leonardcohenforum.com

Hi fellow Cohenites,

Nothing more to say, so here are the pictures:
Direct link: http://www.maartenmassa.be/images/Album ... index.html
or go to www.maartenmassa.be and click on "LC Documents"...

Enjoy,
Maarten

(San José to follow shortly)

Me too, Marie! We will always have the patisserie! What wonderful hours we spent talking and laughing! And I will always remember our 1am encounter with Rafael in the empty hallway!

More to come...

ps..it was WONDERFUL to touch your hand!

Maarten
Not only did you make unique creative name tags
but now looking at your photos I see the artist and photographer
you really are! Those are very good and I look forward to taking the time to view them over
and over again.
Thank you sweet man! You are an incredibly sweet and gentle soul with a huge heart. I am so glad to have met you!
Leslie

Marie & Diana,

What 1AM Rafael encounter - do tell soooon please!

Maarten,

WOW! Every photo is perfection! What a plethora of pictures - how did you manage to actually view the concert?

Warmest regards,
Mary

Marie such a nice read...I felt like I was reliving the whole experience all over again..
I too wish there had been cameras filming Leonard kissing your hand. I loved meeting you in person
and spending so much time with you and Diana especially having coffee outside the patisserie. chuckle, chuckle...
what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I love that line.
I know we will meet again somewhere someplace... and your lovely Albert!
maybe in Dublin...
Leslie

Maarten..

Your photos are awesome!!! You must have had your camera in your hand all the time (ala Joey!). Silly, but the one thing that I REALLY noticed was that Charley had curly hair in Vegas, and straight hair in San Jose! Must have been the water

Thank you SO much for sharing these! I'll post some of my "non-concert" photos tomorrow!

And, Maarten, thank you SO SO very much for the name tags and lanyards, and for listening to all my ups and downs over the period of a couple of weeks. It all worked out perfectly, but some moments were tense!

Big hug,
Diana

Marie and Maarten,

So much to respond to...but for me it must be tomorrow...off to bed now. I am still on the highest high I've ever experienced! How wonderful every moment was!

Diana

Hi,
Thank you for all the kind words...
One little detail: these photos were all taken after the intermission, because I wasn't sure if taking pictures was allowed and went over to one of the security guys during the break to ask if we could take "a couple of pictures for personal use".

Yes, Charley had indeed straight hair in San José. I will post those pics tomorrow or so.

Love you all!!!!

Maarten

This is for the San Jose thread as well:
I am still on a high from this 3 day adventure and hope never to come down! I loved meeting all of you and the connections were fun and wonderful.
I think there were so many levels to this event. First meeting everyone and all the meetups before the concerts and after...
the fun we all had at the buffet and then there was meeting the various band members before each concert and how kind they were and how easy it all was. I loved the spontaneous sightings of some of the band members...Then of course the wonderful concerts! After Las Vegas I thought "this is the best concert I have seen in my life" but then when San Jose happened something took off from the minute Leonard came on the stage and I knew we were in for a delightful crazy evening. He was at his best and seemed so touched by all the applause and tender moments that happened..the glow lights, the women tearing off oops! throwing their blouses on the stage, the hooting and hollering of many of us (especially Diana's comment). This was indeed my best Leonard concert ever...
and the incredible musicians who really gave their all that night and seemed so into it. Leonard was in top form and man is he sexy and deep and profound!!!!
I loved meeting Jarkko and Eija and thank you Jarkko for everything! I could go on and on and list all of your names (Marie and Albert, Mary and George, Diana, Lisa, Mary Mollydog, Marsha, Vlasta,Lizzy, Conny, Michael, Phillipe, Roman, Graham, Nico, Novabella, Arlene, Marie M, Ken, Dick, Sue , Wendy,Maarten, Esther, Denise, Bonnie, Dar, Anne, Sharon...it goes on and on and I am sorry if I missed any of you...but each and everyone contributed and made this such a memorable event for me and for all of us! I can't believe I was up until 3:30 in the Fairmont lobby bar after the San Jose concert as I usually am an early riser and get to bed early...I am loving all the videos and photos..
I do hope there are more concerts I can attend so I patiently await the announcements of the rest of the tour.
Thank you Leonard for your music and song and bringing us all together.
I have a nephew who was a Deadhead and one who follows the band Phish and I am proud to be a Cohenite! YES!
Love Leslie (Mutti)

Maarten - beautiful photographs.

Thank you!

Great Las Vegas photos Maarten. I can't wait to see the ones from San jose!

Marsha

I've been meaning to post, but haven't had time. I just want to thank everyone who made the dinner on Nov. 11 possible. It was a pleasure to meet so many of you. I also wanted to comment on how grateful I am for the opportunity to finally see Leonard Cohen in concert, especially after the Red Rocks show being postponed.

As I was standing in the car rental line in Denver--the sky looking like it was going to tumble down on top of us--, my friend and I were talking to a guy behind us who said: "Cohen would NEVER play Vegas." I'm so glad he was wrong. I've always found Las Vegas to be a tacky, gaudy town, but Caesar's really was a great venue. The sound was perfect, and the crowd was definitely spirited.

After listening to many of Leonard's live recordings, I think that it is easy to argue that this is the best band he has ever had, and I think they even sounded better than they did on the wonderful Live In London concert (which I practically know note for note.) The only exception is that Dino didn't do a harmonica solo on "So Long Marianne," but the soprano sax was a nice touch. Leonard's voice sounded great.

Best Wishes,

John Draper
Salt Lake City, UT

Leonard Cohen Forum Fans Slideshow
A celebtration of the final two concerts of the Fall 2009 North America leg of the tour in Las Vegas and San Jose. We started with the Forum dinner on November 11, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B94QyQecOvM

The three days of non-stop excitement melded together into one giant thrill so I combined all the pics into one video.

Special thanks to:
-Kim Solez for letting me use some of his great arena shots
http://gallery.me.com/evocative1#100741
-Allan Showalter aka Dr HGuy/Heck for his techno help
-Diana/ladydi, who always gives so generously with her time, to help with the names

Enjoy!
---Arlene

Arlene! thank you soooooo much for this slideshow! It is so nice to have this and so well done. You chronicled some special moments and I am so grateful to you and all the others for doing this. THANK YOU!!! for all your devotion and hard work creating these creative slideshows and photos and videos..You are an angel! and also for arranging the shuttle ride to the airport. Look forward to seeing you again somewhere and another concert. We will always have Las Vegas and San Jose to remember!
Love Leslie (Mutti)

Dear Arlene,

Your slide show (to the sound of Leonard and "Closing Time"!) is totally awesome!! What an excellent presentation! I found myself smiling through the whole thing as each photo and scene brought back a wealth of warm memories! Thank you, thank you!

Diana