent much time with the Gore-Booth family, particularly the two girls of the poem, sisters Eva and Constance. Constance went on to become the only female member of the first Dáil [and the first woman government minister in Europe] under her married name, Countess Markiewicz.
Reynolds then went on to cajole the owners of Lissadell, Constance Cassidy and Eddie Walsh, into opening the house up to its first music concert ever.
Cohen will take to the stage tonight for his second of two concerts at the house, following a 'homecoming' concert by Westlife which took place on Friday night.
''When John spoke to us, we were closed and were not considering anything like this, but when it was Leonard Cohen, who is such a Yeats fan and such a great poet himself, it would have been dreadful to say no," said Isobel Cassidy, manager of Lissadell Estate and sister of Constance.
''We were not sure if such a production was even possible but John said it would be.
We said, 'Okay, it's difficult, but we are going to make it happen' and then everyone just got on board to make it come together."
Cassidy said that all those involved in organising the event were extremely conscious of what Lissadell was and of its surroundings.
''A great deal of care went into all the decisions made - we were aware that this could not be just treated like a concert. It is an intimate event, which is a word that would normally never be used about an outdoor concert.
The concerts are taking place right beside the house and in a natural amphitheatre." As of last Friday, there were still some of the 10,000 tickets, which ranged in price from€80 to €115, left for tonight's concert, but they were expected to be sold out by today.
''Whether or not they sell out, we are extremely happy with the sales and feel it's been a success," said Cassidy. She said that the location had thrown up a great number of challenges along the way, but that there was a general air of excitement in the town about the €3 million financial boost the concerts would give to the area.
''There has been this feeling that the town has been in a bubble of excitement about something so unique.
Everyone is talking about it and we really feel it will give a good boost to the local economy," said Cassidy. ''When Sligo lost the stage of the rally [World Rally Championships] last year, it really was a huge kick for the county, but we hope this will help in some way. There is not a bed available for 30 miles this weekend and that's great for the town and the county."
Local businesses, mainly from the Sligo and Donegal regions, are also involved in the event and have set up food and drink stalls on the grounds of Lissadell.
Cassidy also said the concerts would have a longer-term boost for the local economy.
''To bring 30,000 people into the area and show them what we have to offer has a huge long-lasting effect. When people see Sligo, and particularly the views from the concert venue, they will want to come back again," she said.
''As well as the house, from your seats, people will be able to see the majestic table-top mountain of Ben Bulben behind the stage, Knocknarea to the right and Sligo Bay to the left. People will look around and think, we are going to have to come back here again."
Whether or not they will be coming back to Lissadell for concerts in the future is still undecided. Concerts at the stately home could become a lucrative business proposition for the family.
''We really don't know yet," said Cassidy. ''It wasn't our intention to have concerts here in the first place. We are just taking it on a day-by-day basis.
''We are delighted that this has brought the place alive and it's all very positive, but it's impossible to say any more at this stage apart from that it has been a fantastic opportunity to get involved in."
Sligo, Ireland
Hallelujah -- hats off to the master as Cohen bows to his hero Yeats
Irish Independent
- August 2, 2010 by Paddy Clancy and Ken Sweeney
FROM one renowned poet to another.
Leonard Cohen performed in front of 20,000 fans at Lissadell House in Sligo during two concerts over the weekend but, arguably, he was performing to one of his greatest heroes, WB Yeats.
The 75-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter thrilled the audience -- the majority of whom were in his own age group -- when he recited Yeats. The poet was born in nearby Drumcliffe and often stayed at Lissadell.
Cohen repeated the poet's lines about visiting the young Countess Constance Markievicz and her sister Eva Gore-Booth at Lissadell: "Two girls in silk kimonos, both/ Beautiful, one a gazelle."
He told the audience that he first learnt those lines, and other Yeats poetry, more than 50 years ago in his home city of Montreal. Later, in the middle of one of his greatest songs, 'Hallelujah', he included the line, "I've told the truth, I did not come to the Yeats County to fool you".
And they came from near and far, to Yeats County, 10,000 on both Saturday and Sunday night. Mike McGettrick travelled 35,000 miles from his home in Canberra, Australia.
"It was a bit wet but I think that was people brushing the tears from their faces," the 60-year-old said. "In all my life I have never seen a performance the like of which Leonard Cohen gave in Ireland this weekend. The whole atmosphere he created and the crowd's reaction. We were shaking by the end of it."
Mr McGettrick grew up in near-by Ballymote but emigrated to Australia over 40 years ago. Footage posted on the internet of Cohen's 2008 concert in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham convinced the businessman to make the trip.
"I thought, 'The next time Leonard plays Ireland, I'll be here'. When I heard that he was performing in my home county of Sligo, I had to come. The trip has cost me a huge amount of money but it's been worth every penny," he said.
Among his treasured possessions is a photograph of him, his wife Janis, and Cohen after a concert in Sydney two years ago.
Less travel-weary but equally enthused was Olive Tee (71), from Clonskeagh, Dublin, who only 'discovered' Cohen two years ago on Lyric FM. "I thought he had something really special. I'm really glad I came. The setting is fantastic," she said. Her daughter Dee admitted she was there for a different reason. She has a Chinese medical practice.
"A friend who is a very powerful healer told me that Leonard Cohen's voice has a particular effect on people's energy so I came to find out if that was true," she said. "It's true. It actually relaxes your energy enough so that if you could have that sound in the healing session, that would heal people."
Although Lissadell has been closed to the public for more than a year since a rights-of-way dispute flared between the owners and Sligo County Council, the public is now able to return to view the house and its exhibitions -- including a Yeats exhibition.
A decision was reached over the weekend to reopen it to the public for the rest of the season despite the dispute awaiting a High Court decision.
"After all the effort and energy we put into making it look fantastic for the concerts it will be re-opened for August and September," estate manager Isobel Cassidy said.
At the weekend, much of the Yeats exhibition -- including letters between Yeats family members -- was on show in Cohen's concert-changing quarters. "I could get used to this," he told his hosts.
Yesterday, the singer took time out to officially open the Yeats exhibition. It followed an earlier visit to Yeats's grave at Drumcliffe where he signed the visitors' book: "Leonard Cohen, Montreal". In the space for comments he wrote simply, "sublime".
Indeed it was.
Sligo, Ireland
Hallelujah, as Cohen plays Lissadell
Irish Times
- August 1, 2010 by Ronan McGreevy (Photo: Alan Betson/The Irish Times)
The mutual appreciation society that is Leonard Cohen and his Irish fans was renewed last night in the beautiful surrounds of Lissadell House in Co Sligo.
Cohen said he was honoured to have such an "historical setting" and delighted the near-capacity crowd of 10,000 by reciting WB Yeats' poem In memory of Eva Gore Booth and Constance Markiewicz which begins
"The light of evening, Lissadell,
Great windows open to the south,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both,
Beautiful, one a gazelle."
He said he had learned the poem 50 years ago in his home town of Montreal. "I never knew my steps would take me to this place that I would receive such a welcome sheltered in the spirit of the great master," he said referring to Yeats.
Concert promoter John Reynolds said Cohen had spent two hours before the concert looking around the Yeats' Gallery in the house which is now owned by the barrister couple Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy.
"He said in his own words that he was humbled by the experience," Reynolds said.
Cohen also changed the lyrics of Hallelujah to "you don't think I'd come to the Yeats' county just to fool ya".
The start of the concert was delayed for a half-an-hour to allow for the long traffic jams. Cohen, now 75, went on stage at 8pm and finished at 11.40pm. He tried out a number of new songs including Born in Chains , only the second time it has been heard live, and The Darkness .
The songs are likely to be part of a new album Cohen is planning for next year.
The stage for his concert was framed on one side by a mist-covered Ben Bulben and on the other by Sligo Bay with the lights of Sligo town in the background. The house itself provided the backdrop for the concert.
It was a chilly evening and the band had an electric heater on stage for the first half of their performance.
The site showed evidence of three weeks of wet weather with sawdust everywhere, but the rain, which threatened all evening, only arrived at the very end of the concert.
It was Cohen's eighth Irish concert in just two years after a hiatus of more than 20 years which had led most of his fans to believe he had retired.
Nevertheless, the enthusiasm remained undimmed among his fans or among the people of Sligo. A banner in Sligo town welcomed Cohen to the town and a series of event s were planned over the weekend to coincide with the biggest music event the county has ever hosted.
It is expected to be dry for tonight's concert.
Sligo, Ireland
Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen touches down at Ireland West Airport Knock!
Ireland West Airport Knock were delighted to welcome world famous songwriter, Leonard Cohen, to the airport on Thursday, 29th July.
The Canadian singer-songriter was on his way Lissadell House in Sligo for two concerts on Saturday, 31st July and Sunday, 1st August.
Leonard Cohen was greeted by Liam Scollan, a lifelong Leonard Cohen fan and Chairman of Ireland West Airport Knock who presented Mr Cohen with the book 'On a Wing and a Prayer' by Terry Reilly which tells the story of how Ireland West Airport Knock developed from humble beginnings to become a major international airport now serving over 25 international destinations.
Leonard Cohen has been one of the most important and influential songwriters since the mid-sixties, releasing over 10 best selling albums, and in 2010 was awarded a Grammy for lifetime achievement award.
He is probably best known for the worldwide hit "Hallelujah" which he wrote and has since become one of Cohen's best-known, best-loved songs and has been covered by over 150 artists, including Jeff Buckley, Willie Nelson and Bono and sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
Sligo, Ireland
First we take Lissadell . . . country house gets ready for Cohen concerts
Irish Times
- July 28, 2010 by Paddy Clancy
WB YEATS fan Leonard Cohen has this weekend been guaranteed a view of the window of the room the poet used when he visited a young Countess Constance Markievicz and her sister Eva Gore-Booth.
Cohen's backstage quarters will look beyond the audience, directly towards the room where Yeats eventually stayed when he visited Lissadell House in Sligo on regular occasions.
On his first visit to the house in 1894, a 29-year-old Yeats had to settle for a small room over the stables. There was a custom at the time of keeping bachelors well away from any temptation that might be found in the big house.
Eventually, Yeats was to have his own temporary quarters in the house proper. Years later he was to write of the sisters: "Two girls in silk kimonos, both beautiful, one a gazelle."
Cohen, who will play before 20,000 fans in the grounds of Lissadell on Saturday and Sunday, is expected to pay a private visit to Yeats's grave at the nearby Drumcliffe Church graveyard.
Under bare Ben Bulben's head, as Yeats wrote, the northwest is expecting concerts of a lifetime, with Cohen's shows being preceded on Friday by a Westlife show before 10,000 fans.
Production crews were yesterday completing final stages of a new amphitheatre in the Lissadell grounds. The organisers were confident about the comfort and security arrangement for 30,000 fans over the weekend - 10,000 a night.
Having picked the brains of local farmers this week, they are more than hopeful the rain will hold off.
