CONCERT REPORT: Edmonton, April 25

[LisaLCFan]

Hi, I'm new to this site, but I'm a lifelong Leonard Cohen fan. I finally got to see him live, last night in Edmonton. All I can say is, I have experienced the Rapture! Mr. Cohen sang one amazing song after another, with class and sincerity and energy. I was enthralled! The old songs that I've always loved are absolutely timeless, and it was wonderful to hear them again, in Leonard's more mature, deep velvet voice. The newer songs have found a place in my heart, too. His grace and humbleness and warmth filled the arena. Speaking of which, even though I was in an arena, I felt like I was in an intimate club, with the lighting and the sound perfect and sublime. It did not hurt that I was in the third row from the stage! Mr. Cohen often thanked us for being there, and said it was his honour to play for us. The honour was all ours! What an extraordinary talent, and what a delight to have been there. If by some miracle he ever reads this, Thank you, Mr. Cohen, you have touched my life and taken it to new and wonderful levels with your songs. I shall never forget last night!

[Scor]

Here is the setlist (to the best of my recollection):

First Set
1. Dance Me to the End Of Love
2. The Future
3. Ain't No Cure For Love
4. Bird on the Wire
5. Everybody Knows
6. In My Secret Life
7. Who By Fire
8. Chelsea Hotel No. 2
9. Waiting for the Miracle
10. Anthem

Second Set
11. Tower of Song
12. Suzanne
13. The Gypsy's Wife
14. The Partisan
15. Boogie Street
16. Hallelujah
17. I'm Your Man
18. A Thousand Kisses Deep
19. Take This Waltz

First Encore
20. So Long, Marianne
21. First We Take Manhattan

Second Encore
22. Famous Blue Raincoat
23. If It Be Your Will

Third Encore
24. Sisters of Mercy
25. Closing Time

Fourth Encore
26. I Tried to Leave You
27. Whither Thou Goest

I am uncertain about the order from 22-24 but other than that it's about right. Awesome show, great sound, not a dull moment. Loved it. =) And BTW First We Take Manhattan ROCKED!

[Tasha0007]

A message to Mr. Cohen....
I, along with my dearest friends and family, got the ultimate honour to be near you and be touched by your words and music last night. It was, without a doubt, the most intimate, emotional experiance that could be had amongst 11, 000 people. My nephew has been named after you, to be a constant reminder to us of passion and honesty.
I missed songs 20-27 as I patiently and reverntly waited beside your black chevy for the possibility of a chance to meet you in person. I thank you a thousand times for your kindness in stopping and signing my tour book. I will have it framed and gifted to my nephew as he grows and learns your words. You are a true teacher of graciousness and humility. I feel blessed to have been able to be there, in that moment of time, with you and will never forget what a gentleman you are.
Respectfully Yours,
Natasha Kapitaniuk
Athabasca, Alberta, Canada

[lizzytysh]

I'm sorry you missed the encores, yet I'm so happy for you, Tasha, that you were able to meet Leonard and get him to sign your tour book. Such an incredibe, lifelong gift for your nephew to be given, in both his name and the real signature of the one from whom it came.

Thank you, Lisa, for your words, as well... I've copied both to share with someone, along with Kelsey's from Seattle.


~ Lizzy

[MaryB]

Natasha,

It's a pity you didn't have a setlist or you could have caught 20-26 and left before or during his last song and still have been able to catch up with him outside. But to meet him in person is the ultimate and I'm sure was well worth missing the last songs.

Thank you LisaLCfan and Natasha for posting your wonderful reviews and Scor for the setlist! Welcome to the forum, congrats on your first posts, and hope you 'newbies' will continue to join us here!

Best regards,
Mary

[Goodfella213]

Hey Everybody,

The Edmonton show was Awsome!!! I went to Seattle on thursday and Edmonton on saturday. I had the ultimate expirience in Edmonton.

Check this out......

I arrived at the show with some tickets I had bought, they were lower bowl, But just average seats. On my way in, A guy stopped me and my buddy to ask us if we had good seats, or if we were interested in taking some better ones he would not be using. HE HAD FRONT ROW, CENTER STAGE!!! He could not stay for the show and told us to give him a hundred bucks each. OF COURSE WE DID!!!

I have a painting a friend of mine did of Leonard Cohen... I have been to London, Seattle, and Canada trying to get it signed. I have had no luck. Last night during the last song of the night I unrolled it and showed it to Leonard. While he looked at it, I held up a marker. He ever so slightly notted his head "yes". I set it down on the edge of the stage, Leonard walked over and signed the painting!!!

