CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Europe and Israel (July 1 - September 24, 2009). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by sturgess66 »

A couple of nice videos on YouTube from "pravdandy" -

A compilation - tribute from Barcelona - very nice clips from different songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEGn6MUPAy0

The end of "Happy Birthday" - and then "I Tried To Leave You"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcfnyqem0Sc
MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by MaryB »

Linda,

You are truly amazing! Finding and providing us with all these videos and media articles. Thank you over and over again!

Best 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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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by sturgess66 »

"pravdandy" has added another one -

A complitation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmlKNbMojpc
sue7
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by sue7 »

MaryB wrote:Linda,

You are truly amazing! Finding and providing us with all these videos and media articles. Thank you over and over again!

Best regards,
Mary
I agree, Mary. I keep logging on and finding new links from her, and wanting to say thank you again and again. Linda, I know I've thanked you more than once: what you're doing is really wonderful for all of us.
Best regards,
Sue
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by sturgess66 »

Thank you, thank you, thank you :lol: :lol: :lol:
And you are welcome, you are welcome, you are welcome :lol: :lol: :lol:

And actually - it's my pleasure to share. I'm always looking for new video, etc. and if I find it, I bring it over here and plop it down in a post. And thanks to all who have shared their video on YouTube!! Soon enough this amazing and wonderful tour will be over and the pickings will be slim.

But then again - there was that new song in Venice - and rumors about one at the sound check in Barcelona ... :lol: :lol:
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Susy
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by Susy »

Dear Maarten, thank you for your mail !
I do not PM this post cause I would like to show everyone what kind and friendly person you are ( Everybody Knows ! :D )
What a pleasure that you haven`t forget about me (Nametag Barcelona )Thank you and do not hurry I can wait.....I WILL LOVE IT !
and please PM me your adress cause I would love to send you a " Thank you " from Zuerich Hallenstadion Oct. 25th.2008.
I`m sorry but I can not remember if we meet in Venice the day before the concert...maybe for just a few minutes!?!?

All the best to you and your family...Greetings ,Susanne
Susy
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boirina
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by boirina »

abeggarleaning wrote:An old man sitting in my row appeared to be in floods of tears throughout the second half of the concert. I looked again carefully and noticed that the man was me.

Leonard, thanks for the trouble you took.

Thanks for the poetry. It brought tears to my eyes.
* Palma 1988 * Lisboa 2008 * Lisboa 2009 *
* Palma 2009 * Lisboa 2010 * Lisboa 2012 *
ladydi
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by ladydi »

Hello Boirina,

This has brought tears to my eyes also. I was on holiday just after Barcelona for about 10 days so missed all the responses, but have just tried going back through everything and cannot find this person. Perhaps he/she has slipped by, but their response is so touching and affirming and full of the sense of life that Leonard gives all of us!

Thank you,
Diana
suburban.hornbag
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by suburban.hornbag »

Hello Diana,

I was also touched by this comment, it takes place on page 5 of this topic, two posts up from the bottom of the page by abeggarleaning.

Ruth
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sturgess66
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by sturgess66 »

sturgess66 wrote:A video on YouTube by BORRADORESTV uploaded on October 15, 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN0pxLACk1Y

I wish I understood what he is saying - but I don't. :lol:

The description is -
Entrevistamos por extenso al zaragozano Javier Mas: el bandurrista y maestro de laúdes y cuerdas de Leonard Cohen que es de Zaragoza y habla de su trayectoria con el músico y aquí en Aragón
and the Google translation is -

Interviewed at length with Zaragoza Javier Mas: bandurrista and master of the lute and strings and who is Leonard Cohen Zaragoza and talks about his career with the musician and here in Aragon
A lot is definitely about working with Leonard - I see Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan at the beginning - and then Adam Cohen.
MaryB wrote:Hi Linda,
And he sure did have a lot to say. My, my, my, he sure looks very good in this - the best I've ever seen him look :D .
Maybe if you put this in the Barcelona concert thread, some of the Spanish forum members will be likely to spot it there faster and give us a translation. Do you think that would work Linda?