Westlife will have two support acts. Kian Egan's wife Jodi Albert and her band and Shane Filan's brother-in-law Glenn Cal, a regular in Sligo pubs, will perform on Friday night.
Westlife, playing their first concert in seven years in Sligo, near the homes of three of the four group members, will host a special party with families and close friends behind the stage.
Cohen will perform for three hours without support acts.
Sligo, Ireland
Blogs and Other Fan Reports
Photos - "Dillon-Malone Photography" - "LEONARD COHEN, LISSADELL HOUSE, JULY 31ST 2010"
Some beautiful photos of the concert.
Blog - "Samsonsdiner" - "Leonard Cohen at Lissadell, Sligo 31 July 2010"
"The best of the new songs is Born in Chains, a wonderful epic with gorgeous melody and lyrics. A song Leonard and his current band were born to sing. And, indeed, he generously gives each of the girls a verse each to sing..."
Blog - "patrick comerford" - "A night of poetry and song with Leonard Cohen in Lissadell"
"...he was the master of the stage and of his audience, holding us humorously in the palms of his hands despite the downpour, and only letting go at the end of the night."
Blog - "Tune the Proletariat" - "Cast A Cold Eye On Life"
"When he smiles, we do. Keyboard skills [basic notes on Tower Of Song] met with claps and bellows of reverence and veneration. Cohen's rebuttal? "Thank you, music fans." A world in cahoots could author no line so love inducing..."
Photos - "lissadell online" - "LEONARD COHEN AT LISSADELL and THE YEATS' GALLERY LISSADELL OPENED BY LEONARD COHEN"
Some concert photos and behind the scene photos of Leonard at the Yeats' Gallery
Blog - "Morahan" - "Leonard Cohen in Lissadell House, Sligo"
"Honest, hard working, creative, wise, energetic, and true are the words I would use to describe him now. His stage presence is up there with the greats. He needs no fanfare, no bells and whistles, no distractions; When Leonard Cohen comes on stage his performance engages and engulfs the audience.."
Discuss the tour and read fan reviews on The Leonard Cohen Forum and in French on the Leonard Cohen Forum (French site).
Malmö, Sweden
Set List - August 4, 2010
First Set
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
The Darkness
Born In Chains
Chelsea Hotel
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Sisters Of Mercy
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Feels So Good
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
Democracy
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Malmö, Sweden
ENGLISH VERSION.
"Cohen är karl för sin hatt"
HD.se
- August 5, 2010 by Magnus Ransheim (Photo: FOTO SCANPIX)
Om konserten i Malmö arena blir Leonard Cohens sista på skånsk mark tog han farväl på bästa tänkbara sätt. Recensenten Magnus Ransheim är lyrisk efter den mer än tre timmar långa uppvisningen i pondus och smakfullhet.
KONSERT. Hur många snart 76-åriga artister joggar upp på scenen för att mötas av en stående ovation? Hur många grånade gentlemen, födda året innan Elvis Presley, lockar år 2010 nästan 10 000 personer till en spelning i Skåne? Hur många är över huvud taget kapabla att framföra ett set med nästan 30 låtar, hämtade från fem decennier, under mer än tre timmar?
Frågor, frågor, frågor, men jag kan bara komma på ett svar just nu: Leonard Cohen. Hans konsert i Malmö arena imponerar på så många plan.
Visst, rösten har blivit mer sliten sedan Sofierobesöket för två år sedan, men det är en skavank som klär den i kritstrecksrandig kostym och hatt skrudade kanadensaren. Djupet i hans stämma ger dessutom en extra laddning åt hans mest dystopiska texter, i synnerhet de om annalkande död och en becksvart framtid.
"I know my days are few" och "The present's not that pleasant" sjunger han i nya "The darkness". Det är gåshudsframkallande. Och när han mullrar "löööv" i "Ain't no cure for love" framkallar han en smärre jordbävning.
Leonard Cohen var gammal och klok redan när han slog igenom i slutet av 60-talet. Mognaden och de poetiska texterna i kombination med att han utforskade ett eget musikaliskt universum gör det mesta av hans material tidlöst. Sprillans nya "Born in chains" kan därför friktionsfritt följas av "Chelsea hotel no 2" från 1974 och "Anthem" från 1988 års "I'm your man".
Från sistnämnda platta framförs sex av åtta spår, och versionerna överträffar de tidstypiskt överproducerade originalen. Den framgångsrika makeovern ska tillskrivas det spelskickliga bandet, som ledigt rör sig mellan blues, jazz, folk, soul och olika latinska inslag.
Neil Larsen smeker fram tonerna på sin Hammondorgel och virtuosen Javier Mas får flera möjligheter att excellera med olika stränginstrument.
Även resten av musikerna är centrala för den detaljrika helhetsbilden. För att inte tala om kören, där Leonard Cohens mångåriga samarbetspartner Sharon Robinson har en nyckelroll.
Grovt räknat domineras konsertens första halva av Cohens svarta sida. Med stor inlevelse och magnetisk utstrålning brottas han då med tro och tvivel.
Efter pausen regerar den obotlige romantikern, kvinnotjusaren om ni så vill, och världsmedborgaren. Huvudpersonen spelar synt under en avskalad "Tower of song", för att sedan hänga på sig en gitarr till "Suzanne" och "Sisters of mercy".
Värdigt och smakfullt räcker inte för att beskriva framförandet, och med "Hey, that's no way to say goodbye" signalerar Cohen att det inte är över på långa vägar.
Extranumren blir lika många som de stående ovationerna från den till största delen kvinnliga publiken. Det verkar ta emot för Leonard Cohen att lämna oss, även om han gör ett seriöst försök med "I tried to leave you".
Tre och en halv timme tidigare förklarade han att han är osäker på om han kommer hit något mer och att det därför är viktigt att få ut så mycket som möjligt av kvällen. Det råder inget tvivel om att han menade vad han sa.
Translated by Google Translate
"Cohen is a man of his hat"
HD.se
- August 5, 2010 by Magnus Ransheim (Photo: FOTO SCANPIX)
If the concert arena in Malmö is Leonard Cohen's last on the Scanian land, he bid farewell in the best possible way. The reviewer Magnus Ransheim is lyrical after more than three-hour show of aplomb and elegance.
CONCERT. How many soon 76-year-old artist jog on stage to face a standing ovation? How many gray-haired gentleman, born the year before Elvis Presley, attracts the year 2010 almost 10 000 people to a gig in Skåne? How many are at all able to perform a set with almost 30 songs, drawn from five decades, during more than three hours?
Questions, questions, questions, but I can only think of an answer right now: Leonard Cohen. His concert in Malmö Arena impresses on so many levels.
Sure, his voice has become more worn then Sofiero visit two years ago, but there is a flaw in the dress in pinstriped hat and robes Canadian. The depth of his voice gives an extra charge at his most dystopian texts, especially if the impending death and a pitch black future.
"I know my days are few" and "The Gift's not that pleasant" he sings in the new "The Darkness". It is causing goose bumps. And when he rumbles "löööv" in "Is not No Cure for Love 'cause he was a minor earthquake.
Leonard Cohen was old and wise when he broke through in the late 60's. Maturation and the poetic texts in combination with that he researched for his own musical universe does most of his material timeless. Brand new "Born in Chains" can be smoothly followed by the "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" from 1974 and "Anthem" from 1988 "I'm Your Man".
From the latter rolled up six out of eight songs, and versions are superior to those typical of over-produced originals. The successful makeover should be attributed to the talented band playing, which is available between blues, jazz, folk, soul and various Latin elements.
Neil Larsen caressing the notes on his Hammond organ virtuoso Javier Mas and get more opportunities to excel with different strings.
While the rest of the musicians are central to the detailed picture. To say nothing of the choir, where Leonard Cohen's long-standing partner Sharon Robinson has a key role.
Roughly speaking, dominated the concert's first half of Cohen's dark side. With great empathy and radiation when he faced with faith and doubt.
After the break the rules the incurable romantic, womanizer, if you like, and world citizen. The main character, played synth in a stripped-down "Tower of Song", before hanging himself on a guitar for "Suzanne" and "Sisters of Mercy".
Dignified and tasteful enough not to describe the performance, and with "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" Cohen signaled that it is not over by a long shot.
Additional numbers will be as many as the standing ovations from the largely female audience. It seems to take on Leonard Cohen to leave us, even if he makes a serious attempt by "I tried to leave you".
Three and a half hours earlier, he stated that he is unsure if he comes here any more and that therefore it is important to get as much as possible of the evening. There is no doubt that he meant what he said.
Malmö, Sweden
ENGLISH VERSION.
Hatten av, Cohen
Nöje
- August 5, 2010 by Per Hägred (Photo: Ulf Ryd)
Leonard Cohen
Malmö arena
Publik: 9 000 (utsålt).
+ Han kör i tre och en halv timme innan de skjutsar
tillbaka honom till Radisson.
- "Boogie street" med Sharon Robinson kändes
kisspaus.
Han inledde karriären som något slags musikaliskt svar på psykofarmaka.
Numera är han en hejare på att lyfta på hatten.
Han småskubbar in på scen, tackar för att han får göra ett stopp här och lyfter på hatten för första gången den här kvällen.
- Man vet ju aldrig när jag har vägarna förbi nästa gång, säger legenden med ett skevt leende samtidigt som programförsäljerskan bestämt hävdar att det är sista turnén.
76 år snart, tänker ni och blir impade. Eller hur? John Lee Hooker var visserligen 83 när han bokade sista flygbiljetten till Sverige och en turné, men 76 inger respekt det med. Jag menar, hur kommer han ihåg alla dessa texter långa som ösregn?
Vi är ju mest vana vid att PRO:are på sin höjd jämför matpriser i butikerna. Men det var inte för att visa att en gammal man kan göra så gott han kan som han gav sig ut på den här evighetsturnén för två år sedan (efter 15 år i turnéträda). Hans manager hade snott honom på pensionen så han var illa tvungen att spela ihop till brödfödan. Och det har gått bra, för ifjol var han enligt Billboard den 39:e mest framgångsrika artisten i USA. En placering från Dylan!
Vi som tog oss till kungens gamla sommartorp den 4 juli 2008 hade kanske mest förväntat oss lite halvhjärtad visrock. Mycket legendstatus, men inga leveranskrav.
Men han inte bara tog oss på sängen. Han knuffade även ner oss i rosenrabatten och förförde oss. Och vi var lika röda i plytet efter den omgången som rhododendronbuskarna.
Nu i Percys hockeylada, som han påstår är en fredlig plats i en orolig värld. Nåja, ljudet studsar inte mindre för det.
Leonard Cohen har gjort stan (läs: druckit kaffe på café) dagen innan och tycks vara i god form.
Hans stämband är dock tjocka som rep och hans mullrande bariton får arenans fundament att vibrera. Det är inte vackert, men säg gripande. Repertoaren är snarlik den han hållit sig till sen scencomebacken, men vi får i vart fall tre helt nya låtar varav "Born in Chains" har en underbar melodi som får ett välbehövligt lyft när de tre körsångerskorna snuddar vid den. Men han rör sig försiktigare sen kollapsen under en konsert i fjol och sjunger ofta nigande. Och nästan allt mellansnack är bortklippt.
