CONCERT REPORTS: Ghent, Aug 12, 14, 15, 17 & 18

[TineDoes]

[quote="quote="holydove"]
I just got home a little while ago, & am too exhausted to say very much right now, but I went to the first 3 concerts (& the first 2 soundchecks), & every moment of every one of them was absolutely gorgeous, brilliant & awesome!! I love the new sound of the band, the King of the Violin & Mitch Watkins are both wonderful - giving excellent, lovely interpretations to Leonard's songs, Leonard looks beautiful & sounds incredible - more awesome than ever!! It's totally amazing to see/hear live performances of all those great songs from Old Ideas, as well as Light As A Breeze, which was absolutely ecstatic, to say the least; & Leonard's performance of Save The Last Dance is unbelievably sexy & beautiful. He did Crazy To Love You in a deeper pitch than on the album, which makes it even more profound, intense & mesmerizing. That's all I can write for now, except to say: thank you, Leonard Cohen, for coming back to us & once again, penetrating my heart more deeply than ever, with your great brilliant gifts of poetry & song.[/quote]

Sorry I missed you too "I looked for you in everyone, but..." I didn't see you. Thank you for your wonderful report of the
enthralling concert.

[Goldin]

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=32523#p311401

Ghent, Fri August 17
St Peter's Square

(...)

34 songs (new record!)

I have nothing important to add to this. I just want to repeat it. Out. Loud.

[cohenadmirer]

Some video i neglected to post from Sunday's concert

Everybody knows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=simTtjxa ... ature=plcp

The future (partial)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peexAhFv ... ature=plcp

[IrishAL]

youtube

Banjo August 14th 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RTVEfn6QLA

Enjoy

albert

[bridger15]

youtube

Banjo August 14th 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RTVEfn6QLA
Enjoy

albert

Thank you, Albert for another fantastic capture of an extraordinary song, and especially including LC's poignant intro dedication.

This is exquisite!

---Arlene

[cohenadmirer]

More video of soundcheck on sunday the 12th.
Really wetted my appetite being there and hearing the continuing power of Leonard's

i for one had wondered whether it might have deteriorated since he last performed but far from it

The length and quality of the gent concerts bode well for his health , stamina, and for our quality of life


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yiy1Ouiv4s

[sturgess66]

Ghent - Day 3 - Aug 15

Uploaded by tainaingrid - and that is "Ingrid" - Thanks!

The Partisan - and - Democracy
(Some great up close capture of the band of gypsies in The Partisan - and Leonard's commentary about the song "Democracy" - and also about the Jew's harp - "in fact, I am probably the only Jew that plays this instrument professionally")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYkDxgvOGf8


Great capture of band taking the stage - and Leonard skipping in - and an emotional -
So Long Marianne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk9KeL-mDKQ

[dick]

Thanks Linda

Enjoyed the Jews harp a lot!

It looks like a challenging instrument.

[sturgess66]

Thanks Linda

Enjoyed the Jews harp a lot!

It looks like a challenging instrument.

I had one when I was "a kid" -
To be used respectfully - and carefully.
It can cause injury - it can hurt - OUCH!

From Joey -


The quest for the perfect font continues…

http://leonardcohen.tumblr.com/page/2

[sturgess66]

From Joey -





http://leonardcohen.tumblr.com/




http://leonardcohen.tumblr.com/post/29694840702

[Bird off the Wire]

This is some achievement for a man 77 yrs young. To satisfy the 'anorak' in me does the close on 4 hours time for the show include an 'interval' or is the length of the entire show 4hrs + the interval.

***It's 4 hrs or so including a 20 min interval / Jarkko***

[musicmania]

Ah that photo with the child is so sweet Really hope someone captured Night Comes On last night!!! Knew I should have stayed in Ghent for the week

[holydove]

Sorry I missed you too "I looked for you in everyone, but..." I didn't see you. Thank you for your wonderful report of the
enthralling concert.

Hi David & Tineke! Sorry I missed you too! I was so looking forward to seeing both of you I didn't get to the earlier meetups - I only went to the meetups after the concerts, because I really wanted to get to the soundchecks, to hear them & record them, & it was just too difficult to get to both. Unfortunately, on the 15th, I didn't get to the early meetup or the soundcheck - too tired from the late-night meetups of the 12th & 14th!! I do hope that we will get to see each other in Dublin and/or Paris. I know Tineke is going to Dublin & I think David is going to Paris (?). So we really must try to find each other in those cities! David, I've only been able to see a little bit of your videos so far, but they are really awesome - so clear & vivid - thank you so much for sharing those!

Hi Dick! Since you asked (thank you), though many have already seen all the great videos, I will add a little to my previous report anyway. . .I found the live performances of Come Healing to be absolutely transcendent - it moved me to tears every time. Amen & Different Sides are also incredibly powerful. Amen is supremely dazzling, & I thought it was interesting that in the first concert, Different Sides was in the first set, & in the 2nd concert, it was in the encores - I think the live version of that song is going to get more & more amazing & powerful as the tour progresses (well, that's probably true for all the songs, but esp. that one, I think. . .). It was also interesting that Leonard did something different toward the end of I Can't Forget, in each performance; the first time, he added some French lyrics; the 2nd time, he added the French & recited a beautiful poem (!!) in that place, in front of the beautiful music (I have to listen to the recording to remember all the words, but it sounded vaguely familiar, maybe it's in one of the poetry books); & the third time, he recited something like "I've been wondering where it is, I think it's in front of the [a word I haven't been able to discern yet], in the bottom drawer, I can't remember where it is" - how fascinating & beautiful! I also love the live version of Banjo, even more than the album version - this wonderful band does a somewhat different musical arrangement, & the beautiful violin & keyboard parts make it especially interesting & captivating. Before the tour began, I thought perhaps Leonard would open with Going Home (I thought that would be a great opener); as we now know, Dance Me came first, but Going Home followed right after, & of course, it was fantastic to see/hear Leonard doing that song live - maybe somewhere down the road, he will put that one first, but it doesn't matter, it's wonderful wherever Leonard wants to put it. And I absolutely love Leonard's playing of the Jew's harp in Democracy - that was really a delightful surprise - well, I love Leonard's Jew's harp anywhere! (I must do some research to find out how that instrument works - I've always loved the sound of it, but I really have no idea how it's played). I can't wait to hear Show Me The Place live - I'm quite sure Leonard will do it at some point (esp. since it's been on the setlists), & I know that's really going to be totally heart-stopping (well, it has already stopped my heart every time I hear it on the album, so I will probably have to be scraped up off the ground after hearing it live. ..)

BTW, I recorded all 3 concerts & the first 2 soundchecks; it will take a while to transfer the recordings to the computer, create tracks, etc., but I will share the recordings when all that is done.

[IrishAL]

Amen from the second Concert


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k0hSdvlKcg


Albert

[musicmania]

Great report Rachel and it was a pleasure seeing you in Ghent and I look forward to seeing you in Dublin! PM me your details for the nametags and don't worry about finding me at meetups as I will be at soundcheck everyday. Please add me to the vines you start for the Ghent concerts Leonard playing the jew harp during Democracy was amazing. I haven't written much here as it is all in my review which I'm hoping will be published Monday. I'll link photos then too

Thanks Albert