CONCERT REPORTS: Toronto, Ontario, December 4 & 5, 2012

Concert reports, reviews, links, set lists - and meetup information + meetup reports
zwirnie
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

Post by zwirnie »

musicmania wrote:The setlist posted is correct.
Thank you!
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holydove
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

Post by holydove »

So glad to see Feels So Good on the setlist!!

Did anyone get a video or audio recording of it? Please say yes. . .someone. . .
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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From The Globe and Mail -
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/mus ... cmpid=rss1
Review
Leonard Cohen: Paying rent in the tower of song sounds divine


Brad Wheeler
The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Dec. 05 2012, 4:11 AM EST; Last updated Wednesday, Dec. 05 2012, 4:16 AM EST
6 comments

Image
Leonard Cohen performs at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Dec. 4, 2012.
(Peter Power /The Globe and Mail)


The 78-year-old man in the suit and fedora jogged to the centre of the stage, because no one told him not to. He knelt on a rug as he sang in a husky half-croon, “dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn; raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn.” Outworn kisses, torn threads – and yet Leonard Cohen, the bleak man of terminal passion and a dirge-ready bent, is warmer and jauntier on stage than his pained repertoire would seem to advertise. Dance him to the end of love? My man, you lead.

“I didn’t sing for 15 years, and now you can’t get rid of me,” he said early, referring his consistent world touring since 2008. “We might not see each other ever again, but, tonight, we’ll give you everything we’ve got.” Big cheer, naturally – the same applause he receives every time he says it. Almost all his stage banter is to script, tried and true stuff, well-rehearsed as if his audience was a just another giant mirror. He’s not trying to fool anyone, though. He’s just, as he freely admitted, paying his rent every day in the tower of song.

The arena wasn’t completely full for the first of two nights in Toronto, but the turnout was more than respectable. Cohen’s latest album, this year’s Old Ideas, was warmly received critically, and his band wove nimbly all night and swung with a little gusto when required. Cohen’s no band leader – he’s just the guy with the words, and with a peaceful charisma to him.

More than once he sank to his knees in front of the 12-string guitarist and sometimes bandurria player Javier Mas, who added a Spanish folk-music vitality to the arrangements. Fiddler Alexandru Bublitchi was an elegant, emotional companion to Cohen’s even-keeled baritone.

The star attraction doffed his hat in appreciation to his three angelic singers (all in dark blue pant suits, possibly secured at an airlines supply depot) and to the other agile band members as well. The nod to guitarist Mitch Watkins’s bluesy panache on Bird on the Wire was one of those well-deserved moments.

Of course, what many came for were those words. Suzanne soared gently, with Cohen’s silhouette a giant behind him he strummed an acoustic guitar and sang about sinking beneath wisdom, “like a stone.”

We can smile at his gentle wickedness and find delight in his spiritual ordeals. The future is murder, everybody knows the boat is leaking, and the days of shame are coming. It all sounds divine, from the poetic Montreal man who was born with “the gift of a golden voice.” And didn’t we all at least smile at Cohen’s self-appraisal as a “lazy bastard living in a suit,” from the lightly funked Going Home, which followed the sing-along So Long, Marianne during the first of two encores.

Of course it all ended with Closing Time, a boozy, upbeat send-off with a line about a voice that “sounds like god to me.” No one follows that, except that Cohen will do it all again on the same stage on Wednesday. Another dance, then, for the two-stepping septuagenarian smoothie.
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

Post by sturgess66 »

Some video -
Uploaded by Liz Taylor - Thanks!

Dec 4

Dance Me To The End of Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA3wJ4mQbJo

Ain't No Cure For Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryWZ4_w0zgQ

Alexandra Leaving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCitUPYLijI

Hallelujah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrEQCdP2CK4

So Long Marianne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXKobXweFn0
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

Post by sturgess66 »

In the National Post - some very large - and very nice - pictures -
Click on link to see them all -
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/05 ... um=twitter
Photos
Toronto crowd held spellbound for three hours by the magic of Leonard Cohen’s poetry


Darren Calabrese | Dec 5, 2012 10:25 AM ET


Canadian favorite crooner Leonard Cohen went down on his knees during the performance at Air Canada Centre last night. But, it was the crowd who was brought to their knees at the end.

After over three hours of poetry with music, 16,000-plus spellbound fans blinked the magic (and some tears) away to return to unseasonably warm Toronto night.

As author @LiisaLadouceur aptly tweeted: “That warm weather yesterday in TO? The heat from ten thousand sighs over Leonard Cohen being in town.”

Image
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/story.c ... ent=190143
Leonard Cohen - Legendary Songwriter Performs Marathon Career-Spanning Set

By Richard Trapunski
critic's pick

LEONARD COHEN at the Air Canada Centre, Tuesday, December 4.