Publiken verkar ha fått valuta för de 800 kronor biljetterna kostar. Men jag tycker att det är för mycket rutin, för mycket autopilot.
Translated by Google Translate
Hats off, Cohen
Nöje
- August 5, 2010 by Per Hägred (Photo: Ulf Ryd)
Leonard Cohen
Malmö Arena
Attendance: 9000 (sold out).
He + runs in three and a half hours before the buses
him back to the Radisson.
- "Boogie Street" by Sharon Robinson felt
pee break.
He began his career as some sort of musical responses to psychotropic drugs.
Now he is a master at raising his hat.
He småskubbar up on stage, thanks for that he may make a stop here and take my hat off for the first time this evening.
- You never know when I was passing next time, legend says with a wry smile while programförsäljerskan specifically states that it is the last tour.
76 years soon, and you will be impressed. Right? John Lee Hooker was indeed 83 when he booked the last ticket to Sweden and a tour, but 76 command respect it. I mean, how will he remember all these texts as long downpour?
We're most accustomed to PRO: are, at most, compare food prices in the shops. But it was not to prove that an old man can do the best he can as he embarked on this tour forever two years ago (after 15 years of touring enter). His manager had thrown him on the pension he was so ill have to play together for a living. And it has gone well, the last year according to Billboard, he was the 39th most successful entertainer in the U.S.. An investment from Dylan!
We who took us to the king's old sommartorp July 4, 2008 was perhaps the most expected a bit half-hearted visrock. Much legend status, but no delivery requirements.
But he not only took us by surprise. He also pushed us down in the rose and the discount seduced us. And we were just as red in plytet after the round of rhododendron bushes.
Now in Percy's hockey barn, which he claims is a peaceful spot in a troubled world. Well, the sound bounces off no less for it.
Leonard Cohen has made the city (read: drinking coffee in the cafe) the day before and seems to be in good shape.
His vocal cords, however, is as thick as ropes and his baritone may rumble arena's foundation to vibrate. It is not beautiful, but say the arrest. The repertoire is similar to the one he kept to the scene late comeback, but let us at least three brand new songs including "Born in Chains" has a wonderful melody that may be a much-needed lift when the three choral songs touch on the shoes. But he is more cautious since the collapse during a concert last year and sings often curtsying. And almost all the talk is off cut.
The audience seems to have received value for the tickets cost 800 SEK. But I think there is too much routine, too much autopilot.
Malmö, Sweden
ENGLISH VERSION.
Leonard Cohen i fin form
Kultur & Nöje
- August 5, 2010 by Po Tidholm (Photo: Ludvig Holtenäs/Rockfoto)
Mörk, lugn och felfri. Leonard Cohen uppträder som en gentleman i kostym och Sinatra-hatt under den tre och en halv timmar långa konserten på Malmö Arena.
"But you don't really care for music, do you?" sjunger Leonard Cohen i sin numera emblematiska "Hallelujah". Och jag får - stundtals, under den drygt tre timmar långa konserten - lust att slänga den där raden i ansiktet på honom. Cohen är en fullkomligt glimrande låtskrivare och textförfattare. Det finns inte mycket mer att säga om det. Men hans val av musiker, producenter och estetisk inriktning tycks alltid ha präglats av godtycke.
Men så var han ju också poeten som motvilligt blev artist för att rädda sin ekonomi. Musik har kanske egentligen aldrig varit något stort intresse. De makalösa sångerna till trots är ju hans katalog bitvis omöjlig att lyssna på. På sätt och vis får man kanske vara tacksam för att de många sångerna han gör under konserten i Malmö stöps i samma form, även om den är rätt intetsägande.
Leonard Cohen gjorde comeback som turnerande artist för två år sedan efter ett femton år långt uppehåll. Denna turné är egentligen bara en fortsättning på den förra. Han har med sig samma musiker och spelar i stort sett samma låtar. Han varierar sig ytterst lite mellan spelningarna. Förutom några soloinsatser - framför allt från gitarristen Javier Mas - låter Cohens band som en såsig men kompetent underhållningsorkester. Det har ju funnits ett sådant ideal: stora sångare skulle uppträda med slätstruken fond. Nu framstår det som rätt märkligt. Jag hade hellre sett Cohen kompas av Tindersticks eller varför inte Arcade Fire. Som det är nu skaver det ingenstans, det finns inget motstånd.
Själv gör han inga fel. Han uppträder som en gentleman i sin kostym och Sinatra-hatt. Hans röst är mörk, lugn och otroligt uttrycksfull. Han pratar inte mycket mellan låtarna, blundar under större delen av konserter. Utlevelse står i motsats till inlevelse i Cohens värld, och han tycks hämta allt inifrån sig själv. Tidigare i sitt liv drack han två flaskor vin före varje konsert för att kunna leva sig in i sångerna. Hur han jobbar nu för tiden är oklart, men han är där - i texten.
Efter ett timslångt första set är det paus. Det har börjat en aning trevande och tagit sig mot slutet. Efter uppehållet följer en regelrätt hitparad. Han radar upp "Tower of song", "Suzanne", Sisters of mercy" och "Hey, thats no way to say goodbye". Det är närmast överväldigande, men vad som slår mig är hur mycket av Leonard Cohens distans som går förlorad i den här superkonventionella inramningen. "Tower of song" är ju egentligen väldigt rolig. Cohen har den språkliga exakthet som krävs för att vrida till verkligheten. Det absurda och det bokstavliga trängs i samma rum. Det är poesi, inte samtidskommenterande rocklyrik. I "I'm your man" skjuter han tillbaka hatten lite och bligar på publiken. Det är första gången man ser ironin blixtra till i hans ögon.
Det är väl så med Cohen att han vet vilken roll han ska spela. De flesta av oss vill ju gärna tro att det är det existentiella som gör livet svårt att leva; döden, kärleken och de stora frågorna. När det mesta i slut ändan handlar om logistik. Poeterna arbetar för dem som vill skänka lite tyngd åt livet, som vill ha det besvärligt på ett lite mer märkvärdigt sätt. Leonard Cohen står gärna till tjänst.
Slutet blir trots allt rätt uppsluppet. Han dansar av scenen efter "Take this waltz" (dedikerad till vännen Göran Tunström) och återkommer tre gånger för omfattande extranummer. Tre och en halv timme ger han oss. Cohen fyller 76 om några veckor. Han är onekligen i bra form.
Leonard Cohen spelar på Globen
i Stockholm söndag den 8 augusti.
Translated by Google Translate
Leonard Cohen in fine form
Kultur & Nöje
- August 5, 2010 by Po Tidholm (Photo: Ludvig Holtenäs/Rockfoto)
Dark, quiet and flawless. Leonard Cohen is behaving like a gentleman in a suit and hat-Sinatra during the three and a half-hour concert at Malmö Arena.
"But you do not really care for music, do you?" Sings Leonard Cohen's now emblematic of the "Hallelujah". And I may - at times, during the over three hour long concert - the urge to throw that line in his face. Cohen is a perfect glimmering songwriters and lyricists. There is not much more to say about it. But his selection of musicians, producers and aesthetic focus always seems to have been marked by arbitrariness.
But then, he was also the poet who reluctantly became a performer to rescue its economy. Music may have never really been any great interest. The songs are stunning although is his catalog at times impossible to listen to. In some ways, may perhaps be grateful to the many songs he does in concert in Malmö cast in the same form, even if it is right bland.
Leonard Cohen made a comeback as artist on tour two years ago after quarter past one year hiatus. This tour is really just a continuation of the former. He has been with the same musicians and plays much the same songs. He varies very little between their performances. Besides a few solo efforts - notably by guitarist Javier Mas - let Cohen's band as a skilled but såsig entertainment orchestra. There've been such an ideal: great singer would perform with UNDISTINGUISHED fund. Now it seems strange right. I would rather have seen Cohen compass of Tindersticks or perhaps Arcade Fire. As it is, rub it anywhere, there is no resistance.
Of course he does no wrong. He is behaving like a gentleman in his suit and hat-Sinatra. His voice is dark, quiet and incredibly expressive. He do not talk much between songs, eyes shut during most of the concerts. Expression, is in contrast to Cohen's immersion in the world, and he seems to download everything from within himself. Earlier in his life he drank two bottles of wine before each concert in order to live themselves into songs. How he works these days is unclear, but he is there - in the text.
After an hour-long first set is the pause. It started a little tentative and taken towards the end. After the break following a true hit parade. He lines up the "Tower of Song", "Suzanne", Sisters of Mercy "and" Hey, thats no way to say goodbye ". It is almost overwhelming, but what strikes me is how much of Leonard Cohen's distance that is lost in this super-conventional framing. "Tower of Song" is actually very funny. Cohen has the linguistic accuracy needed to turn to reality. The absurdity and the literal string in the same room. It is poetry, not contemporary commentary rock lyrics. In "I'm Your Man" he shoots back a little hat and glares at the audience. It is the first time you see the irony of flash in his eyes.
It is as with Cohen that he knows what role he should play. Most of us wishes to believe that it is the existential, which makes life difficult to live, death, love and the big issues. As most in the end is about logistics. The poets are working for those who want to add a little weight to their lives, who want the trouble of a little more remarkable way. Leonard Cohen will be happy to.
The end is, after all, right hilarious. He dances to the stage for "Take this waltz" (dedicated to his friend Trevor Baylis) and come back three times for extensive extras. Three and a half hours, he gives us. 76 Cohen fills in a few weeks. He is certainly in good shape.
Leonard Cohen plays at the Globe
in Stockholm Sunday, August 8th.
Malmö, Sweden
ENGLISH VERSION.
Cohen igen
Sydsvenskan
- August 5, 2010 by Hàkan Engstrõm
"Overnight success" är inte uttrycket man vill använda om Leonard Cohen, 76 vårar, men nog blev det succé på Malmö arena igår. En all night success: 194 minuter på scenen, pausen oräknad.
Som framgick i den recension jag skrev till dagens papperstidning (och som då också gick ut på webben) så skrev jag min rapport långt innan konserten var slut; jag gick ut i foajén, satt där i tjugo minuter, och återvände en deadline fattigare lagom till "Take These Waltz" som var sista låt före den långa sviten av extranummer.
Om det förfarandet kan man ha åsikter. Vad tycker ni?
Personligen är jag inte alls bekväm med det. Att vi ändå beslutade att göra på det viset har många förklaringar. Allt grundar sig förstås på trycktiderna: ska texten nå alla våra prenumeranter så måste text och bild lämnas kvart över 22, den första upplagan går i tryck strax efter. I just det här fallet hade vi inte begripit hur sent den här tidigt lagda konserten skulle sluta.