Kindest regards,
Mary
Can anyone here help with translation?
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ForYourSmile
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by ForYourSmile »

sturgess66 wrote:Can anyone here help with translation?
I've been waiting for someone to make this work better, but I see that the time passes and I would try to satisfy your curiosity. First the Spanish transcript:

Yo había tocado la bandurria en música popular con maestro Peirona, después toqué la batería porque me gustaba mucho el rock'n'roll, cuando apareció el rock'n'roll copiaba a los Kings y tal, y de pronto me llegó los primeros discos de cantautores americanos que eran mujeres; Joan Baez, Judy Collins Y Peter Paul and Mary. Nosotros teníamos un grupito y cantábamos canciones, y había ahí canciones de Bob Dylan allí y canciones de Cohen, pero no las conocíamos por ellos, las habíamos oído por mujeres cantando y claro la voz de Joan Baez cantando a Bob Dylan es muy diferente cuando oíste a Bob Dylan. Claro, yo traducía, aprendí inglés traduciendo las letras. Cantaba en bares para extranjeros me ponía la letra en la mesa y cantaba Bird On The Wire, cantaba Suzanne

Cuando tenía 15 años lo veía como algo desconocido y que me atrajo mucho, me atrajo mucho cómo tocaba la guitarra, me atrajo mucho y me atrajo la voz que tenía y las canciones que hacía. Luego de más mayor me di cuenta que era de las voces blancas más eróticas que había oído.

La imagen esta de Humphrey Bogart, aquel señor elegante y tal… luego cuando lo conocí… es que es así.

Porque es blanco y negro un tío con un sombrero, todo aquello, una voz… oohh!

El no se considera músico, ni se considera que toca la guitarra y toca la guitarra que te cagas y es un músico que te cagas. Él sabe, él construye la canción desde el cero y la construye muy bien. Lo veo un intelectual, una persona muy culta, lo veo como escritor, escritor poeta y la canción es una cosa que ha hecho además y resulta que ha acertado, porque es muy bueno. Y luego es un tío que sabe un huevo de religiones, y se las sabe pero bien.

Bueno, me llamó Alberto Manzano porque tenía la idea de hacer un homenaje a Cohen, y entonces canciones de él traducirlas al castellano y coger a artistas que les interesara. Estaba Luz Casal, Morente y mucha gente, y poder hacer unas actuaciones con esto y grabar un disco. Entonces me pasó el listado de artistas y entonces yo hice arreglos de cada canción según el artista. En mi casa los grabé y les mandaba a los artistas un CD con la canción. Entonces en este proyecto estaba su hijo Adam y luego estaba su novia, entonces. Cuando lo oyó ella y luego vio los ensayos se ve que habló con él y le dijo: coño aquí hay un tío que te va a encantar, y entonces cuando acabó todo esto él me dio las gracias me mandó un e-mail y me pidió si le podía enviar los arreglos y entonces me dijo: si un día vuelvo a tocar, esto fue hace años, ¿vendrías a tocar conmigo? Y claro yo ya flipé, porqué estaba, por dentro estaba pensando: ¡hostias! Leonard Cohen…

A mí no me dejaban ir, los sindicatos no me daban permiso de trabajo, no me lo daban porque son unos sindicatos muy cerrados. Entonces yo puedo ir a tocar a Nueva York con mi grupo sin problemas, pero trabajar para una empresa americana tienen que darme un permiso, y no me lo daban. Entonces tuvieron que demostrar que mis instrumentos no los tocaba nadie en el sindicato de músicos y que además yo era un especialista de estos… y que este señor necesitaba estos instrumentos.

