First, let me start out by saying that I am not much of a writer. This did get rather long. I had to force myself to write it because I know some of you that were not able to come really wanted reviews... Sorry for the delay in my personal concert report but my vacation continued to Austin, Texas for 3 more days after the show on June 4th and I just now got home.
I have been a Leonard Cohen fan since 1996. The first time I heard him was on a friend's answering machine greeting which had 'Who By Fire' playing as the greeting. "And who shall I say is calling?" Get it? Anyway, I instantly fell in love and asked said friend to hear more. I've been listening ever since. I've periodically spent time on the internet researching stuff about Leonard Cohen and his music. I even fantasized about attending the Hydra event in 2002 to meet other fans which I just knew would be amazing. I never thought I would get to see him live since at that point he hadn't toured in years. I remember watching videos of performances of his and just being so mesmerized. I could not get enough and seriously would watch them over and over. The one that's coming to mind right now is a video recording of a live version of "Ain't No Cure For Love". I could not believe the perfection.
He came through San Diego in April and I scored front row dead center tickets from a high priced scalper which I gladly paid for. I wanted to be as close as possible with no distractions in front of me. I think this has been discussed by other fans on this board so I think some of you will understand. I had an amazing time and even though the show was over three hours long, I hung onto every song and was still hungry for more. Side note, my girlfriend and I did not want to miss any of the second half and the women's restroom line was incredibly long during intermission. We ducked into the men's room so as not to miss any of it! OK, we were desperate. After the show, I started researching to see if there were any other dates I could catch to see him again. Since I am a childbirth coach, and I had an (overdue) pregnant client and more coming due in May, I could not travel to see any other shows without possibly missing a birth. Red Rocks in June was the only logical answer!
My boyfriend and I started planning a trip together centered around a June 2nd concert in Denver. Actually, we have a Leonard Cohen connection too. On one of our first dates, I decided to play a song for him after dinner. "Dance Me To The End Of Love", one of my favorites. He hadn't heard of Leonard Cohen but said that he knew that song because it was by one of his favorites, Madeleine Peyroux. Hear her version here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORe5v2Z1rE I told him Leonard sung the original and that there were over 1700 covers of his songs out there. We ended up seeing Madeleine Peyroux in Los Angeles in March of this year and, of course, she did sing this song live. Really beautiful. So back to the vacation. It was a tightly scheduled trip from San Diego with a 24 hour stop in Denver for the Red Rocks show (noon to noon from June 2nd to June 3rd) and then on to Austin, Texas for 5 days. I was just ecstatic about the idea of seeing him at Red Rocks and to see the final show of the North American tour. Being from San Diego, I don't have to think a whole lot about weather. I did know that Red Rocks was an outdoor venue but also was certain that there was no chance of the show being cancelled since my tickets said "8pm Rain or Shine". I checked the weather every day for a week leading up to June 2nd. I was resolved that I might be sitting in the rain but that the show, without a doubt, would go on! We arrived in Denver at noon and it was as I was picking up the rental car I received an email stating that the show would be postponed til Thursday instead. I won't go into all the emotional details here. Long story short, we are so lucky that we were able to rework everything to stay in Denver and rearrange other plans. Big thanks to Southwest Airlines who changed our tickets for a minimal ten bucks a piece.
OK, so June 4th finally arrives. We survive the 48 hour delay with lots of yoga, cuddling and good food. We arrived at Red Rocks at 4ish after checking the weather a million times throughout the day. As of Tuesday (the 2nd) the outlook for the 4th had been sunny and in the 70's. By Thursday, the forecast was predicting possible rain, lightning storms and even some were predicting possible tornado touchdowns! Seriously foreign to a San Diegan! Weather does not change much day to day here! But alas, the afternoon and evening were absolutely perfect. I had so much energy in the afternoon at Red Rocks. I was dying with anticipation and excitement. I was checking this message board while I was there hoping to get some information as to how to get in earlier than they were allowing (6:30pm). Someone on here posted that there was a soundcheck going on at that moment which could not be heard from 'outside the rocks' in the parking lot. One of the security guards suggested that if it was in fact going on, I might be able to hear it from the back of the venue. We ran all the way up the back of the mountain on the other side of ship rock and still could hear nothing. I know some of you could see it on the Red Rocks webcam. After heading back down the mountain, I tried to calm myself down to save some energy to last me the whole night. I was so excited, yet still soooo nervous something bad was going to happen with the weather. I had hardly eaten anything all day. I forced myself to sit in the back of the rental car and eat the salad I had packed for our little Red Rocks picnic. Just then I noticed the minivan next to our car. The backseat sliding door was open with a briefcase sitting right on the ledge. The briefcase had the name "Xxxxxx Webb" taped on it in large writing. I don't want to mention the first name due to possible privacy reasons. I asked the man standing by the van, "Would you by any chance happen to know the Webb sisters?" He seemed startled & perplexed and asked me why I would think to ask such a question. I pointed to the briefcase and he proudly told me he was their father. He proceeded to introduce himself and went on about how proud he was of his two daughters and also his son that is a drummer. He shared stories and some of the Webb sisters memorabilia with us. He managed to come to Red Rocks from Europe for the show. He was also kind enough to alert us that the Webb sisters would be coming out from backstage down to his car and that we were welcome to meet them. They were kind enough to take a photo with us which I will attach to this post. I got to return the favor by taking some photos of the Webb family with their camera (including the sisters) and their friends from Aspen posing against the Red Rocks. Hey, they are tourists too, right? Also, the Webb sisters both expressed how they hoped that the rescheduling hadn't caused us too much inconvenience. What a sweet thing to say to us, as we had mentioned we had traveled for the show. I did tell their father that we were some of the fortunate that were able to stay and that there were many, many fans who were not.
Shortly after this, we went inside the venue and took our seats. Third row, just a bit left of center. Ticketmaster had released some 2nd row seats which were available as of 4pm (which may have been some of yours
) but we opted to stick with the 3rd row. The show was so worth the wait. I am not a sound/audio connoisseur so I can't really speak about whether or not it sounded that much better than San Diego's show at Copley Symphony Hall. I just know that it had an incredible feel to it. Nearly two months had gone by since I had seen him. I was imagining how tired he must be at the end of this North American tour. He did not show it one bit. Lots of energy from the whole band. I could not take my eyes off the show. Just magnificent and really indescribable. Just after intermission, the wind kicked up and the temperature seemed to drop about 10 degrees. This was during "Hallelujah". Some others on this board have described it. Again, not being used to much weather, it almost seemed like special effects from a movie. It was just beautiful to actually see the wind in action. Then again, it just made sense that this would happen around all the elements of Red Rocks. Of course, there was nearly a full moon too. Some of you watching the webcam said you could see lightning and I had posted that that was incorrect. I realized that you all were seeing camera flashes from the audience. So, no lightning and minimal weather. It was just a perfect night.
I can't tell you how many times I thought of those of you that missed the show that were supposed to be there on the 2nd. I was so sad to read some of the stories here on the board from those of you who's efforts were thwarted. I hope that there will be another chance, somehow somewhere.
I'm including a link to the one video I took with my camera (illegally
) which I was barely able to take due to being totally overcome. Here is my video of Closing Time which includes Leonard skipping off the stage, then back on, of course! Also at the end, I taped the Red Rocks crowd and you can see how much adoration there is for such an amazing performer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3jGYQuRsLc
To the Lovers... I wish I could have met some of you before or after the show. I wish I had been more active on the board prior to the show. Best wishes to all of you...
P.S. I heard there were 5 tornado touchdowns in Denver Sunday night, just a few days after the show!