Nog så viktigt i vår bedömning (som kanske var en felbedömning) är det faktum att Cohen gjorde sin spektakulära återkomst till scenerna så sent som för ett par år sedan, att vår frilansskribent Björn Alverfeldt recenserade redan då (från Helsingborg) och att vi förstått att konceptet inte ändrats sedan dess. Samma band, i stort sett samma repertoar. Det kändes inte lika nödvändigt som annars att bevaka konserten från början till slut.
För en recensent som vill ta in upplevelsen med öppna sinnen och ge utrymme för överraskningar och fördomskross är det ändå långt ifrån idealiskt. Med en deadline alltför tätt inpå är risken stor att man bestämmer sig tidigt, alltför tidigt, och inte är mottaglig för sådant som en bit in i konserten utmanar den upplevelse man haft inledningsvis - man har helt enkelt bestämt sig för vinkel eller åtminstone för den ton man vill ha i sin text, och det blir svårt att tänka om.
Dessutom blir det svårt att komma med kritiska synpunkter. Hylla en artist, och både hon och hennes publik kan ha överseende med att du inte stannade till slutet. Men såga artisten, och hennes fans blir förstås ursinniga när de inser att du inte tagit in hela showen och möjligen inte gett artisten en verklig chans att överbevisa dig.
Som sagt: jag återvände, och var en av dem som stod och applåderade både fem och sex extranummer (jag kom av mig efter solot på femsträngad bas i "Democracy"; jag gillar inte femsträngade basar mer än jag gillar apor med två svansar, det är freakshow). Hela låtlistan här.
Fick resten av konserten mig att ändra uppfattning? Egentligen inte. För all del tycker jag att det blev onödigt uppsluppet - åtminstone under "First We Take Manhattan" och redan nämnda "Democracy", med dessa återkommande klämkäcka munspelslicks från Dino Soldo som i strid med låtens budskap fick mig att längta efter en stark ledare med rätt att diktera som kunde sätta stopp. Å andra sidan var "Famous Blue Raincoat" magnifik, och "It Will Be Your Will" - som Cohen faktiskt stillatigande såg sångerskorna Charley och Hattie Webb sjunga - var enormt vacker.
Jag gjorde i min recension ett nummer av Cohens väderbitna sångröst. Jag hoppas att det inte uppfattas som att rösten var ett problem, det var den inte. I sammanhanget, med resten av orkesterns fläckfria framförande, funkar den alldeles utmärkt. Faktiskt tycker jag att han på gamla dar sjunger mycket bättre än när han var medelålders och verkligen försökte sjunga på traditionellt vis (igår var han uppe och flaxade - ursäkta ordvitsen - i "Bird On A Wire"; det hade han gärna fått låta bli). Röstomfånget är idag mindre, men djupare; även en låt som "In My Secret Life", som spelades in så nyligen som 2001, hade ursprungligen Cohen uppe i ett högre register. Men det djupa brölandet, någonstans mellan baryton och bas, ger Cohen en omisskänlig pondus.
Något annat att gnälla på? Nja, jag saknade det dråpliga mellansnacket från inspelningarna på 02 Arena i London 2008, gravallvarligt levererade oneliners som "It's wonderful to be gathered here on just the other side of intimacy" eller twoliners som "It's been a long time since i stood on a stage in London It was about fourteen or fifteen years ago; I was 60 years old, just a kid with a crazy dream."
Å andra sidan gillar jag att han lyfte fram, som ett talat intro, den hårdkokta sentens som är kärnan i låten "Anthem": "There's a crack in everything/That's how the light gets in."
Slutligen några ord om "Born In Chains", som först hörts under pågående turné - jag utgår från att den också är nyskriven. Det är fascinerande hur denne man, som konverterade till buddhismen och var tillräckligt hängiven för att rätt nyligen ha tillbringat fem år i buddhistiskt kloster, fortsätter att skriva sångtexter som självklart har den judiska mytologin som utgångspunkt. "I was born in chains, but I was taken out of Egypt" är begripligt för var och en som skummat igenom Barnens Bibel, men det krävs nog en Cohen för att göra meningen till utgångspunkt för ett sång- och dansnummer.
Translated by Google Translate
Cohen again
Sydsvenskan
- August 5, 2010 by Hàkan Engstrõm
"Overnight Success" is not the term you want to use on Leonard Cohen, 76 more difficult, but probably it was a hit at Malmö Arena yesterday. An all night success: 194 minutes on stage, not counting intermission.
As revealed in the review I wrote for today's paper, Journal (and who then also went out on the Web) so I wrote my report well before the concert was over, I went out into the foyer, sitting there for twenty minutes, and returned a deadline poorer in time for "Take These Waltz" which was the last song before the long suit of the encore.
If the procedure can have opinions. What do you think?
Personally I am not at all comfortable with it. We have nevertheless decided to carry on this way has many explanations. Everything is based of course on time pressure: the text must reach all our subscribers must text and images supplied a quarter past 22, the first edition goes to press soon after. In this particular case we had not realized how late this early combined concert would end.
Importantly in our view (which was perhaps an error) is the fact that Cohen made his spectacular return to the scene as recently as a few years ago, our freelance writer Bjorn Elves Feldt reviewed even then (Helsingborg), and we understand that concept has not changed since then. The same band, in much the same repertoire. It was not a necessary one else to watch the concert from beginning to end.
For a critic who wants to bring in experience with an open mind and leave room for surprises and Prejudice crusher, it is still far from ideal. With a deadline too close to the risk is that you decide early, too soon, and is not susceptible to such as a piece in the concert are challenging the experience you had at the outset - we have simply decided to angle or at least for the t it wants in its text, and it becomes difficult to think about.
In addition, it will be difficult to make criticisms. Celebrate an artist, and both she and her audience can get away with that you did not stay to the end. But the artist saw, and her fans are of course furious when they realize that not taking the whole show and possibly not giving the artist the chance to convince you.
As I said: I went back, and was one of those who stood and applauded both five and six encores (I came to me after solo on five string bass in "Democracy" and I do not like the five string basses more than I like monkeys with two tails, the Freakshow is). The entire track list here.
Did the rest of the concert me to change their mind? Not really. By all means, I think it was unnecessary hilarious - at least during the "First We Take Manhattan" and the aforementioned "Democracy", with those recurring pinched bold harmonica slicks from Dino Soldo as contrary to the song's message made me long for a strong leader with the right to dictate who could stop. On the other hand, was "Famous Blue Raincoat" magnificent, and "It Will Be Your Will" - that Cohen actually silently watched singers Charley and Hattie Webb sing - was extremely beautiful.
I did in my review a number of Cohen's weathered voice. I hope it does not indicate that the voice was a problem, it was not. In this context, with the rest of the orchestra's blemish-free driving, it works just fine. Actually I think he was in his old age sings much better than when he was middle aged and really tried to sing the traditional way (yesterday he was up and flapped - excuse the pun - the "Bird On A Wire", he had been happy to help) . Voice range is now smaller, but deeper, even a song like "In My Secret Life," which was filmed as recently as 2001, Cohen had initially reside in a higher register. But the deep bellowing of, somewhere between baritone and bass, Cohen gives an unmistakable punch.
Something else to whine about? Well, I missed the hilarious between talk of the recordings on the 02 Arena in London in 2008, buried grave delivered oneliners like "It's wonderful to be gathered here on at The Other Side of intimacy"or twoliners as"It's Been a longtime since in Stood On A Stage In London, It was about fourteen or fifteen years ago, I was 60 years old, just a kid with a crazy dream."
On the other hand, I like that he brought out, as a spoken intro, the hard-boiled maxim which is the core of the song "Anthem": "There's a crack in everything / That 's how the light gets into."
Finally a word about "Born In Chains", which first gave evidence in the ongoing tour - I assume that it is also contemporary. It is fascinating how this man, who converted to Buddhism and was sufficiently committed to the right recently, having spent five years at a Buddhist monastery, continues to write lyrics that obviously has the Jewish mythology as a starting point. "I Was Born in Chains, But I Was ceilings out of Egypt"is understandable to anyone who skim the Children's Bible, but it requires probably a Cohen to make sense as the basis for a song and dance numbers.
Malmö, Sweden
ENGLISH VERSION.
Leonard Cohen i Malmö: En kaffe, tack!
Nöje
- August 5, 2010 by Magnus Andersson (Photo: PRIVAT and Niclas Tilosius)
MALMÖ. Världsstjärnan Leonard Cohen, 76, har fått ett nytt favoritkafé. - Han tyckte att kaffet var gott och servicen toppen, säger Jenny Pålsson, 31, på Patisserie David i Malmö där Cohen tog en fika mitt i lunchrusningen.
I kväll uppträder den världsberömde sångaren i Malmö arena. Men redan i går kunde hans fans och vanliga flanörer se honom röra sig på stan och njuta av den skånska sensommaren.
Flera förvånade Malmöbor och turister såg hur Leonard Cohen, nästan helt klädd i svart och med svart hatt, spatserade omkring i Malmös centrala delar under ett par timmar.
Satt ganska länge
På pittoreska Patisserie David i kulturkvarteret S:t Gertrud på Östergatan, rakt över hotellet där Cohen och hans band bor, slog sig superstjärnan ner vid tolvtiden.
Mitt i lunchrusningen.
- Han satt här ganska länge, 15- 20 minuter, säger Jenny Pålsson som serverade stjärnan.
Han beställde in en caffe latte som han drack på kaféets uteservering.
Kaffet gjorde intryck på Leonard Cohen och kommer han tillbaka till Malmö är det nog till Jenny och hennes kollegor han går.
- Han tyckte att kaffet smakade jättebra, det sa han flera gånger, och han tyckte att det var trevligt att vi kom ut och serverade honom kaffet vid bordet.
Strålande humör
Stjärnan var på strålande humör under sin kaffepaus och log och skrattade hela tiden.
- Det var en lång kö av människor som ville komma
fram och prata med honom, det verkade inte störa honom alls, säger Jenny.
Efter sin upptäcktsfärd i Malmö försvann stjärnan upp på sitt rum för att ladda inför kvällens spelning.
 MAN IN BLACK. Den kanadensiske superstjärnan var på strålande humör och lät sig villigt fotograferas med fans. .Han var jäkligt snygg i sin smala slips och hatten., säger Jenny Pålsson, 31. Foto: PRIVAT
På pittoreska Patisserie David i kulturkvarteret S:t Gertrud på Östergatan, rakt över hotellet där Cohen och hans band bor, slog sig superstjärnan ner vid tolvtiden. Mitt i lunchrusningen. Foto: Niclas Tilosius
- Det var en lång kö av människor som ville komma fram och prata med honom, det verkade inte störa honom alls, säger Jenny. Foto: Niclas Tilosius
Translated by Google Translate
Leonard Cohen in Malmö: A coffee, please!
Nöje
- August 5, 2010 by Magnus Andersson (Photo: PRIVAT and Niclas Tilosius)
MALMO. World Star of Leonard Cohen, 76, has a new favorite cafe. - He thought the coffee was good and the service is great, "says Jenny Paulson, 31, of Patisserie in Malmö where David Cohen took a break in the middle of lunch rush.