On his newest album, Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen paints himself as a “lazy bastard living in a suit,” but the first of two Toronto shows at the Air Canada Centre proved the immense irony of that description. Taking the stage promptly at 8 pm clad in a black fedora and suit (that part was true), the 78-year old legend gave the audience their full money’s worth - a marathon set that lasted more than three and a half hours and covered every phase of his career.

Cohen was famously forced out of retirement in 2008 when he learned that his long-time manager, Kelley Lynch, had been siphoning money from his account, leaving him with little in the way of savings. The resulting tour, his first in fifteen years, was born out of necessity, but it evidently reawakened something in Cohen, the entertainer. Relieved of his financial burden, he nevertheless performs with palpable respect for the fans that, in his words, “put [themselves] out of pocket to be here.”

Where Bob Dylan’s unwavering take-it-or-leave it approach to live performance can be alienating even to his most diehard fans, Cohen is extremely humble, generous and gracious. Armed with a slick team of professionals, the songwriter lets his melodies breathe with big, spacious arrangements that share the spotlight (often literally) between the players. Singer Sharon Robinson, for instance, got a chance to take the lead on Alexandra Leaving, and each player got his or her chance to shine. Cohen even took the time to mention the sound techs by name.

If the practiced smoothness of the band threatened to close the crack that lets the light in, Cohen’s elegant charisma resisted. As much as he tried to shift the attention, it was Cohen himself that most charmed the rapturous audience. Whether dropping to his knees for an impassioned vocal (or a furtive glance at the lyric sheet), spryly dancing across the stage or thanking the crowd for being “very kind to an elderly chap” after they applauded his dinky Casio keyboard solo on Tower of Song, Cohen’s aged grace and winking, sardonic humour showed that his personality is as enduring as his songs. His deep, evocative spoken word reading of A Thousand Kisses Deep was as captivating as anything more melodic.

But some of Leonard Cohen’s songs have reached a level of ubiquity beyond him. Hallelujah, for instance, has been covered enough times to warrant an entire recent book-length study. His own rapturous performance garnered a standing ovation that bled into the next song (maybe he should have saved it for last). So Long Marianne, similarly, erupted into a communal sing-along/sway-along.

His repertoire of classics is deep enough that even after close to four hours, there were a few that went undusted. But it’s hard to complain about such a mammoth, Springsteen-esque performance from a 78-year-old poet known more for his lyrics than his “gift of a golden voice”.

Lazy? Not so much.
• Dec 5, 2012 at 09:37 AM
Last edited by sturgess66 on Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bridger15
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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The scroll down wheel on my mouse has broken. My eyes are shot. I will wait for the braille version to READ the concert reports by concertgoers.
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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From PostCity -
http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do/Do/ ... t-the-ACC/
Leonard Cohen Is Awe-inspiring In The First Of Two Shows At The ACC
By Ben Fisher

Toronto basked in Leonard Cohen's aura at last night's show

The cardinal sin of a reviewer of any kind is to allow your critique to be coloured by preconceived notions and pre-established biases. It was a sin of which I was nearly guilty as I embarked upon my review of Leonard Cohen’s first of two near-sold out ACC shows on Tuesday night.



My pre-show research indicated that neither I nor the 11,000 fans in attendance were in for a particularly original or passion-driven night. Rumours suggested that Cohen’s decision to tour again was motivated more by financial troubles than his desire to perform, while reports from his previous dates suggested a rather scripted show. Yet, none of that wound up mattering.
 


What did matter was the 78-year-old’s ever-present aura. With his deep, gravelly, baritone voice blanketing the arena, it was impossible to ignore his visceral mystique. 
The set wasn’t exactly high on energy, but the authenticity of his soulful classics, such as “Suzanne,” “Ain’t No Cure for Love” and “Bird on a Wire,” more than made up for it. You could argue that Cohen’s most transcendent song, “Hallelujah,” has been improved upon by the many artists who have covered it, but each of the 29 tracks performed were given more weight by his smoky-but-booming voice and his more-than-capable roster of supporting musicians. 
 


Adding to Cohen’s mystique was his lack of personal expression. He did all he could to emphasize the music over the man, revealing few candid moments other than the odd tongue-in-cheek aside regarding his age. Instead, he offered several instances of spoken word poetry, including the haunting “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” which were clearly rehearsed but nonetheless striking and emotional.
 


Cohen looked the part, too. Impeccably dressed in a sharp dark suit and his signature black fedora, he exuded an ageless strength and suave. When the two large screens captured a shot that looked out at the riveted crowd from the stage, the Montreal native’s presence was almost spirit-like (and no, that’s not a crack about his age).
 


