CONCERT REPORT: Las Vegas, NV, November 12

[yentek]

Walking on the Strip a while ago and overheard three people deciding what show to see this evening. They mentioned LC, but one of them commented "a bit too mellow". "Pardon my interruption" says I, "but I could not help overhearing your conversation". Then I remarked that mellow is the last word one would associate with the concert, and that they would be in for one of the most emotional concert experiences ever, and an evening that would live with them forever! I must have been quite convincing, or alternatively they just wanted to get rid of the weird stranger, but they turned around and headed for Ceasers to see if any seats were left.

[MusicCityGypsy]

yentek -

what an awesome story, hopefully they will be there tonight because they will be missing out if they're not there. That was nice of you to point the "regular folk" in the right direction I feel like I should make cards to pass out "FOR A GOOD TIME GO TO A LEONARD COHEN CONCERT" It's funny that they thought he would be "too mellow" ha ha ha ha ha I agree with you that it's not mellow at all!

Thinking of you all tonight in Vegas -

Cara

[sturgess66]

A couple of caricatures from two recent Las Vegas articles about the show tonight -

LC-LasVegasDavidStroudImage.jpg (8.88 KiB) Viewed 2602 times

David Stroud

Chris Morris

And - I think Twitter is taking a little coffee break - but here are some -

thekrisspecial Nick is on his way to Vegas to see Leonard Cohen. about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck

bbenz Gloomy day in Vegas. Perfect for a Leonard Cohen Concert! about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck

BWTB will be in the crowd at Caesars tonight for Leonard Cohen. about 2 hours ago from web

RichardAbowitz Sad I am not going to see Leonard Cohen in Vegas. I have discs and can read and write and listen. It isn't like he pogos about like HR. about 2 hours ago from web

But I still wish I was going. Oh, and I wish he could sing "Democracy" while pogoing about like HR of Bad Brains. That would be fun. about 2 hours ago from web

sacredpickle these people (parents) are going on and on about the Leonard Cohen concert they saw. On. And. On. about 2 hours ago from txt

ColosseumatCP Don't miss the legendary Leonard Cohen TONIGHT at 8pm in one of his final tour performances. For tickets http://tinyurl.com/yftkh9p about 1 hour ago from web

Caroline_Pierce @RichardAbowitz aw, I'm sad you aren't going to see Leonard Cohen too, and sad I'm not going as well about 1 hour ago from web

ACD4 I'm going to a Leonard Cohen concert tomorrow. I wonder if anyone knows who he is. about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

- um -

theonlymeyouget @ACD4 How do you not know who Leonard Cohen is? about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

ACD4 Well, I keep telling everyone I'm going to a Leonard Cohen concert and I get blank stares! about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

i_cant_look I begin the Leonard Cohen concert smugly pleased with my comfortable shoes. At the end of the show I'm sobbing in gratitude. 37 minutes ago from web

ACD4 @shelby5 I need to make new friends who know Leonard Cohen 30 minutes ago from TweetDeck

mikeyvegas Aight, gotta get ready for Leonard Cohen! 20 minutes ago from TweetDeck

Eddie_Rivkin Headed to Caesars Palace for dinner and to see Leonard Cohen, nuff said!!! 12 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

ca1ty wish leonard cohen's voice was still as sweet as honey as when he was young. 13 minutes ago from web

Ke7eNDuNN Going to see Leonard Cohen tonight. 12 minutes ago from Tweetie

jencreason Heading to Caesar's for a bite & Leonard Cohen w/ @Andy_Bloch @melissalvla @EmilyJillette & a few thousand others. 25 minutes ago from Twitterrific

novabella Leonard Cohen in 35 minutes! 15 minutes ago from Twitterrific

# shawnasayshi Off to see Leonard Cohen at Caesar's Palace... xoxox Will be in an incredibly inspired and moved state when I return! 9 minutes ago from web

[sue7]

Thanks for the tweets, LInda.
Here's my favorite by far:

i_cant_look I begin the Leonard Cohen concert smugly pleased with my comfortable shoes. At the end of the show I'm sobbing in gratitude. 37 minutes ago from web

[sturgess66]

We're getting closer. Hey - it's 10:58 p.m. here on the East Coast!