I showed it to the crown and got a big round of applause. It was perfect!!!!

Joel

[MaryB]

Joel,

Boy, did everything finally fall in place for you! Yeeeeeah, you got the painting signed after carrying it around with you all over the world! The painting is a true work of art - how could LC resist after he saw it. What a fantastic way it was done! You must be on such a high after that!

Best regards,
Mary

[joanna_b]

Congratulations on getting your painting signed! I was in my hometown Saturday night and saw that Leonard stooped and signed it and afterwards you held it aloft for the crowd to see and share your post concert joy.

On the Entertainment Page of the Edmonton Journal spectators/participants (impossible to separate) at the Saturday show were invited to post a review. Mine follows. joanna_b now of Penticton, British Columbia;
long time LC fan since the days of 'Suzanne' in tenth grade at JPCHS

I just touched down in Kelowna after flying out to my ex-home town to see 'the man from Montreal.' It was an honour and privilege to once more (Hamilton Place last June) experience the magical and mystical words and music of Leonard Cohen. Really there are no adequate words to express the humility, depth, grace and yes, droll humour that this artist extraordinaire exudes in every song, every word. At various times during the 3 hour plus concert I found myself incredibly moved and touched (with tears rolling down my cheeks) hearing the words up close and personal LIVE in Seat 20/ Section 120 last night. Knowing that the whole ensemble has passed the 100 concert mark made me wonder if the energy would still be there almost a year since I saw the performance in Hamilton, Ontario.. But yes, Leonard himself looked like he was still having a good time and his back up musicians and singers were as well. The synergy of this amazing group was truly outstanding in every song on Leonard's incredible playlist. And to wrap this up, let me say that the addition of a personal favourite, 'Chelsea Hotel' (I have too many to list) was an aural treat. And when Leonard sang the Edmonton composed 'Sisters of Mercy' I couldn't help but wonder if Barbara and Lorraine, the sisters who apparently still live in Edmonton were somewhere in the audience listening about a long ago winter night in Edmonton. Singing along to 'Halleluiah was such a tremendous moment. Thank you, Mr. Cohen. You are simply the best!

Getting back to the unique difference aspect, in Hamilton at Hamilton Place Leonard was gifted with a stuffed monkey and a plywood violin and in Edmonton he got a yellow lily when he sang of Father's Day during the always stirring rendition of First We Take Manhattan.

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

Ah remember me, I used to live for music
Remember me, I brought your groceries in
Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

For these special unique differences and so very much more LIVE is always the best! But I will still immensely enjoy the superb sound recording of the latest Live in London release visualizing track by track each and every song with...the excellent addition of Chelsea Hotel.

[MaryB]

Hi Joanna and welcome to the forum! Nice to see you are finally a member and posting.

Apparently we were at the same concert in Hamilton because you mentioned him receiving a monkey and plywood violin at that concert. Well, that was me. At that time, it was only a blue monkey that I tossed on stage right at the line 'thank you for the items that you sent me'. I did not gift him with with the whole shebang until Phoenix when it was gently placed on stage at the beginning of FWTM for LC to enjoy during the whole song, and enjoy he did. The lily was a great idea! Could you have been the gifter in this case?

The Edmonton Journal must have been very pleased to post your excellent review. You should be very proud. Too bad that there was no meetup for the Hamilton concerts - it would have been a pleasure to have met you.

Best regards,
Mary

[DeeCeedoubleU]

Leonard Cohen you are musical genius. The Edmonton concert was note perfect, sublime, mesmerizing, breathtakingly beautiful and every other positive description available. Only such a maestro of music could choose to be accompanied by such magnificent back up singers as Sharon Robinson and the Webb Sisters, and the most outstanding musicians ever. My husband and I are almost 120 years old between us and we have seen many concerts, in many cities across the globe and Leonard Cohen's gift to Edmonton this past Saturday evening was clearly our favourite concert ever. We were and we remain in total awe. Almost 48 hours after our 'Closing Time' we are still singing and humming Cohen tunes, playing our CD's, and searching the Internet for "more". We plain and simply cannot come down from the tremendous euphoria that this concert created in us, and nor do we want to. My husband paints cars for a living. He does his best thinking while he paints. He said today all he could do was sing Leonard Cohen songs, over and over in his head. With each pass of his spray gun, he would sing another line. So absolutely enthralling was this treat, that we feel honoured and blessed to have shared with with Mr Cohen and company and 11,000 others at Rexall. Thank you kind sir!

