CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2013

The last leg of the Old Ideas tour in November and December 2013
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B4real
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by B4real »

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All these photo are posted in chronological order of the first set of the concert.
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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jeremek
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by jeremek »

,,,as always, a wonderful relationship, thank Bev !
and beautiful pictures :)

Greetings to you!
Beata
1985/2008/2010/2013/Always
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by sturgess66 »

From Issimo Magazine. Click on the link to see more good pictures from Geelong, ADOTG.

http://www.issimomag.com/2013/12/09/leo ... australia/
Leonard Cohen – His farewell tour of Australia?

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Veronica Ridge
On December 9, 2013

Fans of Leonard Cohen may have seen him on his last tour of Australia ever, writes Ted McDonnell.

THERE is little doubt Leonard Cohen and his ensemble are more than a little weary after yet another long year on the road touring the United States; all over Europe, New Zealand and finally Australia. Thousands of kilometres and thousand of songs later since beginning his ‘Old Ideas’ tour in North America earlier this year.

Since making his comeback in 2008, after his life savings where stolen by an employee, Cohen has not stopped touring.

Yet despite the relentless demands of travelling, Cohen, 79, Sharon Robinson, the Webb Sisters, and his brilliant ensemble of musicians, never pause and never let their fans down.

Now in the twilight of his eighth decade on this mortal coil, Cohen’s energy is simply stunning. For more than three hours in provincial Geelong, in Victoria, he kept thousands adoring fans in raptures.

The sad thing is, with just two concerts left of his Australian sojourn, at the Palais in Melbourne on 9th December and Adelaide on 11th December, his time touring Australia may well have just over six hours left. The whisper out of the Cohen camp is that he will concentrate his future tours in parts of the world he has yet to get to like Africa and the many Asian countries he has never toured.

What does this mean for his Australian fans? More overseas travel to see the great man!

To borrow words from Cohen’s Tower of Song…

Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back… There moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track… But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone…

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Leonard Cohen - A Day on the Green @ The Hill Winery in Geelong - Saturday 7 December 2013).Photo: Ted McDonnell
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blonde madonna
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by blonde madonna »

‘You can add up the parts but you won’t have the sum…’

After a week of fairly ordinary weather and uncertain long range forecasts, Saturday brought a blue and almost cloudless summer sky with a slight breeze to keep things cool, a perfect day. Leonard Cohen was coming to my hometown, to our local winery where we have had quite a few long Sunday lunches. Adalita (former lead singer of Geelong band Magic Dirt) and Archie Roach warmed up the audience. I don’t know Adalita, always been more folk than rock inclined, but she reminded me of a young Patti Smith. Archie Roach’s set included quite a few songs from ‘Charcoal Road’ and his latest album ‘Into the Bloodstream’. He is an amazing performer who was inducted into the NIMA (National Indigenous Music Awards) Hall of Fame earlier this year, won Album of the Year at the 2013 Deadly Awards and was honoured with the Lifetime Contribution Award for Healing the Stolen Generations. His song ‘Took the Children Away’ is an Australian classic. I was happy Leonard gave him a plug, he certainly deserves it.

I will never forget when the band marched on stage in there cool black suits and all wearing sunglasses, 8) it had more of an impact in broad daylight. Leonard did his usual thing of walking out with the band and the crowd gave a surprised cry and clap when they spotted his small dark frame. I was as close to the stage at Rod Laver but today they were as clear as day and for that reason seemed more immediate, I could see the sheen on Leonard’s suit in the sunlight, I felt like I could touch it. And this time the energy was palpable from the moment they strided on stage, the band was ready to play and the crowd was ready to listen.

As usual, the rest is a bit of a blur, that’s why I enjoy reading all the reports on this thread to refresh my memory because when I’m in the moment…So thank you Bev for all your great photos, mine are crap.

I remember getting out of my seat a lot, there were standing ovations before and after every song I think,and when he sang ‘loves the only engine of survival’ a huge cheer went up from the crowd, I loved that bit :D .

Other random things I recall are:

In ‘Darkness’ I think he changed the order of the verses (hopefully Bev can enlighten me further on this) and when he sang ‘its always been your call’ he seemed to gesture towards Sharon;

Have already said how much I love the Webb sisters opening to ‘Come Healing’, it was sublime again;

‘I’m your Man’ was particularly good, he seemed so animated and really brought out the humour in the song accompanied by lots of audience laughter, as he did on many occasions through the evening;

He toned down the ‘Tower of Song’ routine in comparison to Rod Laver, I think because it wasn’t getting the reaction, I could see how he pays attention to the audience and responds genuinely to them within the confines of this very professional performance;

He also played up the humour in ‘Going Home’ (not so much to my liking I have to say, one of my favorite songs and I prefer the album version) and substituted a very exaggerated cojones (pronounced ‘kahoneez’ and the spanish version of ‘chutzpah’) for freedom in the lyric ‘he doesn’t have the freedom to refuse’. Jenny and I had been talking about this just the night before as the word was very strange to me when it popped up on the forum from earlier concert reports;

The large noisy crowd was at its quietest on two occasions, when Leonard recited ‘A thousand kisses deep’ (that opening line never loses it’s power) and when Sharon sang ‘Alexandra Leaving’, she made that song even more beautiful;

