"Leonard Cohen Live in London" > DVD & 2CD (April 2009)

[AlanM]

The DVD was #16 last week in Australia, now #1 on ARIA's Music DVD charts.
The CD set has entered at No 26 this week.
Roll on the Blu-Ray disc(s).

[Alan_1]

Well I bought both the DVD and Cds from Amazon for £22-56 and I think this is excellent value and will always be a reminder of the great concert that Leonard gave at the O2.
I was in the back of the second tier there so the DVD gives me an insight into what was happening on the stage and I feel it captures the concert very well. Don't think I would ever go to the O2 for any concert again (unless it was the only hall that was used for a tour) as I think it's too impersonal, much preferred the Manchester Opera House show but think this may have been because it was my first ever Leonard concert and was a magical occasion for me. (Did anyone else notice Leonard's Mistake on 'Bird on a Wire'?)
It would be good if there was a best of DVD/Blueray later but I'm pleased with what I have got!

[lisz]

number one dvd in New Zealand this week.
CD is at number 9 and moving up.

[DrHGuy]

(This may have been posted here already; if so, my apologies)
These excerpts from The Lefsetz Letter offer a different perspective:
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/ ... ding-4509/

76. Leonard Cohen "Live In London"

Sales this week: 8,979
Debut

They want to go to the show, they don’t need the record, if they even know the record is out.

Columbia is not a player here. It’s about the promoter. The record doesn’t lead, it follows. The record is a souvenir, an extra in the goodie bag. And no amount of ranting by the RIAA is going to change this.

Speaking in general about CDs rather than Live In London specifically, Lefsetz goes on,

In other words, it’s about your tour gross, not your SoundScan. And no amount of bloviating by the old guard is going to change this. People will overpay to be up close and personal, but very few want to pay a lot for your record. Better to sell a boxed set at a high price to those who truly care than to try to flog an album with ten tracks to everybody.

[stephencharlton]

Well I bought both the DVD and Cds from Amazon for £22-56 and I think this is excellent value and will always be a reminder of the great concert that Leonard gave at the O2.
I was in the back of the second tier there so the DVD gives me an insight into what was happening on the stage and I feel it captures the concert very well. Don't think I would ever go to the O2 for any concert again (unless it was the only hall that was used for a tour) as I think it's too impersonal, much preferred the Manchester Opera House show but think this may have been because it was my first ever Leonard concert and was a magical occasion for me. (Did anyone else notice Leonard's Mistake on 'Bird on a Wire'?)
It would be good if there was a best of DVD/Blueray later but I'm pleased with what I have got!

I agree, very pleased with DVD & CD, payed only £16.97 for the pair via internet deals ( the postmark said Hong Kong ?). Nothing will surpass Manchester Opera House June 17th, but it was my first Cohen concert .
I went to 4 further O2 concerts, 3 in London and 1 in Berlin, and despite being huge venues Leonard made them surprisingly intimate. I too was in the cheap seats, hence the DVD gives a new perspective on what were magnificant concerts.

Manchester. London . Berlin . London . London

[Quasand]

This weeks Billboard Chart # 76

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/c ... 0&g=Albums

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve ... Id=1218788

[Fontana]

No. 1 DVD in AUSTRALIA this week.

http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/char ... rt=1V40DVD

CD came in @ No. 26

http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/char ... chart=1G50

[Shockvalue]

I thought the DVD presentation was a dissapointment, particularly given the technical excellence of everything else about the tour. Of course the performance stands on its own merit but I found the 4:3 ratio and filmic presentation of the DVD poor in contrast. 16:9 DTS Blu-Ray would have been the best record of this wonderful experience with better film directing. Indeed I'm surprised Leonard himself didn't supervise this. The fact is this could and should have been a better quality release. So for me the DVD will be a souvenir rather than an experience that could partially transport me back to the performances I saw live. I really hope the earlier comments that there may be another HD version released in the future are correct.

[jerry]

My only complaints are the constant introductions,LC eyes closed through most of the concert, and his constant crouching. Other than that I loved it. Now I want the Austin City Limits show on dvd soon!!!

[palefire]

I've been listening to the CDs and watching the DVD for a couple of weeks now and I think they're really excellent.

However, if I'm being completely honest I'd also say that I'm a little disappointed by the mix of the sound on these releases. I wondered if I was remembering the gig I went to with rose-tinted ear-muffs, but when I played the DVD to my dad at the weekend (who came with me to the concert) he noticed the same, minor issues.