LaurieHutzler Sitting in Caesars Palace Coliseum waiting for Leonard Cohen consert to begin. Beatiful venue. 8 minutes ago from TweetDeck

EmilyJillette Leonard Cohen at Colosseum! Yay! With @jencreason @andybloch @melissalvla - best concert I've seen in a long time! 2 minutes ago from Echofon

? And it hasn't even started yet.

jzellis Leonard Cohen about to start. Yay! 2 minutes ago from Tweetie

Jill_Fichtner Very interesting crowd @ Leonard Cohen concert....no typecasting his fan base. less than 20 seconds ago from TwiXtreme

Andy_Bloch At Caesars to see Leonard Cohen w. @jencreason @EmilyJillette @melissalvla less than a minute ago from Tweetie

melissalvla At Leonard Cohen w @emilyjillette @jencreason and @Andy_Bloch 7 rows in front. And were in row 14! half a minute ago from Echofon

EmilyJillette Leonard Cohen opened with "Dance Me to the End of Love" to a full appreciative house @CaesarsPalace 8 minutes ago from Echofon

# less than a minute ago from txt
# Newgardenhat_062809_normal MelissaJBond Oh to have seen that RT @EmilyJillette: Leonard Cohen opened with "Dance Me to the End of Love" to a full appreciative house @CaesarsPalace 6 minutes ago from TweetDeck

SPRUNT @EmilyJillette I'm so jealous right now. Leonard Cohen came here a while ago. Too expensive. 2 minutes ago from txt

[

djtatiana Leonard Cohen is performing tonight at Caesars Palace. He is phenominal. If i was not DJ'ing i'd be in his audience. 2 minutes ago from mobile web

agent_o Leonard Cohen is a religious experience! i'm in tears... 10 minutes ago from mobile web

djtatiana Leonard Cohen is performing tonight at Caesars Palace. He is phenominal. If i was not DJ'ing i'd be in his audience. 2 minutes ago from mobile web

Robin_Leach RT @EmilyJillette: Leonard Cohen at Colosseum! Yay! With @jencreason @andybloch @melissalvla - best concert I've seen in a long time! about 7 hours ago from Echofon

Robin_Leach RT @EmilyJillette: Leonard Cohen opened with "Dance Me to the End of Love" to a full appreciative house @CaesarsPalace about 7 hours ago from Echofon

Robin_Leach RT @EmilyJillette: At intermission at Leonard Cohen. Lots of friends here. Wonderful show. http://twitpic.com/pbhu9 about 7 hours ago from Echofon

anthonyvoevodin @EmilyJillette I went to see Leonard Cohen with @saschav in Brisbane, he came to Australia in Feb. Best concert ever, We'll never forget it. about 6 hours ago from TweetDeck

EmilyJillette I do have to say it's possible Leonard Cohen is not performing tonight. That might be Leonard Nimoy on stage. Photo double. @CaesarsPalace about 6 hours ago from Echofon

biphenyl Shit Leonard Cohen sure is good. about 5 hours ago from Tweetie

RedheadJules Leonard Cohen is so amaaaazzzzzzing!!! 3 hour set... He's 75 years old. Wow. about 5 hours ago from UberTwitter

JonnyKineticJon Returning from the Leonard Cohen concert...It was great! about 4 hours ago from MySpace

BarneyBlue1 Wow!! Leonard Cohen kept that up for 3 1/2 hours...he's amazing for any age. What a fantastic concert!! about 4 hours ago from web

A_N_E_T Leonard Cohen was amazing. That voice & poetry brings tears to my eyes. Amazing. about 3 hours ago from Echofon

minlasvegas Leonard Cohen concert last night at Caesar's Palace was great and the Coliseum was packed. Ate at Spago's before the show. Awesome! 3 minutes ago from web

PGully3 just got back from seeing leonard cohen at caesar's ... easily the greatest live performance i've ever seen. about 2 hours ago from web

I THINK LEONARD TOOK LAS VEGAS!

