Special Concert in New York

[davem99]

So Leonard is doing a one off gig in a historic theatre in New York for the US media (and a few fans) to use as a platform to announce his US tour.

Well woopy do. That was worth five days of build up wasn't it?

Talk about hyping an event.

Whilst I appreciate this is good news for New Yorkers and it will be Leonard's first US gig since 1993 it's hardly the amazing event trailered since it's been known he will be playing US dates this year for months.

I'd be more interested if it was going out on TV or radio.

Dave

[Tinkie]

Being a registered member is enough - then you have to find out the password from a clue that will be posted on The Files / Jarkko ***

Hi Jarkko,

Thank you for this additional information. Should we then start studying hard ??
Could you also confirm that the pre-sale starts at 2 pm and not 12 pm as indicated on the ticketmaster website ?

"Fan Club Presale
Start: Wed, 01/14/09 12:00 PM EST
End: Wed, 01/14/09 10:00 PM EST"

Thank you and have a wonderful day in your frozen Finland ?


***The pre-sale begins at 2 pm EST. Note that Ticketmaster also gives a timing for the end of the pre-sale that is BEFORE its start
No snow here in Southern Finland but +3 C... / Jarkko ***

[Relate]

I would dearly love to go to this but, being based in London, I would rather save my pennies and travel to somewhere closer to home.

Jarkko - can you give us a hint whether there may be the slightest chance that he will be playing somewhere in Europe later on in the year??

If only I knew the answer to this I would know whether or not to push the boat out on Wednesday

[loulou]

Relate
as he has done Europe very thoroughly during with two legs in 2008, I would not assume more concerts in Europe if I was you.

***Well, I wouldn't be so sure... There are important countries still waiting for their turn, like Spain (Benicassim festival does not count).
Unfortunately there is no answer to this question about another leg in Europe. It will be decided much later, after leg 3 is done and probably
leg 4 under way. All I can say is that it remains to be seen. / Jarkko ***

[amcgee]

Hi

UNfortunately i have to agree with davem99 as follows


-----
So Leonard is doing a one off gig in a historic theatre in New York for the US media (and a few fans) to use as a platform to announce his US tour.

Well woopy do. That was worth five days of build up wasn't it?

Talk about hyping an event.
-----

its great news that Leonard is playing this concert in new yourk, i did consider trying to go, but in this recessionary period i coundn't justify forking out a lot of money to get to new york, although i would love to go, my wife said , its just not feasible... and i would have to agree. But she did laugh when i told her what the big announcement was, which for me was an obvious announcement, but i don't know why so much hype had to be made of it, i was hoping it would be some major award or something on that line, not another event to add more money to his retirement fund.
I saw him in Dublin, i gladly paid a lot of money to see him, had the most wonderful night of my musical life, but feals that Cohen is now milking the fans for more money for his retirement fund...thats just my opinion. But i still will go out and buy the dvd.
I am going to see Dylan in the point in Dublin in May , and the price of the ticket was less than half Cohen's ticket price.
amcgee

[anneporter]

A warning re: the Dylan concert--

If the Dublin concert is as bad as his birthday concert in St. John's last year, it will not only be half the price of a Cohen concert, it will be less than half the value.

Sorry to be a wet blanket...and it is obviously only my opinion...

Anne

[amcgee]

Hi

re annaeporter

true, i have seen Dylan 4 times and and on two of the concerts he was awful, on one of the occasion(in galway a few years ago) he sang like an out of tune cat, i actually left early it was so bad.. but the other two times he was brilliant(kilkenny and Cork). However not to be dragging the comparisons between Cohen and Dylan into it, but for me Cohen delivers a much better performance to the audiance. and therefore i suppose the price comparison between Dylans tickets and Cohen's prices is unfair, because you definately get more value for money a Cohen's gigs. I am a bigger Cohen fan, than Dylan. I don't expect Dylan to perform great, i think with dylan you go in expecting a poor concert and then are happy when he gives you a good one.
Mind you when i went to Cohen this year, i was going with a low expectation also and was blown away with how good he was and how good the band were

So thank you Cohen, come back and play in the Point in Dulin

amcgee

[ladydi]

One more hat in the ring, and I won't belabor the point but I was majorly underimpressed with a Dylan concert in Michigan just over a year ago. Songs were mechanical and no feeling passed between him and the audience...just lots of fans happy to hear their favorites. Leonard's Copenhagen concert was awesome and more than worth the trip overseas and the tickets!

