leonardcohenforum.com

bridger15 wrote:Your video confirmed what I thought I noticed last night. LC lost his place around 1.18. No wonder. I was sitting on the side and the sight of all those forum fans throwing dozens of blouses on the stage was absolutely awesome. No wonder LC went off his lines.

Thanks for pointing that out, I love that bit at 1.18!

San Jose ROCKED! Leonard, the band, the angels and the audience were on fire. What a perfect ending to a great American tour. I wasn't sure if Leonard was coming to the US at all and he and his band toured here twice! See, America does love Leonard after all!

Marsha

I have just uploaded a few more gems from last night to Youtube. They are still processing, so if the quality is not good, try again later.

I will be travelling for the next 24 hours , so further uploads will have to wait until then.


so long Marianne.

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

First We take Manhattan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxvy0xbEmFQ

I tried t leave you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t07HGtjpaWY


enjoy.

albert

Folks,

The concert was, as noted by others, amazing. A powerful performance by Mr. Cohen and the band. The show seemed a bit more soulful than others, perhaps the new arrangements, or I can be simply projecting, it was so moving. Also, more bass and drum. Again, this could be the acoustics of the venue or my seat location, but it had a little more soul.

I really enjoyed the tossing of the all those blouses during "Closing Time." I appreciated the coordinated effort by the ladies, it added a sense of fun and levity to the show. Fun! The new songs are great; the changed verse during "So Long Marianne" was a pleasure to hear (not familiar with it, so that was a pleasant surprise).

The crowd demonstrated the proper degree of love and respect. It was quite a sight to witness thousands of people standing at their feet, clapping and screaming.

Finally, the ultimate highlight - meeting the fans from the Forum. They're the best. Special shot out to Maartin, thank you for the name tag, I will treasure it as a memento for years to come.

IrishAL wrote:I have just uploaded a few more gems from last night to Youtube. ...
enjoy.

albert

Wow, what an incredible concert!! Thanks so so much for the wonderful videos, Albert. For those of us who weren't there, it's a real gift. I eagerly await the rest.
Have I been asleep, or is that the first time that the new verse in So Long, Marianne has been played?
Here's what I heard:

Your eyes, I won't forget your eyes,
Your body's at home in every sea,
How come you gave away your news to everyone,
I thought you said it was a secret just for me?

And, does anyone know, has this verse been in existence for a while, or is it really new (meaning recently composed)? Either way, how extraordinary, to hear a new verse in a song I've been listening to for nearly 40 years.
Sue

sue7 wrote:

IrishAL wrote:I have just uploaded a few more gems from last night to Youtube. ...
enjoy.

albert

Wow, what an incredible concert!! Thanks so so much for the wonderful videos, Albert. For those of us who weren't there, it's a real gift. I eagerly await the rest.
Have I been asleep, or is that the first time that the new verse in So Long, Marianne has been played?
Here's what I heard:

Your eyes, I won't forget your eyes,
Your body's at home in every sea,
How come you gave away your news to everyone,
I thought you said it was a secret just for me?

And, does anyone know, has this verse been in existence for a while, or is it really new (meaning recently composed)? Either way, how extraordinary, to hear a new verse in a song I've been listening to for nearly 40 years.
Sue

This "extra" verse -and actually one other- have been in existence for a while, I suppose. They're -and were,at least a couple of months ago- on leonardcohenfiles.com .

"Oh your eyes, well I forgot Your eyes
Your body's at home in every sea.
How come you gave away your news to everyone
That you said was a secret for me.

Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...

If you leave, where will I keep you then
In my heart as some men say
But I who was born to love everyone
Why should I keep you so far away?"

And I'm pretty sure I heard the first one before, in another video-- not instead of the "Your fine spider web/ Fastening my ankles to a stone" verse, but as an addition at the end.

I don't think the very last one was ever performed, though.

remote1 wrote: Thanks for pointing that out, I love that bit at 1.18!

I just noticed at this point Dino is laughing over Leonard seemingly lost for a while

Last night I attended my first Leonard Cohen concert and thoroughly enjoyed it! I have been a fan for the last couple of years but have always been content to just listen to his CDs or watch the DVD of the London concert. Last night I came to my senses....seeing him in person was an amazing experience! How I regret not having gone to every single concert of his within driving distance before this! And I doubly regret that I did not get the closest possible seats for last night's concert. I thought it would be fine to just be there in the audience - anywhere. Oh well....live and learn!