What I came to understand on Tuesday night was that the details were just that. It didn’t matter what was motivating him to perform, nor did it matter what he had recycled from previous tour dates. Regardless of the circumstances, fans in Toronto were granted an increasingly rare opportunity (two, actually) – the first since a 2008 Sony Centre appearance — to bask in the aura that is Leonard Cohen.
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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From Toronto Sun - yet another review -
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/05/le ... his+sleeve
Review - Leonard Cohen Shows He Still Has Tricks Up His Sleeve

By Jane Stevenson, QMI Agency

First posted: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 07:45 AM EST | Updated: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 08:43 AM EST

[Click on link to see series of photographs by STAN BEHAL/Toronto Sun)

Artist: Leonard Cohen
Location: Air Canada Centre

TORONTO - Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

In the case of 78-year-old Leonard Cohen, he’s still got more than a few up his sleeve, judging from his spiritually uplifting show at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night, the first of a two-night stand at the hanger in support of his 2012 album, Old Ideas.

Classy, charismatic and charming, the gravelly voiced baritone has a style and sound uniquely his own, with his advancing years just making him even more endearing, especially as a marathon performer who cracked the three-and-a-half-hour mark (with 20-minute intermission).

“I hope to stop touring in a couple of years so I can take up smoking again at 80,” joked Cohen, dressed in his trademark suit and fedora after the opening song, Dance Me To The End of Love.

“I’m not sure if we’re going to see each other again. But I promise you we’ll give you everything we’ve got tonight.”

The legendary Montreal singer-songwriter-poet made good on his promise over the course of two sets and one encore, backed by a nine tight piece band from all around the globe with special mention to Hammond B3 organist Neil Larsen, violinist Alexandru Bublitchi from Moldova, and guitarist-multi-instrumentalist Javier Mas from Spain.

The poet and author was not only in top form in the performance department — often dancing, stomping his foot or down on his knees on the carpeted stage and even running on stage and skipping off — but very funny too.

“Sometimes I stumble out of bed and make my way to the mirror and say, ‘Lighten up Leonard,’” he joked of such downbeat tunes as Who by Fire and the Old Ideas tune, The Darkness.

He proved to be a generous performer too, handing over lead vocals to his three female backup singers — Sharon Robinson on Alexandra Leaving and Charley and Hattie Webb, The Webb Sisters, of Kent, England, on If It Be Your Will.

Cohen’s own highlights were many and varied, including better-known songs like Bird On The Wire, Everybody Knows, Ain’t No Cure For Love, In My Secret Life, Waiting For The Miracle, I’m Your Man, Hallelujah, Take This Waltz, So Long Marianne, and new songs from Old Ideas like Amen, Come Healing and Going Home.

He also managed to fire up the audience into a full-throttle clapalong at over the three-hour mark with First We Take Manhattan and the show-ending Closing Time and played up keyboards for Tower Of Song and acoustic guitar for Suzanne and The Partisan.

And when he thanked the audience of over 11,000 for coming, he did it only as Cohen can.

“Thank you for climbing up to the higher places,” he said, pointing to the nosebleed sections.

“And for putting yourself out of pocket to descend to these lower places,” pointing to the floor section.

Does anybody else talk like this at an arena show? I think not.

I’m also not sure anybody else could bring the hockey hanger to a complete standstill while reciting a poem, A Thousand Kisses Deep, one of the show’s biggest highlights and a genuine swoon-worthy moment delivered by the lady-killer that still resides in Cohen.

“I love to speak with Leonard … he’s a lazy bastard living in a suit,” sang Cohen during Going Home.

Turned out nothing could be farther from the truth.



SET LIST:

Dance Me to the End of Love
The Future
Bird on the Wire
Everybody Knows
Who by Fire
The Darkness
Ain’t No Cure for Love
Amen
Come Healing
In My Secret Life
A Thousand Kisses Deep
Different Sides
Anthem
INTERMISSION
Tower of Song
Suzanne
Waiting for the Miracle
Anyhow
I Can’t Forget
The Partisan
Feels So Good
Alexandra Leaving (sung by Sharon Robinson)
I’m Your Man
Hallelujah
Take This Waltz
ENCORE:
So Long, Marianne
Going Home
First We Take Manhattan
If It Be Your Will (sung by The Webb Sisters)
Closing Time
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bridger15
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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Question for Toronto concertgoers re: I Can't Forget
As this was the first time on the North America leg since Bucharest, I am curious if LC did a voiceover poem eg., Roses are red...?

---Arlene
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Arlene's Leonard Cohen Scrapbook http://onboogiestreet.blogspot.com
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

Post by John K. »

bridger15 wrote:Question for Toronto concertgoers re: I Can't Forget
As this was the first time on the North America leg since Bucharest, I am curious if LC did a voiceover poem eg., Roses are red...?