[blonde madonna]

Hallelujah, my opinion on tweeting has been confirmed.

[Maarten]

Great concert (as always), they played both new songs: first "Feels So Good" (this is the "Blues song" as we call it, but it's name on the stagelist is "Feels So Good"!!!) followed by "The Darkness" (not mentioned on the stagelist). No "The Flood".

Dance me
The Future
Ain't no cure
Bird on the wire
Everybody knows
Secret life
Who by fire
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting for
Anthem

Tower of S
Suzanne (with glowsticks)
Sisters O M
Gypsy's wife
FEELS SO GOOD
THE DARKNESS
Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm your man
A 1000 kisses
Take this waltz

So Long M
First we take

Famous Blue r
If it be your will
Closing time

I ttried to leave you

That's it. LC said something like "I'd like to thank the members of the forum for traveling all this way to see this show". Can't recall exactly...

It's 3AM and we have the get our shuttle to the airport at 8.45, so got to go to bed now!

Maarten

[sturgess66]

From Las Vegas Weekly -
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/blogs/off ... ard-cohen/

Late-night Thoughts on Leonard Cohen

By Spencer Patterson

* For those worried about Leonard Cohen’s health after his September onstage collapse: The folk-rock icon actually appears healthier at 75 than he did at 74. During his hour-long set at April’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Cohen took several rests, sitting while singing for parts of his performance. Tonight at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Cohen—who moved past the three-quarter-century mark on September 21) stood for the entirety of his colossal two-and-a-half-hour concert (save a 20-minute intermission), remaining upright even during full-song lead-vocal turns by his backing singers, Sharon Robinson (“Boogie Street”) and the Webb Sisters (“If It Be Your Will”). Cohen also galloped—seriously, no exaggeration—on and off the stage between each portion of the show, which ended with three separate encore segments comprising six total numbers. Take that, weary 20-somethings.

* Most significantly, Cohen’s famously dark voice sounded far more fit than frail, creeping through the filled 4,000-capacity room with relative ease (okay, the overall sound could have been more robust, but that’s no reflection on the man’s vocal fortitude). Perhaps Vegas lucked out, with Cohen coming in off two nights’ rest following a November 9 show in Kansas City. Wonder if Friday night’s gig in San Jose, California, will be any worse for wear …

* Best changed lyric: “I did not come to the Palace at Caesars to fool ya,” in “Hallelujah.”

* Best storytelling line: “I was taking a vacation from my deeply authentic life,” as Cohen related the backstory to “Chelsea Hotel #2.”

Read my full concert review in the November 19 print edition of Las Vegas Weekly. To further tide you over, here’s Cohen’s complete Vegas setlist:

Set 1

“Dance Me to the End of Love”

“The Future”

“Ain’t No Cure for Love”

“Bird on the Wire”

“Everybody Knows”

“In My Secret Life”

“Who by Fire”

“Chelsea Hotel #2”

“Waiting for the Miracle”

“Anthem”

Set 2

“Tower of Song”

“Suzanne”

“Sisters of Mercy”

“The Gypsy’s Wife”

new song (“The Other Blues Song”)

new song (“The Darkness”)

“The Partisan”

“Boogie Street”

“Hallelujah”

“I’m Your Man”

“A Thousand Kisses Deep” (spoken word)

“Take This Waltz”

Encores

“So Long, Marianne”

“First We Take Manhattan”

“Famous Blue Raincoat”

“If It Be Your Will”

“Closing Time”

“I Tried to Leave You”

[bridger15]

While we are all eagerly awaiting the videos of the Forum's triple A videographer, Awesome Amazing Albert Noonan, here is my humble clip of FRED's debut in Las Vegas. (at 5.00)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afIRcU6TER4

---Arlene

[joyezekiel]

Thanks for the video Arlene - lovely! Of course, I'm eager for news of last night's concert, but I know you're all somewhat busy right now! Hope you all had a wonderful evening and enjoy tonight!