In the evening occurs the world-famous singer in Malmö Arena. But already, yesterday was his fans and regular walkers see him move around town and enjoy the late summer of Skåne.
Several surprised residents of Malmö and tourists watched the Leonard Cohen, dressed almost entirely in black and with black hat, walked around the central parts of Malmö for a few hours.
Rated for some time
On the picturesque Patisserie David in Cultural District of St. Gertrude at East Street, right across the hotel where Cohen and his band live, sat superstar down around noon.
In the middle of lunch rush.
- He sat here for quite some time, 15-20 minutes, "says Jenny Paulson served as the star.
He ordered a caffe latte as he drank the café terrace.
Coffee impressed Leonard Cohen and he comes back to Malmo, it is enough to Jenny and her colleagues, he goes.
- He thought the coffee tasted great, he said several times, and he thought it was nice that we came out and served him coffee at the table.
Brilliant mood
The star was in great spirits during their coffee break, smiling and laughing the whole time.
- It was a long queue of people wanting to come and talk to him, there seemed to disturb him at all, "says Jenny.
After its discovery in Malmo star disappeared to his room to recharge before the evening's gig.
Man in Black. The Canadian superstar was in great spirits, and let themselves willingly photographed with fans. ? He was damn good looking in his narrow tie and hat?, Palsson says Jenny, 31. Photo: PRIVATE
On the picturesque Patisserie David in Cultural District of St. Gertrude at East Street, right across the hotel where Cohen and his band live, struck his superstar down around noon. In the middle of lunch rush. Foto: Niclas Tilosius
- It was a long queue of people wanting to come and talk to him, there seemed to disturb him at all, "says Jenny. Photo: Niclas Tilosius
Oslo, Norway
Set List - August 6, 2010
First Set
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
The Darkness
Born In Chains
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For A Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Feels So Good
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
Heart With No Companion
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Oslo, Norway
ENGLISH VERSION.
Cohens hatt-trick
VG Nett
- August 7, 2010 by Morten Ståle Nilsen (Photo: Simen Grytøyr)
Dette er den tredje sommeren på rad at Leonard Cohen (76) beærer Norge med et besøk. Det må gjerne bli en årlig tradisjon.
Leonard Cohen
Oslo Spektrum
Publikum: Ca. 7000 (fullt)
Aktuell CD: «Dear Heather»
(Anmeldelsen er basert på to tredjedeler av konserten).
At Leonard Cohen i Oslo Spektrum i går var forutsigbart eminent, betyr ikke at kvelden var tom for overraskelser.
Like etter den korte pausen holdt han salen som fjetret med en utgave av «A Singer Must Die», en sang i alle fall jeg aldri har hørt på konsert før. Han gjorde den helt alene, og jeg har aldri vært vitne til et mer stille Spektrum. Et ekstra vers hadde den jammen også.
Cohen elsker åpenbart det ekstremt smakfulle bandet sitt. Men han kunne, dersom han ønsket det, reist rundt på egen hånd. Han har den typen karisma.
Uten bitterhet
I første halvdel disket han for øvrig opp et par nye sanger, trolig hentet fra albumet som etter sigende er rett rundt hjørnet. En av dem, en seig «bluesy» sak, kunne by på den utmerkede tekstlinjen «I thought the past would last me / But the darkness got there too».
Ordet «darkness» var virksomt i den andre nye låten også. Utover det fortsetter Cohen å gå helt uten bitterhet inn på oppløpssiden mot den lange natten.
Lyden var lav på den gode måten: Myk, silkebløt, liksom burgunderfarget. Når publikum ved et par anledninger forsøkte å få i gang noe taktfast klapping, overdøvet de det som skjedde på scenen.
Dette duvende lydbildet er Leonards foretrukne bakteppe. Fokuset er på ordene, og han synger dem som små besvergelser. Smattet lidderlig på ordet «flesh» i en eksellent versjon av «Chelsea Hotel No. 2». Tvinnet venstrehånden rundt mikrofonkabalen for å innprente oss innholdet, gni det inn både for seg selv og oss.
Men det må sies. En luksuriøs opplevelse som dette gjør det ekstra fortærende at hovedstaden ikke har en stor konsertsal å by på, som er like distingvert som mannen og bandet på scenen.
Egen kraft
En Leonard Cohen-konsert innbyr til rød fløyel og komfortable stoler (sleng gjerne med en bedre rødvin også). Subsidiært en utescene på en vakker norsk sommerkveld.
Betongbunkeren ved Oslo S er ingenlunde det optimale åstedet for en aften med kjærlighetens og depresjonens musikalske poet.
At han likevel holdt oss fanget - musestille - sier sitt om kraften i kunsten hans. Den er og forblir bemerkelsesverdig.
Translated by Google Translate
Cohen's hat-trick
VG Nett
- August 7, 2010 by Morten Ståle Nilsen (Photo: Simen Grytøyr)
This is the third summer in a row that Leonard Cohen (76) Norway honored with a visit. It must be like to be an annual tradition.
Leonard Cohen
Oslo Spektrum
Audience: Approx. 7000 (full)
Current CD: "Dear Heather"
(The review is based on two-thirds of the concert).
At Leonard Cohen in Oslo Spektrum yesterday was predictably formidable, does not mean that the night was out of surprises.
Soon after the short break, he held the audience spellbound as a version of "A Singer Must Die," a song in any case, I have never heard in concert before. He did it all alone and I have never witnessed a more quiet spectrum. An additional verse had the sure, too.
Cohen clearly loves it extremely tasteful band. But he could if he wanted to, traveled on their own. He has the kind of charisma.
Without bitterness
In the first half he was disqualified by the way a couple of new songs, probably taken from the album that is supposedly just around the corner. One of them, a tough "bluesy" case, could offer the excellent line of text "I thought the past Would load me / But the darkness got there too."
The word "darkness" was active in the other new song too. Beyond the continuing Cohen to go completely without bitterness into the home stretch towards the long night.
The sound was low in the good way: Soft, silky soft, sort of burgundy colored. When the audience with a couple of occasions tried to initiate some rhythmic clapping, they drowned out what was happening on stage.
The rolling sound is preferred Leonards backdrop. The focus is on the words, and he sings them like little incantations. Lecherous slipped the word "flesh" in an excellent version of "Chelsea Hotel No. 2. Twisted left hand around the microphone cable to impress upon us the content, rub it in, both for themselves and us.
But it must be said. A luxurious experience that this makes it extra consuming the capital has a large concert hall to offer, that is as distinguished as the man and the band on stage.
Own power
A Leonard Cohen concert is ideal for red velvet and comfortable chairs (slap happy with a better red wine too). Alternatively, an outdoor stage on a beautiful Norwegian summer.
Concrete bunker at Oslo S is by no means the ideal venue for an evening of love and depression musical poet.
That he still kept us trapped - quiet as a mouse - says its about the power of his art. It is and remains remarkable.
Oslo, Norway
ENGLISH VERSION.
Cohens magiske maraton
Puls
- August 7, 2010 by Jan Frantzen (Photo: Johannes Granseth)
(Oslo/PULS): - Jeg lover at vi skal gi dere alt vi har i kveld, sa Leonard Cohen før konserten kom i gang i Spektrum i går. Tre timer og 40 minutter senere danset han av scenen, vel vitende om at han og bandet hans hadde gjort akkurat det.
Gårdagens maraton startet riktignok ikke spesielt lovende. Den første halvtimen var preget av dårlig lyd og et knippe av Cohens nest beste låter. Da den canadiske legenden dro i gang to nye sanger, "The Darkness" og "Born in Chains", var imidlertid konserten i ferd med å sette seg. Begge låtene holdt høy standard og skapte store forventninger til 75-åringens neste plateutgivelse. Deretter gikk det slag i slag med klassikere som "Chelsea Hotel", "Waiting For The Miracle" og "Anthem"
Del to av konserten handlet om Cohens aller beste og kjæreste låter. "Suzanne", "Hallelujah" og "Take This Waltz", for å nevne noen. Før ekstranumrene "So Long, Marianne", "First We Take Manhattan" og "Closing Time" som forventet sendte publikum til himmels.
Cohen har samlet sammen et strålende band av musikere som er blant de absolutt beste i bransjen. I tillegg er de så samspilte at det er en fryd å høre på. Blant høydepunktene de serverte i går var I'm Your Man og Feels So Good. I tillegg gjorde Cohen selv glitrende versjoner av "A Singer Must Die" og "Famous Blue Raincoat". Og vi har naturligvis ikke glemt "If It Be Your Will", vidunderlig formidlet av The Webb Sisters.
Det er lenge siden Cohen kurerte sceneskrekken han slet med i begynnelse av karrieren. Han er inkluderende og ydmyk på scenen, samtidig som han holder publikum i sin hule hånd hele kvelden. Og på tross av utallige konserter de siste årene, virker han både skjerpet og motivert. Mannen fyller 76 år om noen uker, og ville utvilsomt sluppet unna med halvparten av de utrolige 220 minuttene han tilbrakte på scenen i Oslo Spektrum fredag. Men Leonard Cohen elsker åpenbart sitt publikum, nesten like høyt som de elsker ham.
Translated by Google Translate
Cohen's magic marathon
Puls
- August 7, 2010 by Jan Frantzen (Photo: Johannes Granseth)
Oslo / PULSE) - "I promise that we will give you everything we have in the evening," said Leonard Cohen before the concert started in Spektrum yesterday. Three hours and 40 minutes later, he danced on stage, knowing that he and his band had done just that.
Yesterday's marathon started admittedly not very promising. The first half hour was dominated by bad sound and a collection of Cohen's second best songs. When the Canadian legend went running two new songs, "The Darkness" and "Born in Chains", however, was the concert about to sit down. Both songs were very high standard and created great expectations for the 75-year-old's next album release. Then there was kind in battles with classics like "Chelsea Hotel", "Waiting For The Miracle" and "Anthem"
Part two of the concert was about Cohen's best songs and girlfriend. "Suzanne," "Hallelujah" and "Take This Waltz," to name a few. Before the extra numbers "So Long, Marianne", "First We Take Manhattan" and "Closing Time" as expected sent the audience to the sky.
Cohen has assembled a brilliant band of musicians who are among the very best in the industry. In addition, they are interoperable so that it is a joy to hear. Among the highlights they served yesterday was I'm Your Man and Feel So Good. In addition, did Cohen even sparkling versions of "A Singer Must Die" and "Famous Blue Raincoat." And of course we have not forgotten "If It Be Your Will", wonderfully conveyed by The Webb Sisters.
It is long since Cohen cured stage fright, he struggled in the beginning of his career. He is inclusive and humble on the stage, while he keeps the audience in the palm of his hand throughout the evening. And in spite of countless concerts over the past year, it seems he is both sharpened and motivated. The man turns 76 years in a few weeks, and would doubtless escaped with half of the incredible 220 minutes he spent on stage in Oslo Spektrum on Friday. But Leonard Cohen clearly loves his audience, almost as much as they love him.