IrishAL wrote:What a night! I finally succumbed to the temptation (with "little" persuasion from "The Management" at home) and made it to both Las Vegas and San Jose.

Here is one of the highlights of last night in San Jose.

Closing Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tioLvJ3DmUg

enjoy., more to come...

albert

What a scene! (and a glimpse of Jarkko at 6:01...) thank you Al!

mirka wrote:

remote1 wrote: Thanks for pointing that out, I love that bit at 1.18!

I just noticed at this point Dino is laughing over Leonard seemingly lost for a while

Oh yeah, well spotted, Dino actually bursts into laughter, I hadn't seen that!

There are actually women tearing their blouses off while Leonard Cohen sings Closing Time

Not actually ... and no nudity. Strictly PG. Pure giddiness. And a whole lot of fun. No wonder Leonard lost his lines.

A great night! Here are my images of it:

http://gallery.me.com/evocative1#100741

Best regards. - Kim

Leonard was awesome. And it was so great meeting all the fans during and after. Every person I met from the fanclub was helpful and cordial and warm and it was really great sharing this experience with all of you. Thank you all. Thank you especially to the folks who organized things last night. I'm so full of gratitude today, for all of you, and for Leonard for sharing his poetry and his songs and his inspiration with us.

And - I want to be that spry when I'm 75!

remote1 wrote: Oh yeah, well spotted, Dino actually bursts into laughter, I hadn't seen that!

Not only that, Leonard seemed to be so surprised by sight of polka dots garment on the floor that since 1:22 started to mix and match various parts of lyrics

The more I watch this clip the more I understand importance of good acoustics. This time I had a seat just on the edge of the row, my range of view and sound was quite limited and one sided, and that made a diffeence between a fantastic and just great concert.
Good there are clips on YouTube, thank you IrishAl !

Everything about last night was awesome, amazing, unforgettable! The blouse-throwing was a highlight...Leonard and the band loved it - totally chuckling- and yes Leonard did lose his place in the song, causing adorable, vulnerable, little-boy-face-Leonard to make an appearance. Bonnie and Sharon E. and others in the front row (we see them dancing up a storm and flinging blouses in Albert's wonderful video) did a great job of getting ALL the blouses that were thrown toward the front, onto that stage. I flung mine (from 4th row) accidentally onto the head of a lady in the first row who momentarily seemed to wonder what the heck was going on, but she caught on quickly and tossed it up to the stage.

The pre-party and after party were wonderful. It was great to meet so many people for the first time, and see old friends again. Maarten, the name tags are gorgeous and I will treasure mine. Audrey, it was wonderful to share in your excitement being at your first show! Meeting some of the band members was UNREAL. The first for me was Rafael Gayol...who charmed me into incoherence within seconds. I asked him to sign my program, and I remember digging for a pen which seemed to take forever and of course you feel their time is SO valuable, that they are SO nice to even be doing this at all, so of course the panic starts to set in when you can't find the pen. But I finally found 2 in my mess of a bag...and oh-so-gleefully presented him with a skinny Sharpie AND a thick one, and started BABBLING about how I had planned to bring a silver pen too, because it would be better for signing on the black backgrounds. Dork! He was so sweet though...and posed for a pic with me which I need to retrieve from the man who took it. Hattie and Roscoe were also at the pre-entry and were so gracious. Roscoe in particular is very approachable; he makes you feel like an old friend! It's no wonder he is musical director...he is the heart of the band.

Want to write more about the show...Leonard was god-like, of course. And the afterparty! More band members! Just appearing in the hotel lobby! Sitting down chatting with us! Like I said, UNREAL. But meeting all the forum members was even better. So many nice, intelligent, and funny-as-hell people in one room was kind of overwhelming! I wanted to spend hours with each of you and felt like one day was not enough! Also want to share a funny story about mean ushers at the venue...we had to overpower them in order to get back to our seats during Tower of Song.

Must rest now...got home at 5 am. Will write more later! Will share some pics too. Maybe video as well, though I think it's crappy quality.

Esther