In Cardiff the sound set-up was as good as I've ever heard at a live concert - I'd been told that the CIA was an acoustic disaster, so my expectations were low - but were massively exceeded. I particularly liked the balance between the players. Neil Larsson's keyboard/organ work was discreet and provided the perfect canvass for the other members of the band. Likewise Bob Metzger's guitar work. Javier Maas' exquisite playing was prominent in the mix and noted in the all the reviews I read of the tour.

On the CD & DVD the organ/keyboards are far more prominent is are Bob Metzger's guitar. Maas' contribution fades in and out, but doesn't prominently supplement every song in the way it did live. Len's voice and that of Sharon and the Webb sisters distort badly if the volume is cranked up.

While none of this detracts particularly from this release (which as I stated to begin with I feel is excellent) I'm left feeling a little underwhelmed. I feel that Cohen's songs come alive when played live and freed from the sometimes stilted instrumentation on his recent albums. The songs sounded fantastic in Cardiff and I'm not sure whether I'm just disappointed because my expectations were exceeded there and hence overly high for the CD/DVD - looking through the rest of this post everyone seems to praise the sound very highly - I just wondered if anyone else knows what I mean?

[yentek]

Well, in Santa Monica, CA, the only record store left in the city has sold out of both the CD and DVD.

[UrPal]

I got the cd today. No rush to get the DVD as I prefer recorded music in its pure form untainted by visuals. That's not to say I won't get the DVD soon, but Ill probably only watch it a few times & play the CD repeatedly for decades.

I was a little deterred by the "live in london" choice. London holds out no glamour for me & a shed in london less. But despite my prejudices the CD makes the dirty old town shine like a diamond. The audience is ecstatic, there's a rush & there's loads of detail & a great performance.

Having seen substantially the same show repeatedly in different places in the last twelve months familiarity makes it difficult to get over excited at the moment, but with time I expect this CD to accumulate greater significance. In the meantime its great to borrow an almost relived recent experience professionally remixed .

[rgraff]

However, if I'm being completely honest I'd also say that I'm a little disappointed by the mix of the sound on these releases. I wondered if I was remembering the gig I went to with rose-tinted ear-muffs, but when I played the DVD to my dad at the weekend (who came with me to the concert) he noticed the same, minor issues.

In Cardiff the sound set-up was as good as I've ever heard at a live concert - I'd been told that the CIA was an acoustic disaster, so my expectations were low - but were massively exceeded. I particularly liked the balance between the players. Neil Larsson's keyboard/organ work was discreet and provided the perfect canvass for the other members of the band. Likewise Bob Metzger's guitar work. Javier Maas' exquisite playing was prominent in the mix and noted in the all the reviews I read of the tour.

On the CD & DVD the organ/keyboards are far more prominent is are Bob Metzger's guitar. Maas' contribution fades in and out, but doesn't prominently supplement every song in the way it did live. Len's voice and that of Sharon and the Webb sisters distort badly if the volume is cranked up.

While none of this detracts particularly from this release (which as I stated to begin with I feel is excellent) I'm left feeling a little underwhelmed. I feel that Cohen's songs come alive when played live and freed from the sometimes stilted instrumentation on his recent albums. The songs sounded fantastic in Cardiff and I'm not sure whether I'm just disappointed because my expectations were exceeded there and hence overly high for the CD/DVD - looking through the rest of this post everyone seems to praise the sound very highly - I just wondered if anyone else knows what I mean?

I know what you mean, palefire. LC is low in the mix, as is Javier Mas. There does appear to be some distortion, as you note. I actually thought the recording and mix on the excerpt of the Feb. 19th Beacon Theatre show was better -- there wasn't as much time for the producers to muddy it up as there was with the London release -- simply a recording off the soundboard, I presume. I hope Mr. Cohen's management is able to release some of these unadorned recordings, perhaps as "pay to download" mp3s from Leonardcohenfiles.com. That said, I agree that this is an excellent release.

[lisz]

NO 4 in the album charts this week

no 1 for dvd, third week running.

Some of the show i saw i think is different to the dvd. Can someone tell me if i remembered right? I thought sharon robinson sang boogie street without leonard?

And the "I have discovered the meaning of life" bit, at our show wasnt it him continually complementing the girl singers as they went on and on, "do dup etc) ending with something similar to "you have indulged me long enough". A lovely ending.

I wear my t shirt all the time cos it is a really nice t shirt, but have yet for someone to comment on LC.

Have put over 40 hours into my second "tower of song" etching, and i think i will have to start again, it just isnt working the way i have been doing it. grrr.

lisz

[lisz]

by the way, i liked the way leonard closed his eyes when he felt the need to get really into the guts of the song, liked the crouching which i found respectful, loved him bowing, and the intros made me see him as being with the band, not just in front.

lisz