Oslo, Norway
ENGLISH VERSION.
«Himmelsk hitparade»
Dagbladet
- August 7, 2010 by Fredrik Wandrup (Photo: Kristin Svorte)
Leonard Cohen ga alt i Oslo Spektrum.
(Dagbladet): Alltid like elegant, iført svart hatt, stripet, mørk dress og en grågrønn skjorte knappet i halsen, uten slips.
Slik kommer Leonard Cohen nærmest smådansende inn på scenen, smiler og bøyer seg på kne foran sin spanske gitarist Javier Mas.
Han er allerede i gang med «Dance Me To the End of Love», første låta i en parade av sanger som nærmest trollbinder de 8000 tilskuerne.
Løfter hatten
Med to gitarister, en blåser, bass, trommer, keyboardist og tre kordamer framfører Leonard Cohen sine sanger for et hengivent, norsk publikum. En konsert som gir inntrykk av ro og musikalsk meditasjon over tekster og melodier. Med en ydmyk sanger i sentrum, som stadig løftet hatten og legger den på brystet, til ære for publikum, medmusikerne og for livet selv.
I perfeksjonerte arrangementer, med et særdeles behagelig lydbilde og en delikat lyssetting drysser Cohen sangene sine over salen i en strøm av vellyd.
Den dommedagsstemte «The Future», «There Ain?t No Cure For Love», «Bird On a Wire», «Everybody knows», «In My Secret Life», «Who By the Fire» (med en fantastisk gitarintro fra Javier Mas), den mørke bluesen «The Darkness», «Born in Chains», «Chelsea Hotel #2», «Waiting for a Miracle» og siste nummer i første avdeling, «Anthem».
Spontant
Med sin dype røst messer Cohen fram sitt budskap. Lyrikken, ordene, blir like tydelige og viktige som musikken. Cohen synger sin sorg over verden, sine bønner om tilgivelse, visjoner av mulig og umulig kjærlighet, forventning og skuffelse, synd og frelse, lys og mørke. Ofte går han ned på kne mens han synger, som for å presse ordene inn i mikrofonen.
Etter å ha framført disse sangene bare gudene må vite hvor mange ganger, gir han dem nytt liv, spontant og dvelende på samme tid, som om han framførte dem for første gang.
Spiller gitar
Om første avdeling tok pusten fra folk, blir det om mulig enda mer intimt etter pause. Cohen spiller først keyboard, siden gitar, og gir lavmælte, men kraftfulle versjoner av «Tower of Song», «Suzanne», den fabelaktige «The Singer Must Die» og «Hey, That?s No Way To Go».
Etter «Feels So Good» følger «The Partisan», med et eventyrlig drama i kraft av en gitarsolo fra Javier Mas, denne musikeren fra Barcelona, som har vært så vitalt viktig for Cohens konserter den seinere tida.
Men også de andre musikerne bidrar i høyeste grad til magien som stråler fra scenen, både med et elegant komp og solopartier.
Ga alt
Cohen framstår som en blanding av mild dommedagsprofet og hengiven, men krevende elsker. Og han gir seg ikke, han feier på med «Boogie Street», «Hallelujah», «I?m Your Man» og «Take This Waltz».
Dernest kommer han tilbake flere ganger, med «So long Marianne», «First We Take Manhattan», «Famous Blue Raincoat», «If It Be Your Will» og «Closing Time». Dermed er det deadline for meg, men som han pleier å uttrykke det til slutt; «I Tried Before To Leave You». Han klarer det til slutt, å forlate salen, etter over tre og en halv time i Oslo Spektrum. Han sa innledningsvis at han ville gi alt. Og det har han sannelig gjort.
Translated by Google Translate
"Heavenly Hit parade"
Dagbladet
- August 7, 2010 by Fredrik Wandrup (Photo: Kristin Svorte)
Leonard Cohen gave everything in Oslo Spektrum.
(Dagbladet): Always the same elegant, wearing black hat, striped, dark suit and a gray shirt buttoned to the neck, no tie.
How to Leonard Cohen nearly smådansende onto the stage, smiling and bowing to his knees in front of his Spanish guitar Javier Mas.
He is already under way with "Dance Me To the End of Love", the first song in a parade of songs that almost captivates the 8000 spectators.
Lifting his hat
With two guitarists, a blower, bass, drums, keyboard player and three female choir performs Leonard Cohen's songs for a devoted, Norwegian public. A concert that gives the impression of calm and musical meditation on the texts and melodies. With a humble singer in the center, who frequently lifted his hat and puts it on his chest in honor of the public, medmusikerne and for life itself.
In perfecting arrangements, with a particularly pleasant sound and lighting a delicate sprinkle Cohen songs over the saddle in a stream of sweet.
The doomsday voted "The Future," "There Ain't No Cure For Love," "Bird On a Wire," "Everybody Knows," "In My Secret Life," "Who By the Fire" (with a great guitar intro by Javier Mas), the dark blues, The Darkness," "Born in Chains," "Chelsea Hotel #2", "Waiting for a Miracle" and the last number in the first section, "Anthem."
Spontaneous
With his deep voice fairs Cohen presented his message. Lyrics, the words are just as clear and important as the music. Cohen sings his grief over the world, his pleas for forgiveness, visions of possible and impossible of love, expectation and disappointment, sin and salvation, light and darkness. Often, he goes down on his knees as he sings, as if to squeeze the words into the microphone.
Having performed these songs, only the gods need to know how many times he gives them new life, spontaneous and lingering at the same time, as if he performed them for the first time.
Playing guitar
The first division took the breath away from people, it is if possible even more intimate after the break. Cohen plays only keyboards, guitar page, providing low-key but powerful versions of "Tower of Song," "Suzanne," the fabulous "The Singer Must Die" and "Hey, That? S No Way To Go."
The "Feel So Good" follows "The Partisan", a huge drama in the power of a guitar solo by Javier Mas, this musician from Barcelona, who have been so vital important to Cohen's concerts the later time.
But also the other musicians contributing to the highest degree of magic that radiates from the stage, both with an elegant and complete solos.
Giving everything
Cohen appears to be a mixture of mild doomsday prophet and affectionate but demanding lover. And he does not give up, he sweeps in with "Boogie Street," "Hallelujah," "I'M Your Man" and "Take This Waltz".
Then he comes back several times, with "So Long Marianne," "First We Take Manhattan," "Famous Blue Raincoat," "If It Be Your Will" and "Closing Time". This is the deadline for me, but he tends to express it in the end, "I Tried Leave You". He can do it in the end, to leave the room, after over three and a half hours in Oslo Spektrum. He said initially that he would give everything. And he has certainly done that.
Stockholm, Sweden
Set List - August 8, 2010
First Set
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
The Darkness
Born In Chains
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For A Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Sisters Of Mercy
Feels So Good
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Stockholm, Sweden
ENGLISH VERSION.
Hatten av för en riktig gentleman
SvD
- August 9, 2010 by Kristin Lundell
Han joggar in på scenen, hoppar sidledes ut i pausen och avslutar konserten med att, likt en sommarlovstaggad 11-åring, skutta därifrån. Den snart 76-årige Leonard Cohen ser ingen anledning till att bete sig så som artister av hans årgång brukar. Men så är han också i imponerande form. "Jag vet inte om vi kommer hit igen så ikväll ska vi se till att ge allt vi har". Hans öppningsord har en ambition som minst sagt förpliktigar, många artister har satt ribban betydligt lägre än så och ändå misslyckats på halva vägen. Men det krävs kanske en legend, redo att sammanfatta sin historia, för att göra saken rätt.
Den kanadensiske sångaren, poeten och låtskrivaren är klassiskt gentlemannaklädd och beter sig som han ser ut. Han lyfter på hatten när han tackar för applåderna och håller den respektfullt mot bröstet när någon av hans musiker spelar ett solo. Leonard Cohen representerar den gamla skolans goda stil. Han är ingen oskyldig hjälte men han är en berättare som minns sina historier med både hjärta och vördnad.
Det är som att förflyttas till ett stenigt torg på någon av de saroniska öarna i Grekland. Gitarristen Javier Mas imponerande spel fläktar från höger och Cohens band backar upp med mjuk och följsam helhet - snyggt detaljmålad med bland annat flöjt, klarinett, och dragspel - och kompletterar hans mörka, fårade röst.
Cohen må vara en legendar att respektera, men tre och en halv timme inklusive paus är en mastig föreställning. Men så vill han inte heller spara på något. Cohen ser istället ut som om han skulle kunna spela i all evinnerlighet och, om så bara för sakens skull, överleva alla som någonsin gett sig på att vantolka hans Hallelujah.
Translated by Google Translate
Hats off to a real gentleman
SvD
- August 9, 2010 by Kristin Lundell
He was jogging on the scene, jumping out sideways during the break and finish the concert with that, like a summer vacation tagged age 11, jump from there. The earliest 76-year-old Leonard Cohen sees no reason to behave so that artists of his vintage usually. But he is also in impressive form. "I do not know if we come here again tonight so we'll make sure to give everything we have." His öppningsord have an ambition to say the least obliging, many artists have set the bar much lower than that and still failed halfway. But it takes perhaps a legend, ready to summarize its history, to make matters right.
The Canadian singer, poet and songwriter is a classic gentleman's dress and behave as he looks. He lifts his hat when he is grateful for the applause and keeps it respectful to his chest when one of his musicians played a solo. Leonard Cohen represents the good old school style. He is no innocent hero but he is a storyteller who remember their stories with both heart and reverence.
It's like moving to a rocky square in one of the Saronic Islands of Greece. Guitarist Javier Mas impressive game fans from the right and Cohen's backing band with soft and flexible full - nicely painted detail, including flute, clarinet, and accordion - and complements his dark, furrowed voice.
Cohen may be a legend to respect, but three and a half hours including the break is a must show. But then he would not save anything. Cohen looks instead as if he could play in any and eternal, if only for the sake of it, survive all that has ever gone on to TWIST his Hallelujah.
Helsinki, Finland
Set List - August 10, 2010
First Set
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
Heart With No Companion
The Darkness
Born In Chains
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For A Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Sisters Of Mercy
Gypsy Wife
Feels So Good
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Helsinki, Finland
ENGLISH VERSION.
Balladien suurmestari Leonard Cohen häikäisi täyden Areenan lavalla
HS.fi
- August 11, 2010 by Veli-Pekka Leppänen (Photo: PASI AUTIO / LEHTIKUVA)
Leonard Cohen intoutui keväällä 2008 kiertueelle ja suosio kohahti liki taivaisiin. Maailmankierrosta kesti puolitoista vuotta ja yleisöä oli liki kaksi miljoonaa.