Yes, the original tour was to try and recoup his lost retirement money; however, I don't think anyone, least of all Leonard, realized how much his fan base still loves him plus new fans were created at every concert! Why do certain people think he is now milking these same fans? There were many in western Canada and the US who wanted desperately to see him but couldn't afford the fare to Europe plus the negative exchange rate. So now he is giving a special concert for fans (and yes, media) in New York. What is wrong with that?

The "hype" as you put it was not created by Jarkko. I was created by all of us who had a blast guessing for several days. It was fun and light hearted, and all of us who will now have the opportunity to see him in New York are completely thrilled. Just as we were when we followed every European concert and read all your comments.

What about all the various "older" groups and artists who still tour? Are they also milking their fans....or is Leonard being singled out? Perhaps he should give the concerts for free! At the New York concert there are several levels of ticket prices and most are VERY affordable. The expensive seats will be bought by those who can afford them. I would not say that prices below $100. is "milking". In fact Leonard's concerts tickets are comparable with other artists of his caliber.

He seems to be enjoying these tours and is in great shape. His fans are also enjoying the concerts. I don't understand why some seem to feel that since he has recovered his loss, he should call it a day.

[david birkett]

And here was I, fondly hoping the special concert would be at the museum in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. I had a wonderful day and evening at the first O2 concert, and will be with you all in spirit, my finances being woefully inadequate to a transatlantic jaunt. In the meantime, here is the opportunity Mr. Cohen is missing.





Peace -


David

[jds]

Hi folks.... How do I get a ticket for the NY concert - went to the Beacon Hall homepage but no info there!!!

Cheers from Denmark now in Canada

[amcgee]

Hi

re ladydi

i mostly agree with you to be honest. I do think initially his tour was more about , getting some money and now that he has got that, he is doing the concerts more for pleasure than for financial reasons, the concert tickets in new work are very reasonable, but for peole outside America or even New York, it will cost you a lot of money to get there, so therefore why create such hype over something that only benefits a few in new York and those who can fly over to New York on the drop of a hat.
I wouldn't blame Jarkko for this hype, and certainly he is just passing on the information, but why couldn't the announcement have being made from day one and not leaving us waiting for 5 days to find out this information??
A topic with "A Very Special Announcement" within a cohen fan site, led us to believe it was going to be something very special, its great that this concert is going a head, but really its just another concert, except this time it's in New York.
and certainly is a lead up to a general tour in USA. yippee for USA
Not much use for people outside USA apart from the knowledge that the great man's greatness will be felt by more people and his great work appreciated more..

amcgee

[Paula]

Amcgee would you feel he was milking the fans if you had not already seen him but wanted to. I suspect not. There are still thousands of fans who are really looking forward to seeing him live if you asked them I am sure they would not think they were being milked.

LC has not toured for 15 years his concerts are well worth the money the difference between LC and Dylan is quality not quantity.

Leonard is healthy, his voice is in really good form, he seems to be really enjoying the reactions he is getting and for all the years his music has given me pleasure I am glad he is able to do this tour in the autumn of his years and do it so well. I do not feel I have been milked at all.

[jarkko]

jds: go to http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/beacon.html and be ready tomorrow.
amcgee: there are many visitors to this Forum and The Files who have a look at the developments once a week, or even less frequently (majority of visitors I'd say).
If any news like this would be made public at a day's or an hour's notice, most of Cohenites had missed it (and had had to buy their tickets from scalpers/touts). And
don't forget the extras that make this concert quite exceptional. Concluding from the flow of email since the announcement, there will be fans flying over to New York
from all over the world, but naturally most will be from the New York area.

[da2008]

i noticed somebody above me posted ticketmaster information. one question is (repeating the poster above)- the beginning of the presale has a different time - 2pm on our sites and 12 pm on ticketmaster. any idea about that? much appreciated!!

i'm not sure about those vip tickets... the idea is amazing, but considering they will be very limited, i don't want to miss out on just getting tickets going for something better.

[da2008]

ps also, i would rank this event as pretty special. very special, actually. and for the record, i'm not from new york or the us, but i will be trying my hardest to be there on february 19...