Unsurprisingly, the woman next to me warned me she was going to cry when ‘Hallelujah’ started and many in the crowd sang along (and a contrary part of me gets irked by that);

This time I wanted to stand for the encores that demanded it, and sing along if it was required. They were doing their job and I thought I should do mine. Thankfully, the crowd danced and sang along to ‘So Long Marianne’ and the band looked like they enjoyed it, we may have done an extra chorus. The same to ‘First we take Manhattan’, strongest for ‘then we take Berlin’ for some reason;

I think it was because of the audience participation that I saw Leonard let the band know we were getting extra and he turned to us to say ‘I’ve got a little secret’, Jim didn’t understand my excitement at first at those words, I’d seen the video but now…

When it was all over and we walked with the crowd up the hill to the car I was thankful for the beautiful day and night, for all the people sharing the enjoyment and for the amazing work ethic, commitment and energy Leonard and his wonderful band brought to this concert, one of many they are doing every week right now. What I especially take away is how joyful and in the moment he is and how that infects all around him.

Btw :D thank you Tundra for your videos, they also help me stave off that 'I can't forget, but I don't remember what' feeling .

And Leonard made front page of my local paper with a picture of Andrew wearing a t-shirt Aad and Gery gave him in the centrefold spread :lol:
I have to pinch myself again.

Keep Calm and Cohen On

BM
the art of longing’s over and it’s never coming back

1980 -- Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
1985 -- State Theatre, Melbourne
2008 -- Hamilton, Toronto, Cardiff
2009 -- Rochford Winery, Yarra Valley
2010 -- Melbourne
2013 -- Melbourne, The Hill Winery, Geelong, Auckland
anny
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by anny »

Bev, the 2nd photo outside the ladies portaloo - should be "dance me to your beauty with 'YOUR' burning violin" !!! :)
btw: I loooove the 'by accident ' burning/flaming violin photo (would certainly look good on my wall)
thank you Bev for posting the wonderful photo's and heartwarming concert reports !!!!
also thks to Andrew and Alan and the forum members for posting. I really enjoy :)
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Mabeanie1
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by Mabeanie1 »

Great reports, great photos Bev. Thanks everyone!

Wendy
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B4real
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by B4real »

Thanks Tundra, Beata, anny, and Wendy, for your kind words. So glad you are enjoying the Aussie tour with us :D
Just one more concert left in Australia for me in Adelaide on Wednesday night. I can't believe it will all be over here then!

Blonde Madonna,
Great to read your report too! I'm glad you liked my photos but I'll bet yours are better than you think!
By memory, Darkness has started that way at least during the recent European Tour.
With a bit of discussion and research this compilation video of Darkness by AlanM will be even better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krtlICIeDXI
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by sturgess66 »

Video uploaded by Daniella Tigani -

Who By Fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw8t2i2kyLA
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by sturgess66 »

Posted at Statigram by "A Day On The Green"

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Very cool to see Leonard Cohen on the front page of the Geelong Advertiser! #adayonthegreen #leonardcohen #coverstar #geelong
MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by MaryB »

blonde madonna wrote:I could see how he pays attention to the audience and responds genuinely to them within the confines of this very professional performance;

This time I wanted to stand for the encores that demanded it, and sing along if it was required. They were doing their job and I thought I should do mine. Thankfully, the crowd danced and sang along to ‘So Long Marianne’ and the band looked like they enjoyed it, we may have done an extra chorus. The same to ‘First we take Manhattan’, strongest for ‘then we take Berlin’ for some reason;

I think it was because of the audience participation that I saw Leonard let the band know we were getting extra and he turned to us to say ‘I’ve got a little secret’, Jim didn’t understand my excitement at first at those words, I’d seen the video but now…BM
I have been saving the reading of these Australian concert reviews because I sensed there would be a time when there is less activity on the forum and I could savor these posts.

BM - I have always believed that LC does respond to certain audience reaction and your observations seem to validate my humble opinion. This sounds like a concert I would have enjoyed. Thank you so much for your detailed review.

Warmest regards,
Mary
1993 Detroit 2008 Kitchener June 2-Hamilton June 3 & 4-Vienna Sept 24 & 25-London RAH Nov 17 2009 NYC Feb 19-Grand Prairie Apr 3-Phoenix Apr 5-Columbia May 11-Red Rocks Jun 4-Barcelona Sept 21-Columbus Oct 27-Las Vegas Nov 12-San Jose Nov 13 2010 Sligo Jul 31 & Aug 1-LV Dec 10 & 11 2012 Paris Sept 30-London Dec 11-Boston Dec 16 2013 Louisville Mar 30-Amsterdam Sept 20
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B4real
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by B4real »

I’m needing to distract myself from things at the moment and it’s funny how the right path reveals itself. Leonard to the rescue! I found myself going through my photos from the eight concerts I went to of Leonard’s last tour in 2013 here “down under” in Australia and found some that I haven’t yet posted.
Some of you may remember that my camera seemed to take on a mind of its own on certain occasions so some of these shots are a little “abstract” for want of a better word. In any case, we can relive some moments of the last concerts the UHTC have played.
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It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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B4real
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by B4real »

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It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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B4real
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: ADOTG, Geelong, Australia, December 7, 2

Post by B4real »

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It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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