A la vez había los cantautores aragoneses que eran amigos míos, sobre todo Joaquín. Luego toqué con Labordeta que hice una gira por Alemania histórica que yo era un crío y él me trató como un padre, sabes, me cuidó muchísimo yo era un poquito volao. Y luego la Bullonera, luego me fui de Zaragoza y me fui a vivir a Inglaterra y después a vivir Suiza luego a Mallorca bueno… y he acabado en Barcelona y luego ya al volver fue María del Mar Bonet y he estado veintitantos años con ella.

A todo esto yo tocaba blues, también tenia mi vida de instrumentos acústicos y mi vida de instrumentos eléctricos. Tamiz es un disco que hice para Harmonía Mundi que era con músicos de… yo he tocado muchos años con un músico catalán que toca las tablas indias yo iba componiendo canciones, iba haciendo música para tocar con él y tocábamos con un flautista hindú ciego que tocaba una flauta de madera que se llamaba bansuri. Y grabé el disco, lo mezclé yo, lo produje tal tal tal… y lo editaron en cuarenta países.

El recuerdo es que fue un ofrecimiento de Placido para hacer esto y yo tenía… en este disco hay dos o tres piezas de Tamiz porque me pidió de grabar nuevas y no tenía tiempo porque estaba de gira con Leonard entonces compuse una y grabé una, para este disco original, ¿no? y vine aquí y lo grabé.

Estoy contento que salgan cosas mías ¿no?, en Zaragoza. Hombre pues Zaragoza es la ciudad donde he nacido y me he criao y donde está mi familia, que es una familia numerosa, donde están mis amigos de la infancia y luego de la adolescencia, algunos ya viven fuera pero… Bueno donde me he hecho como persona, yo me he hecho aquí, es mi fundamento por eso claro me hace una ilusión enorme porque yo toco un instrumento de aquí que solo se toca en rondallas y en tal, pero que no se toca en concierto. Toco un instrumento la bandurria, la estoy tocando por todo el mundo en los mejores teatros y claro esto para mi es la leche.


Now my English translation I do not know what is better for you; the Spanish or my English. In the original text is confusing too and there are changes and cuts. Mas uses a very colloquial language and my semantic field is not enough to translate some expressions, for this reason I chose light words for the fine ears of the forum’s members ;-) . In order don’t lose the intention I respected his original Spanish expression in parentheses, maybe anyone wants to teach the exact equivalent.

I had played the bandurria in popular music with the master Peirona, then I played drums because I liked rock'n'roll, when the rock'n'roll appeared, I copied The Kings and this, and suddenly the first records came to me, they were female American singers: Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Peter Paul and Mary. We had a little group and we sang songs, and Bob Dylan’s songs and Cohen’s songs, but we didn’t know that they were of them, we heard by women singing and, evident, the voice of Joan Baez singing Bob Dylan is very different when you heard Bob Dylan. Of course, I translated them, I learned English translating the lyrics. I sang in pubs for foreigners I spread the lyrics on the table and sang Bird On The Wire, I sang Suzanne

When I was 15 I saw him as something unknown and attracted me greatly, He attracted me a lot how he played guitar, he attracted me a lot, the voice attracted me, the songs he did. Then, when I was older I realized he had one of the most erotic white voices than I heard.

This Humphrey Bogart’s image, that elegant gentleman and such ... then when I met him… he is like this!

Because he is black and white, a guy wearing a hat, and all this, a voice ... oohh!

He doesn’t consider himself as a musician, nor a guitarist and he plays “lovely” (que te cagas) the guitar and he is a “lovely” (que te cagas) musician. He knows, he builds the song from nothing and he builds very well. I see him as an intellectual, a highly cultivated person, I see him as a writer, a writer poet. And the song is one thing he has done in addition and the result is than he hit, because he is very good. And he is a guy who knows “a lot” (un huevo) of religion, and he knows them very good.