Parisen viikkoa sitten alkoi Euroopasta uusin kiertue, ja tänä iltana hyväntuulinen Cohen (s. 1934) juosta jolkotti lavalle Helsingin Areenassa. Täysi areenallinen yleisöä oli oitis mukana kuullessaan hänen avauslaulunsa Dance Me to the End of Loven ensitahdit.
Cohenin tukena olivat samat kuusi multi-instrumentalistia ja kolme laulajatarta kuin jo lokakuun 2008 Helsingin-konsertissa, ja artistien yhteissointi on kahdessa vuodessa vieläpä muhevoitunut. Eritoten Cohenin huumorilla sävyttyneet tuokiot espanjalaisen kitaravelho Javier Mas'in kanssa olivat korkean tason herkkua.
Kovinta suosiota tiistaina keräsivät hitit kuten Bird on a Wire, Everybody knows ja Chelsea Hotel. Marssin sävyiseksi sovitettua Partisania voi jopa pitää konsertin eräänlaisena käännekohtana, ja I'm your Maniin upotettu ironiakin upposi hereästi kuulijoihin.
Cohenin ohella solistina esiintyi Sharon Robinson, jonka seestynyt Boogie Street sai vahvaa vastakaikua yleisössä.
Nykyisin Cohenin vaikeus konserteissa on yllättävää laatua: hän ei tahdo päästä pois lavalta, sillä encore-vaatimuksille ei tule loppua. Areenassa konsertti saatiin päätökseen vasta kolmen encoren ja kuuden lisänumeron jälkeen.
"I tried to leave You", Cohen aloitti viimeisimmän laulun, ja jytisevästi kannustanut kuulijakunta repesi nauruun.
Kaikkiaan 29 biisiä sisältänyt ja yli 3,5 tuntia kestänyt suurkonsertti todisti, että Leonard Cohenilla on yhä rutkasti annettavaa faneilleen. Ohjelmistoon oli lisätty hänen muutamia uusiakin laulujaan, mutta luonnollisesti perusrunkona ovat lukuisat suosikit 1960-luvulta lähtien.
"I didn't come to Helsinki to fool You", Cohen muunteli Hallelujahin sanoja. Ja pysyi myös sanojensa takana.
Translated by Google Translate
The Grand Master of Charisma dazzled on the stage of the full-packed Arena
HS.fi
- August 11, 2010 by Veli-Pekka Leppänen (Photo: PASI AUTIO / LEHTIKUVA)
Leonard Cohen intoutui spring 2008 tour and the popularity of kohahti approximate the heavens. World Rounds lasted one and a half years, and the audience was close to two million.
A couple of weeks ago I began in Europe last tour, and tonight a good-humored Cohen (born 1934) run on a platform jolkotti Helsinki Arena. Full areenallinen audience was at once accompanied him to hear the opening song Dance Me to the End of Love's first beats.
Cohen's support were the same six multi-instrumentalist and singer than the three already in October 2008 concert in Helsinki, and artists with the common tone is two years, even muhevoitunut. Cohen's humor, especially sävyttyneet moments of the Spanish guitar wizard Javier Mas'in had with a high level of delicacy.
Popularity of the hardest hits on Tuesday raised such as Bird on a Wire, Everybody Knows and Chelsea Hotel. March coordinated shades Partisania may even be considered as a kind of turning point in the concert, and I'm your Man embedded ironiakin sank hereästi audience.
Cohen appeared as a soloist alongside Sharon Robinson, whose mellow Boogie Street received a strong response in the audience.
Today, Cohen's difficulty in concert, it is surprising quality: he does not want to get off the stage, as the encore demands will not end. Arena concert was completed in only three of six additional encore and after a number.
"I tried to Leave You," Cohen began the last song, and jytisevästi encouraged the audience tore into laughter.
A total of 29 songs contained in more than 3.5 hours and lasted for large concert testified that Leonard Cohen has still given plenty to fans. The software had been added some new songs of his few, but of course, rootstocks are many favorites from the 1960s onwards.
"I did not come to Helsinki to Fool You," Cohen deformed Hallelujahin words. And was also on stand by.
Helsinki, Finland
ENGLISH VERSION.
Leonard Cohen: Mies, puku ja äänimaisema
SK24.fi
- August 11, 2010 by Anna Pesonen (Photo: Arkisto)
Yleisömäärä Leonard Cohenin keikalla ylittyi laulajan viimekertaisesta Suomen esiintymisestä tiistaina Helsingin Hartwall Areenalla.
Vuoden 2008 keikalla yleisömäärä oli 11 000. Nyt katsomo oli sitäkin täydempi, kun konserttiin tulleita oli paikalla lähes 12 000 henkeä. Helsingin konsertti on osa laajempaa Euroopan kiertuetta, joka alkoi pari viikkoa sitten.
Aloituskappale Dance Me to the End of Love johdatti kuulijat pehmeästi The Futureen, jonka aikana sali oli jo ammattimaisesti esiintyjäkokoonpanon hallussa.
Yhteensä noin 3,5 tuntia kestäneen ja 29 kappaletta sisältäneen keikan aikana kliimaksit seurasivat toisiaan. Esimerkiksi alkupuolella Everybody Knowsin ja In My Secret Lifen peräkkäisyys toimi tehokkaasti. Tunneskaala vaihtui haikailevasta nopeatempoiseen, kevyeen ja humoristiseenkin.
Väliajan jälkeen Cohen aloitti Tower of Songilla ja vitsaili siitä, että hänen kosketinsoittimensa vetää tahteja itsekseenkin. Suzanne oli niin valtaisa kokemus kuin mihin sen voi parhaimmillaan kuvitella yltävän.
Tähden rooli jakautui lavalla eri kokoonpanon jäsenten kesken. Välillä lähes maagisina kohtauksina soi barcelonalaisen Javier Mas´n espanjalaistyyppinen kitara. Cohen lauloi myös useaan otteeseen duettona taustalaulajiensa kanssa, joista Web Sisters ja Sharon Robinson esiintyivät itsenäisestikin.
I'm Your Man huipentui yhden miehen lavan haltuunottoon, jolloin joka kerta lausetta "I'm your man" seurasivat huomattavat suosionosoitukset. Jälleen Cohen heitti sanojen välissä: "If you want another kind of love, I wear this old man's mask for you."
Ainoastaan Hallelujah eteni keikalla läpivetona. Lover, lover, loveria jäin henkilökohtaisesti kaipaamaan, vaikka toisaalta yleisö oli Cohenin hyvän yön toivotusten kuuluessa varsin tyydytetty koko uran kattavista kappaleista.
Translated by Google Translate
Leonard Cohen: Man, costume and soundscape
SK24.fi
- August 11, 2010 by Anna Pesonen (Photo: Arkisto)
Spectators Leonard Cohen's your last gig in Finland exceeded the singer's presence on Tuesday in Helsinki Hartwall Arena.
The 2008 gig, the audience was 11 000 Now, a grandstand was even more crowded when the concert came, was there nearly 12 000 people. Helsinki concert is part of a wider European tour, which began a couple of weeks ago.
Getting song Dance Me to the End of Love led the gentlemen softly The Futureen, during which the hall was already a professional performer in the composition of the possession.
A total of about 3.5 hour and contained 29 songs during the gig was followed by another climax. For example, early Everybody Knows and In My Secret Life's succession to function effectively. Known as the bowl was changed haikaile a fast-paced, light and humorous.
Interim period after Cohen started the Tower of Song, and joked that his keyboard drag the tunes to himself. Suzanne was so enormous experience than what it can imagine to reach its best.
Star role on stage was divided into the different composition of members. Between the almost magical scenes from barcelona sounds kind of Javier Mas'n Spanish-style guitar. Cohen also sang a duet on several occasions taustalaulajiensa with which Webb Sisters and Sharon Robinson appeared itsenäisestikin.
I'm Your Man culminated in a one-man takeover of the stage, when every time the phrase "I'm your man" was followed by considerable applause. Cohen threw again between the words: "If you want Another Kind of lover, I'll wear this old man's mask for you."
Hallelujah gig only went through a bet. Lover, lover, I stayed loveria personally miss, on the other hand, although the audience was a good night's Cohen's warm request to the safe harbor quite satisfied by the entire career of covering songs.
Helsinki, Finland
ENGLISH VERSION.
Cohen i högform
HBL.fi
- August 11, 2010 by Annika Hällsten
Leonard Cohens konsert i Helsingfors blev en högtidsstund för alla oss som älskar gentlemannen med den sammetsdjupa röster och kärleksbudskapet.
Det fanns gott om Sinatrahattar i Helsingforsarenan på tisdagkväll. Men den vi alla stirrade på satt på Leonard Cohens hjässa, förutom då han respektfullt tog av sig hatten för att buga för publiken eller för att introducera sina kolleger på scenen.
Leonard Cohen må fylla 76 om några veckor men både formen och rösten är på topp. Konserten i Arenan var en mammutuppvisning i intensitet och engagemang. Under tre och en halv timme fick vi höra det mesta Cohen åstadkommit under sina decennier i branschen, börjande från inledningsnumret Dance Me To The End Of Love fram till de sex extranumren med hittar som So Long Marianne, First We Take Manhattan , Famous Blue Raincoat och Closing Time.
Förunderligt väl lyckades också Cohen tillsammans med sitt urskickliga band skapa en intim stämning i den annars så ödsliga Arenan. Ingen i publiken verkade sakna rökridåer, explosioner och andra spektakulära effekter.
Det behövdes liksom inte mera än en ensam man som med slutna ögon ömsom viskade, ömsom sjöng sina berättelser Som artist hör Leonard Cohen till de mera introverta. Mellansnacken var få och handlade om ynnesten att få uppträda inför en publik som älskade det den såg och hörde. För det mesta stod Cohen stilla men han joggade in på scenen och skuttade ut från den. De flesta av sina låtar inledde han på huk, kanske för att tjuvläsa de inledande orden till varje låt vilket en i mitt sällskap spekulerade i. Eller så har åren som zenbuddhist gjort honom extremt vig.
Hur som helst verkade den kanadensiske poeten och musikern ha kapacitet att underhålla oss hela natten.
Konserten i Arenan hade inte blivit vad den var utan det band Leonard Cohen hade med sig. Alla på scenen fick också, helt rättvist, briljera med egna solon. Med i kören fanns bland annat Sharon Robinson som tillsammans med Cohen skrivit odödliga låtar som Everybody Knows, In My Secret Life och Waiting for The Miracle.
Translated by Google Translate
Cohen to portrait
HBL.fi
- August 11, 2010 by Annika Hällsten
Leonard Cohen's concert in Helsinki was a solemn moment for all of us who love the gentleman with the deep velvet voice and message of love.
There was plenty of Sinatra hats in Helsinki Arena on Tuesday night. But we all sat staring at the Leonard Cohen's head, except when he respectfully took off his hat to bow to the audience or to introduce his colleagues on stage.
