The charm of live concerts
I don't know what prompted it, but recently we purchased a DVD with the Leonard Cohen's 2008 concert in London. I didn't mind, and not only because we already had the tickets to last night's concert.
We had the DVD at home for a while before one evening we decided to put it on. I had thought I would read or play Zelda or something to spend the time, but that didn't happen. Instead, I was fully transfixed, listening, watching, absorbing the whole 3 hours of the recording. The man is that good.
Having seen the concert in advance did in no way spoil the live experience last night. As it usually goes, if the recording is enjoyable, then being in the concert is pretty much a must. And luckily Leonard Cohen and his crew is still on the same tour that started more than two years ago. What is maybe surprising when one buys a ticket to a Leonard Cohen concert is that one does not only get Leonard Cohen, but in fact a whole band of highly talented and multi-instrumental people is tossed in. Not that he would need it, mind you. His deep voice plus an instrument (strings or keyboards are ok) would fill up any concert hall for the duration of the concert. Still, the music and the songs they play make a great impression. Their style fit nicely to our recenetly aquired taste in jazz-like or blues-like pieces. The outstanding feature here is that in many or most of the songs on stage each instrumentalist (vocal cords included) gets to do a solo for a while, spiced by a good measure of improvisation.
Leonard Cohen has grown in years since the DVD, but he doesn't look like he would age a bit. He shows agility on the stage some may even call unfitting for a 76-year-old. To me it is delightful. He writes most of the songs himself, some with his associate Robinson who, sadly, wasn't on the stage last night. They appear simple - one theme, chained verses, usually returning to the begining some time near their end - but they are long, yet never boring, deep and good for listening to.
We were a good crowd, apparently. It was nice to be called "friends" by Cohen, and the fact that we received 4 encores also helps.
I have been to a nice number of concerts, U2 having the highest count by far. But something tells me last night will stick in my memory for a long time. Thank you, Leonard Cohen, and I hope that, as you said, you will come through these parts again some time in the future.
We had the DVD at home for a while before one evening we decided to put it on. I had thought I would read or play Zelda or something to spend the time, but that didn't happen. Instead, I was fully transfixed, listening, watching, absorbing the whole 3 hours of the recording. The man is that good.
Having seen the concert in advance did in no way spoil the live experience last night. As it usually goes, if the recording is enjoyable, then being in the concert is pretty much a must. And luckily Leonard Cohen and his crew is still on the same tour that started more than two years ago. What is maybe surprising when one buys a ticket to a Leonard Cohen concert is that one does not only get Leonard Cohen, but in fact a whole band of highly talented and multi-instrumental people is tossed in. Not that he would need it, mind you. His deep voice plus an instrument (strings or keyboards are ok) would fill up any concert hall for the duration of the concert. Still, the music and the songs they play make a great impression. Their style fit nicely to our recenetly aquired taste in jazz-like or blues-like pieces. The outstanding feature here is that in many or most of the songs on stage each instrumentalist (vocal cords included) gets to do a solo for a while, spiced by a good measure of improvisation.
Leonard Cohen has grown in years since the DVD, but he doesn't look like he would age a bit. He shows agility on the stage some may even call unfitting for a 76-year-old. To me it is delightful. He writes most of the songs himself, some with his associate Robinson who, sadly, wasn't on the stage last night. They appear simple - one theme, chained verses, usually returning to the begining some time near their end - but they are long, yet never boring, deep and good for listening to.
We were a good crowd, apparently. It was nice to be called "friends" by Cohen, and the fact that we received 4 encores also helps.
I have been to a nice number of concerts, U2 having the highest count by far. But something tells me last night will stick in my memory for a long time. Thank you, Leonard Cohen, and I hope that, as you said, you will come through these parts again some time in the future.