Joy

[casterbridgecohen]

Last nights concert was very different to Barcelona - the last I attended - but then that could hardly fail to be the case with a 4000 pax room on the Strip and a 15,000 Olympic Arena as contrasting venues. We were offered upgraded tickets to the floor by the kind usher but preferred to stay at the front of the Mezzanine above as we suspected the sound would be better and appreciated the view of the entite Colloseum with the audience reaction etc

I think most people have found the idea of 'Leonard plays Caesers' a little incongruous - and Leonard was clearly amused to find himself at the 'Palace of Caeser' - I bet he never imagined that for one moment when he kicked off in Eastern Canada 18 months and what was it almost 200 concerts ago - but it was great. The crowd were great and respectful with just the occasional loud YEAHHH at the wrong time from someone who should maybe have stayed on the craps table and a few leaving before the first encore not realising there was still 40 minutes to go. But as per all of Leonard's crowds - respectful and appreciative.

This was the first time in 14 concerts to date (before San Jose tonight) that I did not keep a set list and I thought the show had a slighty diffeent, perhaps more rounded feel to it than the summer set in Europe and I think the less drawn out ending without Whither Thou Goest is better - but hey we all have our preferences. The sound was excellent (as usual) and I thought some of the introductary arrangements had been tweaked? I thought Javier sounded particularly excellent and for us Europeans it was great to hear the two new songs for the first time and we can all now speculate on whether they reflect his current life! It will be intersting to see whether more new songs are added to the Spring set list.

Leonard looked content and happy and it was nice of him to acknowledge the Forum members in his Thanks at the end - and Leslie the illuminated lights during Suzanne looked great from aboove, mostly on the fllor but also dotted around three levels.

The couple next to me had come from Israel for the show as they had missed the Tel Aviv show and they summed it up well 'Fantastic. The man is totally unique. There is no one like him anywhere.'

Bravo - thats all that needs to be said and I am looking forward to San Jose this evening!

[sturgess66]

Robin Leach was in the audience (you can see a couple of his tweets above) and this was his last and includes a twitpic (taken by someone else that he is forwarding on) -

Robin_Leach RT @EmilyJillette: Encore - "Now so long Marianne it's time that we began to laugh cry & laugh about it all again." http://twitpic.com/pbort about 4 hours ago from Echofon

Maybe he will feature Leonard on his site - .
http://www.vegasdeluxe.com/

He makes a brief mention yesterday under "Tonight's Tips" and posts a picture

Singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen is on the U.S. leg of his 2009 world tour and makes a rare, one-night visit to The Colosseum. …

http://www.vegasdeluxe.com/blogs/luxe-l ... m-odds-af/


And actually, looking at his tweets more carefully, Robin was forwarding on others' tweets that were sent to him. Informants. Others who were in the audience. He may/may not have been there. Do I know? In spite of what I said above - nope! I do not know.

[Evie B]

Walking on the Strip a while ago and overheard three people deciding what show to see this evening. They mentioned LC, but one of them commented "a bit too mellow". "Pardon my interruption" says I, "but I could not help overhearing your conversation". Then I remarked that mellow is the last word one would associate with the concert, and that they would be in for one of the most emotional concert experiences ever, and an evening that would live with them forever! I must have been quite convincing, or alternatively they just wanted to get rid of the weird stranger, but they turned around and headed for Ceasers to see if any seats were left.

Bet those peeps are so glad they met you and took your advice, shame you will never know what their experience was. Hope you had a great time (as if you didn't!!!).

Evie B

[holydove]

Arlene, thank you so much for the video - it's so beautiful and moving the way Leonard hugs that monkey - tugs at my heart like a magnet on a metal ring. Have a great time tonight!

[bridger15]

I am so hyper from all this wonderful concert travelling that I didn't realize I have a second youtube account under arlenedick15

Here is my vid of:
FEELS SO GOOD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGQ1vqrto7I

Two things I found interesting:

The multi-talent Dino playing yet another instrument, the guitar (3.45).
-and-
Roscoe Beck's new hair cut and playing hatless. He is quite the hunk!