Leonard Cohen may play 76 in a few weeks but both form and his voice is at its peak. The concert in the stadium was a mammoth show of intensity and commitment. For three and a half hours, we heard the most Cohen accomplished during his decades in the industry, beginning from the initial number Dance Me To The End Of Love to the six additional numbers to find that So Long Marianne, First We Take Manhattan Famous Blue Raincoat and closing Time.
Wonderfully well-managed Cohen also with his band urskickliga create an intimate ambience in the otherwise deserted stadium. Nobody in the audience seemed to have no smoke-screen, explosions and other spectacular effects.
It was needed and not more than a solitary man with eyes closed, sometimes whispered, sometimes sang their stories as an artist include Leonard Cohen to the more introverted. Between neck was about to grace and to appear before an audience who loved it the saw and heard. For the most part stood Cohen quiet but he jogging onto the stage and jumped out of it. Most of his songs, he started squatting, perhaps for the thief to read the introductory words to each song as one of my pet speculated in. Or you have years of zenbuddhist made him extremely agile.
Anyway did the Canadian poet and musician have the capacity to entertain us all night.
The concert in the stadium had not been what it was but the band had with Leonard Cohen himself. All the scene was also, quite fairly, show off their own solos. With the choir was, inter alia, Sharon Robinson, who along with Cohen writing immortal songs Everybody Knows, In My Secret Life, Waiting for the Miracle.
Helsinki, Finland
ENGLISH VERSION.
Cohen gav publiken allt
Svenska.YLE
- August 11, 2010 by Rikhard Husu
"Jag vet inte när våra vägar korsas igen, men jag lovar att vi ska ge er allt vi har att ge ikväll." Med dessa ord hälsade Leonard Cohen publiken som hade samlats för att se honom i Helsingforsarenan igår. Efter 29 låtar och drygt tre timmar musik frågar jag mig vad mera man kan kräva av en artist som varit i rampljuset i fem decennier och som fyller 76 år i september.
Tre års turnerande har satt sina spår på både Leonard Cohen och hans band. Rutinen hörs i musiken och låtarna är slipade i minsta detalj. Samspelet mellan sångaren och bandet är friktionsfritt till den grad att man ibland skulle önska sig lite mera spontanitet och kantighet i det välsmorda maskineriet. Mellan varven serverar Cohen ändå på godbitar som får mig att känna att jag bevittnar något unikt.
Konserten inleds med två säkra kort, Dance me to the end of love och dystopiska The Future. Bandet har en stor roll i inledningen; gamla klassiker som Bird och the wire och Who by fire har arrangerats för sexmannabandet som ackompanjerar sångaren under turnén.
Lyhört och musikaliskt
Med glädje noterar jag musikernas lyhördhet inför publikens reaktioner. Vid spontana applåder har bandet den goda smaken att lägga in en fermat för att fortsätta efter publikens bifall. Det goda samspelet är ingen slump: många av musikerna i bandet har turnerat med Cohen redan på 70-talet.
I slutet av första delen riktas strålkastarljuset på Cohen som står i mitten av scenen med hatten i handen. "I en splittrad och sargad värld är jag hedrad att vara här i er vackra stad ikväll", säger han. Recitationen övergår i världsomfamnande Anthem som avslutar setet.
Den gamla mannens mask
Under konsertens andra del (som föregås av en 20 minuters paus) tätnar stämningen. Klassikern Tower of song inleder det som kommer att bli en 16 låtars hitkavalkad. "Ni har minsann inte kommit hit för musikens skull", repliker Cohen torrt då publiken belönar hans anspråkslösa keyboardsolo med rungande applåder.
Cohen blåser nytt liv i sina klassiker genom att friskt leka med ursprungstexterna. "If you want another kind of love I'll wear an old mans mask for you" sjunger han i I'm your man och gör en grimas mot publiken. I Take this waltz som avslutar den andra delen gungar hela bandet i valsens takt.
Till all lycka krävs det mera än en dubbelvals för att få Cohen att lämna scenen för gott. Publiken får ta del av furstliga sex extranummer, där också bandet får ta ut svängarna. Stämningen smittar till publiken som reser sig från sina stolar för att klappa och sjunga med i låtarna.
Att återfinna rösten
När det sista låten är spelad riktas belysningen mot den jublande publiken. Cohen tar till orda en sista gång. Han talar om de år då han "sökte efter sin röst" och de människor som bidrog till att hålla hans musik levande under den här perioden.
Talet är riktat till Jarkko Arjatsalo - mannen bakom nätforumet leonardcohenfiles.com - han sitter med bland publiken på första parkett. Arjatsalo har blivit en personlig vän till Cohen och var en av de personer som stöttade Cohen under 90-talet när denne upplevde en livskris som resulterade i att han inte kunde sjunga.
Ett värdigt slut på en minnesvärd kväll.
Translated by Google Translate
Cohen gave the audience everything
Svenska.YLE
- August 11, 2010 by Rikhard Husu
"I do not know when our paths crossed again, but I promise that we'll give you everything we have to give this evening." With those words of Leonard Cohen greeted the crowd that had gathered to watch him in Helsinki Arena yesterday. After 29 plays and just over three hours of music, I wonder what more we can require of an artist who has been in the spotlight for five decades and completing 76 years in September.
Three years of touring have left their mark on both Leonard Cohen and his band. This routine is heard in the music and the songs are polished to the smallest detail. The interaction between the singer and the band is smooth to the point where you sometimes would wish for a bit more spontaneity and angularity of the lubricated machinery. Between yards Cohen still serves on the tidbits that make me feel that I am witnessing something unique.
The concert begins with two safe bets, Dance Me To The End Of Love The Future and dystopian. The band has a major role in the introduction, old classics like the Bird on a wire and Who by fire has been arranged for sexmannabandet which accompanies the singer during the tour.
And musically sensitive
With joy I take note of the musicians' sensitivity to the audience's reactions. The spontaneous applause, the band has the good taste to post a Fermat to continue beyond the audience's approval. The good interaction is no coincidence: many of the musicians in the band has toured with Cohen is already in the 70's.
At the end of the first part directed the spotlight on Cohen who is in the middle of the stage with his hat in his hand. "In a fragmented and wounded world, I am honored to be here in your beautiful city tonight," he says. Recitation released into the world embracing Anthem to end the set.
The old man's mask
During the second part of the concert (which is preceded by a 20 minute break) thickens the atmosphere. The classic Tower of Song begins what will be a 16 tracks hitkavalkad. "You have certainly not come here because of the music," Cohen replies dry when the audience rewarded his humble keyboard solo with resounding applause.
Cohen breathes new life into its classic fresh by playing with the original texts. "If You Want another kind of love I'll wear an old man's mask for you" he sings in I'm your man and making a grimace towards the audience. Take this waltz that concludes the second part of the whole band rocking waltz pace.
For every success requires more than a dual-choice to get Cohen to leave the scene for good. The audience may take part of the princely six encores, which the band may also be out in the crowd. The atmosphere infects the audience that rise from their seats to clap and sing along to songs.
To retrieve your voice
When the last song is played lights directed towards the cheering crowd. Cohen takes the floor one last time. He talks about the years when he "was looking for his voice" and the people who helped to keep his music alive during this period.
The speech is addressed to Jarkko Arjatsalo - the man behind nätforumet leonardcohenfiles.com - he sits with the audience a front row seat. Arjatsalo has become a personal friend of Cohen and was one of the people who supported Cohen in the 90s when he experienced a life crises that resulted in that he could not sing.
A dignified end to a memorable evening.
Helsinki, Finland
ENGLISH VERSION.
Cohen gave the audience everything
YLE.fi
- August 10, 2010 (Photo: Yle)
Kanadalainen laulaja ja lauluntekijä Leonard Cohen esiintyi tiistai-iltana Helsingin Areenalla. Veteraaniesiintyjää saapui kuuntelemaan 11 500 musiikinystävää.
Lähes loppuunmyyty konsertti käynnistyi tunnetulla Dance Me To The End Of Love -hitillä. Areenan yleisön keski-ikä oli keskimäärin reilut parikymmentä vuotta 76-vuotiasta Cohenia nuorempaa, mutta legendalla on myös nuorempia ihalijoita.
Cohen esiintyi viimeksi Suomessa vuosina 1993 ja 2008. Ennen toissavuotista kiertuettaan Cohen piti viidentoista vuoden esiintymistauon.
Vuonna 1934 Kanadan Montréalissa syntynyt Cohen on tullut tunnetuksi tunnetta täynnä olevasta eleettömän matalasta ja käheästä äänestään sekä taiturimaisista lauluteksteistään. Cohen nimettiin viime keväänä arvostetun Songwriters Hall of Famen jäseneksi.
Cohen on pureutunut lauluissaan elämän mystiikan moniin perusasioihin, kuten seksuaalisuuden, uskonnon ja hengellisyyden voimaan. Hänen lauluistaan on levytetty yli 1 300 muiden artistien tekemää versiota. Cohenin lauluja ovat esittäneet muun muassa Johnny Cash, Jeff Buckley, Sting ja Nina Simone.
Cohenin ensimmäinen albumi, Songs of Leonard Cohen, ilmestyi vuonna 1967. Hän nousi nopeasti maailmanmaineeseen muun muassa lauluillaan Suzanne, Sisters of Mercy, So Long, Marianne Hey ja That's No Way to Say Good.
Suurelle yleisölle tuttuja ovat lisäksi kappaleet First We Take Manhattan ja Take This Waltz.
Laulujensa lisäksi Cohen tunnetaan runoilijana ja kirjailijana. Useita hänen teoksiaan on ilmestynyt myös suomennettuna.
Translated by Google Translate
Music legend Leonard Cohen concert in Helsinki
YLE.fi
- August 10, 2010 (Photo: Yle)
Canadian singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen appeared on Tuesday evening, the Helsinki Arena. Veteran Artists came to listen to 11 500 music lovers.
Nearly sold-out concert began known Dance Me To The End Of Love-hitillä. Arena for the public middle-age had an average of just over twenty years in 76-year-old Cohen younger, but is also a legend throughout the younger ihalijoita.
Cohen last appeared in Finland in 1993 and 2008. Before serving Cohen-year tour was fifteen years esiintymistauon.
In 1934, Cohen was born in Montreal in Canada has become known in the full sense of the low and expressionless voice, as well as käheästä taiturimaisista lauluteksteistään. Cohen was named last spring, the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame member.
Cohen has been tackling lauluissaan life mystery to many of the basic issues such as sexuality, religion and spirituality into force. His songs has been recorded more than 1 300 other artists's version. Cohen's songs have been submitted, inter alia, Johnny Cash, Jeff Buckley, Sting and Nina Simone.
Cohen's first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, appeared in 1967. He rose to fame quickly, including lauluillaan Suzanne, Sisters of Mercy, So Long, Marianne and Hey That's No Way to Say Good.
The general public are familiar with the songs in addition to First We Take Manhattan, and Take This Waltz.
Cohen songs in addition to known poet and writer. Several of his works have appeared also translated.
Speaking Cohen Home
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