Well, Alberto Manzano called me because he had the idea of make a tribute to Cohen, and to translated his songs into Castilian and pick artists interested in it, they were Luz Casal, Morente and many people, in order to do some concerts and record one disk. Then he passed me the list of artists and then I made arrangements of each song for each artist. I recorded it in my house and sent to the artists in one CD with the song. So in this project were his son Adam and his girlfriend, then. When she heard it and she saw the rehearsals, probably she spoke with him and said: “wow” (coño) here's a guy that you'll love. And then when all was over, he thanked me, he sent me an e-mail and asked me: if I could send him the arrangements and he said if sometime I return to play, this was years ago, would you come to play with me? and of course I already “hallucinate” (flipé), becasue I was, inside me I was thinking “holy thing!” (hostias) Leonard Cohen...

They didn’t allow me go, the unions would not give me a work license, they didn’t give me because they are a much closed unions. Then I can go to New York to play with my band without problems, but for working for an American company they have to give me a license, and they didn’t gave me. Then they had to show that my instruments are not played for anybody in the musicians’ union and I was also a specialist of these... and that this gentleman needed these instruments.

In the same time the songwriters of Aragon, who were my friends, especially Joaquin, then I played with Labordeta, I did a historical tour of Germany that I was a kid and he treated me like a father, you know, he look after me very much. I was a bit “mad” (volao). Next La Bullonera, after I went from Zaragoza and I moved to live to England and then to Switzerland then to Majorca well... and I ended up in Barcelona and then I came back with Maria del Mar Bonet and I've been with her more than twenty years. (1)

Even so I also played blues; I had my life of acoustic instruments and my life of electric instruments. Tamiz is an album than I made for Harmonia Mundi with musicians from that... I've played many years with a Catalan musician who plays the Indian planks I was writing songs, making music was to play with him and we played with a blind Hindu flutist who played wooden flute called bansuri and I recorded one disk, I mixed myself, so I produced it, and all this... and they released it in forty countries.

The memory is that it was an offer of Placido to make this and I was... in this record there are two or three pieces of Tamiz because he asked for to record new and I had no time because I was on tour with Leonard and then I composed one and I recorded one, for the original disc, right? and I came here and I recorded it.

I'm happy than appearing my stuff, right? in Zaragoza. Men, Zaragoza is the city where I was born and I grew up and where my family, it is a large family, where my childhood friends and later adolescence, some already living outside but ... well where I have done as person. I've done here is my foundation. For this reason, it makes a huge illusion because I play an instrument from here that just it’s played in “rondallas” (2) and this, but which is not played in concert. I play an instrument the bandurria, I am playing it all over the world in the best theatres and of course for me is “special” (la leche).


(1) Mas seems to forgot it, but I would add that his contributions in these more than "twenty years" with our dear Majorcan singer Maria del Mar Bonet, have been very important, he is the co-writer too of some beautiful songs.

(2) Rondallas, in this case it refers to folk music groups, usual for accompaniment “la jota”, the most important and widespread Spanish dance.

It’s an interesting interview and a nice montage.
MaryB
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by MaryB »

Toni,

I have been hopefully waiting for a translation (the video looked so very interesting) and you delivered. I sincerely thank you for this from the bottom of my heart.

I greatly appreciate what Javier brings to this tour and the video and your translation gives us more insight into what makes this tour work as well as it does.

Kindest 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
cohenadmirer
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Barcelona, September 21 (Leonard's birthday)

Post by cohenadmirer »

Found , after nearly 7 years , some footage i shot at this show .
Compiled it and put it on You Tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11uwvMjY8PI
Leonard's work resonates
Brighton 1979; Dublin , Manchester june 2008; glasgow, manchester Nov 2008; Liverpool july 2009 ; Barcelona Sept 2009 ;marseille, lille september2010: Ghent August 2012;Barcelona October 2012;Montreal x2 November 2012: 2013; Saint John NB April 2013; Brussels June 2013;Manchester August 2013; Leeds , Birmingham September 2013; Amsterdam September 2013
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