CONCERT REPORT: Tel Aviv, September 24

[somewhat_nifty]

Wow! lovely to see the photos and that YouTube of Hallelujah! The light sticks looked amazing, what an atmosphere that must have been. What a send-off before his dates in the States.

I hope he has a nice relaxing break between now and then

[Pope]

This has to be issued dvd/cd surely?

[siempie1956]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYK8pnEr4d0

[seadove]

Oh btw I understand that the whole show is recorded and that there will eventually be a dvd in the market. It seems to me that Mr Cohen knew of this, which is one of the reasons why he gave so much extra songs and effort on last night's equisite experience.

[Pope]

The utube video is pretty stunning.
g.

[kovals]

Dance me to the end of love:

http://bidur.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=667420

[seadove]

The utube video is pretty stunning.
g.

Yes I watched the clip and the reminisces made the hair of my hand stand up in pokeyness.

[AyalaBE]

I was speechless when I got home last night .....but it was awesome...3 encores, 48000 people singing along, a heartstoppingly beautiful rendition of Let it Be Thy Will to a totally silent crowd, the most incredible birkat cohanim, amazing instrumentalists....it was so moving to be there, seeing Leonard Cohen, in Israel, during the Days of Awe...such a legend, such beautiful, deep, moving poetry and tunes...

All I want to know now is....will there be a DVD available of the concert?

[shir]

lc thank you!!!

[Inna]

A review in Ha'aretz:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1117044.html

A small correction only - he performed here last in 1985 in Ceasaria.
and - http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite? ... e/ShowFull

[somewhat_nifty]

A piece on abc.com, don't think it's been posted:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... id=8663232

[yaniv297]

OK time for my report now...

It was an absolutely amazing, stunning and very emotional show. Simply brilliant. I was lucky enough to be in the 24th row during the show, and in the encores we went forward and I was actually standing near the third row!! it was more then I could ever imagine. And I also asked - and got - a setlist in the end! I'm obviously going to frame it and put it in my room

Now here is a more detailed review... If you want details, read this

The Venue:
Most of my memories from Ramat-Gan stadium involves noisy and dirty football games, and disappointments at the loses of our team. To my surprise, it turned out to be a much more respectful and nice place for the concert. The entrance wasn't very clean but the stadium itself looked - and even more surprising, sounded - great. I was happy to see the merchandise counters (got myself a "Songs of Love and Hate" shirt and the beautiful little tour book), and much to my amusement, they even sold Sushi in there.
The only reminder of our location was the audio delay... Whenever the audience tried to clap along, it always came out really messy and not in beat. It also happens in football games. Can't fix that, I guess.

The Show:
The show was absolutely beautiful, of course. Leonard looked and sounded great, and done all his usual kneeling down/skipping/etc... The band was in top form, I really got to appreciate all of them a lot more (Neil Larsen especially, I didn't remember his playing was that awesome!). Leonard talked a lot about peace and also said several prayers in Hebrew. People cheered quiet loudly for "I'm the little jew who wrote the bible"... he's one of us, I guess .

Leonard didn't talk much during most of the show, to my surprise. He didn't introduce "Tower of Song" "If It Be Your Will" or "Ain't No Cure For Love". He didn't say some of his signature jokes, like "A kid with a crazy dream", and he didn't even do the "want to know the answer" think in Tower of Song for some reason. I also expected some sort of introduction for "Why By Fire" or "Lover Lover Lover", seeing that these songs are very connected to Israel, but nothing.

Anyway, the mood was great and the concert was truly sublime... Surely a night to remember

The Crowd
Sadly, where I was sitting the crowd was kind of bad. The people before us didn't even pay for their tickets (got them as a present), and when "Bird on the Wire" began, one of them asked loudly "Isn't this Hallelujah?". Whatever. Anyway, most of the crowd was really great, people cheered in the right places, the green stick lights were great (although you couldn't clap your hands and hold them up at the same time). Even the lukewarm audience got excited for the Hallelujah-->I'm Your Man-->Take This Waltz string of songs.

After Take This Waltz people started moving forward, and of course I took the opportunity and did so too. I managed to sneak in the isle until I got to the third row and I saw the man himself closer then ever, it was amazing!! The crowd there was amazing too, knew all the words, danced in Manhattan and Closing Time, were obviously touched in Raincoat and were totally quiet in If It Be Your Will. Got to experience the encores the best way I could ask for, and they seemed to go on and on! "That's no way to say goodbye" took me by surprise, but it was great. After the show I went forward and asked the guard if I can ask for a setlist. He agreed, so I called the roadies and they were nice enough to throw me one... people realized what's happening and wanted it too, but the guard was decent and gave it to me since I asked for it first .

So anyway, overall the crowd was great, but I do have some bad words about the sitting thing. If you wondered why it was almost impossible to get a set in the first 12 rows, it's because it was saved to all sorts of important businessman and stuff, not real fans, and ironically a lot of people who hardly knew the songs were right there at the front. I guess a stand-up concert isn't appropriate for the music, but at least it assures that the real fans (or really strong people) get to the front.


Anyway, magical night, magical concert, thank you Leonard!


BTW. The setlist given in previous pages is missing "The Gypsy's Wife" before The Partisan.

[seadove]

The people before us didn't even pay for their tickets (got them as a present), and when "Bird on the Wire" began, one of them asked loudly "Isn't this Hallelujah?".

Ho yes Yaniv, I know exactly what you're talking about! I sat in block number 14 next to a guy who was no anal I thought to myself maybe that was my punishment not to buy the 1200 shekel tickets. He and his wife did not even clao hands, they just sat there and stared at the stage. Then at one point he requested me to "calm down" and not sing along with Cohen because he can't hear the kyrics from him. My wife told me to ignore him and continue to enjoy myself in my own way but I decided to respect his request instead and that spoiled quite a lot of the atmosphere for what I paid for.

Damn those idiots. Not you. him.

[gever27]

I was speechless when I got home last night .....but it was awesome...3 encores, 48000 people singing along, a heartstoppingly beautiful rendition of Let it Be Thy Will to a totally silent crowd, the most incredible birkat cohanim, amazing instrumentalists....it was so moving to be there, seeing Leonard Cohen, in Israel, during the Days of Awe...such a legend, such beautiful, deep, moving poetry and tunes...

All I want to know now is....will there be a DVD available of the concert?

hey,it was definately an amzing concert,and as i said,it was amazing to see all of the stick lights during hallelujah and all 50000 singing hallelujah.
as for the DVD,as much as i know,the concert had filmed in HD with hebrew subtitles,so yes-there will be an HD dvd of the concert

[Pearlvoice]

Pleeeease - I have goosebumps all over from all your wonderful reports. And I couldn't even watch the youtube-clips yet, as unfortunately it is blocked here in the office. Can't wait to rush home and see them.

It must have been such a phantastic night. The photo of the stadium lit with the thousands of green lights looks amazing.