[LisaLCFan]

Hey Mary B (and everyone), Thanks for the Welcome! I will stick around, now that I've found this great site! (Funny, it just never occurred to me to look for something like this site, until recently.)

Like everyone else, I have been on such a high since the concert on Saturday, all I've been doing is listening to Cohen CDs, and watching Live in London, to try to relive my experience as much as possible. It may sound silly, but I can hardly sleep at night, because I lay awake with Cohen songs in my head, and I want to get up and listen to more. It's like I'm an addict on a bender! Ah, but what an addiction!

When I read over the words I wrote after the concert in the above box, it demonstrated how mere words (at least, MY words) could not possibly replicate what it was like to have been there. I guess that's why we have hearts, to hold onto the really great memories that transcend language.

Cheers!

[MaryB]

DeeCeeDoubleU,

I would like to extend my welcome to you on this forum. It is evident by your heartfelt post that you are a kindred spirit. Hope to hear more from you here!

LisaLCfan,

We here know exactly how you feel! Perhaps that's why st theresa started the topic 'Support group for forum addicts' in 'Everything Else'. Maybe you should join us there while you are going through LC concert withdrawal

Best regards to both of you,
Mary

[overthehill]

This was the best show I have ever seen, even though it was in the horrible venue Rexall Place. I am so envious of Calgarians, who saw him in a very small venue!

However, Leonard and his singers and band gave us a show worth remembering!
How I would have liked to see him in a smaller venue! A hockey arena manages to attract the beer swilling yobs who don't know when to keep their mouths shut in a show such as this!!!!! Luckily, the majority were true LC fans, who knew his music!

[DeeCeedoubleU]

Hi folks,
I wanted to say thank you to those welcoming me to this site, specifically to Mary B.
I have been wanting to post for a couple of weeks and in fact I started posting one day previously, I was interrupted mid sentence, and I have not had the chance to return until this evening.
The past few weeks, since my husband and I attended the absolutely awesome Edmonton Leonard Cohen and company, concert have been busy and rather up and down in our lives.
On a positive note, although I will miss her immensely, I have been helping my daughter pack up her apt., and life in Edmonton as she is moving to Innsbruck, Austria to reside with her Austrian boyfriend. Packed in her suitcase is one of Leonard's artistically wonderful shopping bags, for use while shopping so far away from home and a copy of The Live in London CD. On another positive note, my son had his college commencement last Saturday, and he is now officially a Graphic Designer. This is a huge accomplishment for him after his having previously left The Alberta College of Art, midway through his B.F.A. to move back home with us and pay off some student loans, before returning to another college. He was also fortunate to recently land a new job in his field, thus moving out of our home and into his sister's former apartment.
On a negative note my husband lost his job on May 1st. It is his second lay-off since December 2008, the first due to down-sizing and the latest due to work shortage. It is not an easy thing for an almost sixty year old man to go through. We aren't independently wealthy, we've had some previous setbacks and we probably didn't plan our lives right (i.e.he is in no position to retire) so it's been quite devastating for us. Plus on a humorous note, he was just getting used to humming Cohen tunes, (post concert) while he made passes across vehicles with his paint gun. He's an autobody mechanic and painter. As my kids would say, the current world economy "sucks"!
There have been a few notable things that have really helped us get through the roller-coaster ride that has been our life in the days since the concert. Included in these notables, are our fabulous memories of the evening with Leonard Cohen, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters and all of the hugely talented back up musicians here in Edmonton. Secondly since the concert playing our copy of The Live in London CD, and several other Cohen CD's, and the wonderful feeling that singing along with them gives us, has given us a real boost. These things have really kept us going and we are so thankful for them. Cheers folks and may you cherish your own concert memories and enjoy all the days of your life.

[MaryB]

DeeCeedoubleU,

What wonderful send-off gifts for your daughter! I know she will be sorely missed, but what an opportunity to live in Austria.

Congratulations, to your son AND you two, on his graduation and his job!

So sorry to hear about your husband's layoff . As your children have said, 'the economy 'sucks' '. Hopefully, your memories of the concert and LC's music will get you through this stressful time and you will again, as LC says in concert, "fall on the lucky side". Wishing you all the best!

Kindest regards,
Mary