---Arlene
Hi Arlene - No, he didn't recite anything before they began.
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He's a lazy banker living in a suit

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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

Post by John K. »

Here is my December 4, 2012 concert report for you:

Leonard Cohen is now 78 years old, considered by many devoted fans as the greatest songwriter in the history of English popular music. He has the finest, tightest ensemble currently performing as his backup band. What does he do? He starts his concert by thanking his thousands of fans at the Air Canada Centre for being there, and then after performing for 3 1/2 hours he gets down on his knees with his hat in his hand, closes his eyes, and appears to quietly thank us again. In between those moments of thankfulness Mr. Cohen and his band have a great time performing some of the best songs in his very deep catalog, a catalog so remarkable in breadth that he could never capture all the high points. So he doesn't try, he does what he wants to do. Why not, after all he is Leonard Cohen.

I've not met Mr. Cohen, but I've been told by many who have that the person I saw on stage from my fantastic third row seat (thank you to Jarkko and the Leonard Cohen Forum for having this "fan presale" so meaningful this time) that the sincerity and humility and joy of performance and being alive that I sensed is the essence of the man himself. This was the fourth time I saw Mr. Cohen and the folks perform since he resumed touring, and it was by far the most satisfying. Satisfying not as much for the music as that was as fine as any of the other three concerts. Rather, satisfying because I could sense the happiness, the comfort, the celebration of life that burst out from about 20 feet away.

There was not one weak moment in the night, not one misstep or poor song selection. I loved the performances of the new songs and appreciated so many of them being included. Sharon Robinson's rendition of Alexandra Leaving was especially notable, she was remarkable and powerful and sincere. Uptempo songs like First We Take Manhattan and Closing Time showed the band particularly in sync with smiles from one side of the stage to the other. The one-two punch of In My Secret Life and Mr. Cohen's recitation of A Thousand Kisses Deep brought me to tears. It was at times like that I was reminded that he sings the words that I feel in my soul but can't speak as well myself.

Making the experience that much more special was the meeting of FRIENDS before, after and at the show. I wore my 2012 Madison Event T-shirt, and several pins including one that JudyJudyJudy made. Judy was our organizer of a nice dinner before the show and it was great to meet her, Sue from the UK, Andrei, Gwen and Mandy. At the show I sat next to a new friend, Meredith, who is a lurker on the Forum and an architecture student and devoted admirer of LC. It was Meredith's first time seeing Mr. Cohen live, afterwards I told her that she will never see a better concert. Judy and I bought unified heart pins at the merchandise stand, and I was surprised to see that Mr. Cohen had reintroduced the symbol of the hands, so I told the merch girl, Judy, Meredith, and another woman in the arena the Forum history of it. Perhaps Mr. Cohen was hoping to settle the dischord of Dino Soldo's departure, and it's possible that it worked as well as it did here back in the day.

At some point during the night, I said to someone (I don't recall who), "When I think about it, it's still hard for me to believe that Leonard Cohen has ever gone out on tour again, and here it is, 2012, and it's old news now." Although I won't be at the second Toronto concert on December 5th, or any others until I don't know when, the glass is far more than half full, I've once again been able to share in the happiness and celebration of emotion, skill and life that is Leonard Cohen's work. He has been my favorite songwriter since I was 19 and I first heard my first song of Leonard Cohen. Nothing has changed.
Last edited by John K. on Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:50 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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John K. wrote:
bridger15 wrote:Question for Toronto concertgoers re: I Can't Forget
As this was the first time on the North America leg since Bucharest, I am curious if LC did a voiceover poem eg., Roses are red...?
Hi Arlene - No, he didn't recite anything before they began.
Thanks, John. I meant a voiceover on top of the music during the song
For eaxmple, check out a Bucharest video cued to start just before his impromptu poem "Roses are red..."
http://youtu.be/o6VdsHKLpmI?t=3m16s

---Arlene
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

Post by John K. »

bridger15 wrote:
John K. wrote:
bridger15 wrote:Question for Toronto concertgoers re: I Can't Forget
As this was the first time on the North America leg since Bucharest, I am curious if LC did a voiceover poem eg., Roses are red...?
Hi Arlene - No, he didn't recite anything before they began.
Thanks, John. I meant a voiceover on top of the music during the song
For eaxmple, check out a Bucharest video cued to start just before his impromptu poem "Roses are red..."
http://youtu.be/o6VdsHKLpmI?t=3m16s

---Arlene
Ahhh...

Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen this one, but no, Mr. Cohen did not do a poem during I Can't Forget like that.
I love to speak with John
He's a pundit and a fraud
He's a lazy banker living in a suit

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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Toronto, Ontario - December 4-5, 2012

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