CONCERT REPORT: Weybridge, July 11

[osmachar]

Here are my 2 pence...

Susanne Vega & LC were great as usual!

Also thought the venue was fine - didn't even mind the rain - and we had no problem with getting in and out the car park and back to the B&B within 30 mins or so.

However, here is the big BUT - others have already written this as well. Why can people not be on time??? It was a Saturday and you had the whole day to get there for 17.45hrs - it can't be that hard. I was in block A5 row L seat 100 and would have thought that the people in this area and closer to the front are the hard core fans who would not want to miss a second of the concert.

It took almost the whole of the first half for everyone to be in their seats and even then there was always somebody getting up to get food/drink. ARGH - drives me mad!! Apart from the fact that it's bloody annoying for other audicence members who just want to sit there in peace and listen to the music, it is totally disrespectful to the musicians on stage.

[Mabeanie1]

However, here is the big BUT - others have already written this as well. Why can people not be on time??? It was a Saturday and you had the whole day to get there for 17.45hrs - it can't be that hard.

I can only speak for myself. My son was responsible for one of the empty seats in row L (he used my original pre-sale ticket). I was out of the house by 8.00 am on Saturday in an attempt to telescope a whole day's must do's in to a few hours in the morning and we left home in North Warwickshire in plenty of time to arrive by 5.00 pm. We had a great drive down as far as junction 11 of the M25, got of the motorway ... and ground to a halt. The whole place was gridlocked. We weren't even parking; we were just trying to get reasonably close to the venue to find a suitable drop off point to leg it from. We queued for about 90 minutes down the dual carriageway to the roundabout from where we could take the road in to the centre of Weybridge and down towards the venue. We made it in time for Leonard's set but missed Suzanne Vega completely which was a great shame.

It's easy to be nice and early if you have nothing else to do AND the roads are clear AND you know the area but sadly sometimes even the best laid plans don't quite work out.

I promise to try harder next time round. M6 dash anyone??

Wendy

[Parsifal]

Reading these horror stories of late arrivals only confirms me in my belief that you need to dedicate a WHOLE DAY to ensuring you get there on time.

My uncle tells a story of setting of from Manchester at 12.00pm on a Sunday to see Bruce Springsteen at the 02 - perfectly reasonable start time, you would have thought - but no, there was an accident on the M6, which caused chaos, so he never made the concert (and then had to read the 5 star reviews).

So, if I'm travelling any distance, I leave home by 8am at the latest. Might sound excessive, but better safe than sorry!

[Paula]

I think that is it in a nutshell Wendy people were coming from far and wide not just around the corner We got there around 4 because we could. The bloke behind me said they had taken nearly 4 hours to move a short distance and eventually just left the car and walked. They got in around three songs in. I don't think people were deliberately getting there late it was the traffic flow sometimes shit happens it is no one fault. Kudos to everyone who made it even after a long drive there were very very few empty seats.

[vaughan]

Hi Osmachar,

I'm afraid you can't generalise about people's time-keeping at Wetbridge. I live in the Midlands and on this tour have seen LC in Dublin (got there on time), Edinburgh (got there on time), Cardiff (got there on time), Birmingham (easy, but got there on time), Manchester * 3 (on time for all of them), and Boston USA (guess what - got there on time) and I will be on time for the Liverpool one tomorrow. We left in good time on Saturday to get there for Suzanne Vega, and even bought the car park ticket in advance. How was I supposed to know that it would take 2.5 hours to cover the final 4.5 miles, and even then have to park a good 20 minutes walk away?

I missed Suzanne Vega, and missed all but one song of the first half of Leonard's performance. That was annoying but my heart went out to the hundreds (possibly thousands) of others behind us in the queue, and to those who only had this one opportunity to see the great man and were missing some or all of it. What about the guy who posted that after 2 hours in a cab he had to give up and turn around! Surely deserving of sympathy? Oh no, not in your world. In your world we are just rude.

I prefer my world, with compassion and thought for others, not one which is just about me. I'm pretty sure The Man would be with me on that.

I'm off now to plan my trip to Liverpool - as usual with reasonable contingency time built in. I don't have a private route on the high moral ground that would guarantee me to be there for the start, however.

[Mal Foster]

Despite the pouring rain, despite the poor catering facilities, this was a night to remember at a venue I pass every day on my train to work. As always, Leonard was absolutley brilliant. And as he said himself, it will always be a very memorable evening. All good things! - Mal

[D1054]

Here's a couple of my photo's taken on Saturday



Mike

[D1054]

Here's another two


Many thanks mike

[MaryB]

We endured the much of the same conditions (weather, traffic, queques) but Columbia, Md. now seems like a piece of cake compared to what all of you had to go through. My heart goes out to all. Notwithstanding, thanks to all the fantastic reviews, it is so nice to hear that the final outcome was all of you being priviledged to attend what seems to be one of the best concerts of this tour.

Irish Al, a big thank you for these great videos. In Closing Time, we again see that special reaction from LC when the crowd is exhuberant. So evident every time you hear the roar from the audience and you are graced with that special LC grin and laugh. Boy, was he having a good time! Give to him and he gives back so much more.

Kindest regards,
Mary

[Helensj]

Just for fun we did a couple of quick 360 videos of the crowd, stage and auditorium - shot from seat 92/93 of Row P of Block A5. We were in good company with lots of forum folk nearby

The first clip is of a very thin "Early" crowd taken just 15 mins before Suzanne Vega came on stage. Here you can see the audience taking advantage of the stewards' offer of sponges loaded with UV protection factor 25.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkKtiMln45Q

The second clip is at the interval 15 minutes before the first part of Leonard Cohen's set. Here you can see the audience sipping ice-cool pimms and enjoying barbequed food and picnics as they bask in the warm, balmy July sunshine.

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

Steve - helensj's other man

[imyourwoman]

I love your closing time extract, you can really see the intensity of the falling rain, it looks so beautiful. And it looks like Leonard was getting quite wet himself too!

Amazing concert, fantastic atmosphere, great sound and just the perfect weather.

[Undertow]

I wonder if anybodys got First We Take Manhattan on video? I wanna see Leonards reaction to the crowd joining him in shouting "THEN WE TAKE BERLIN!"

[Helensj]

I wonder if anybodys got First We Take Manhattan on video? I wanna see Leonards reaction to the crowd joining him in shouting "THEN WE TAKE BERLIN!"

I hope we can help. We shot some of First We Take Manhattan - mostly for fun so expect poor framing, camera shake, and views of people dancing and singing (on and off the stage). We hope it captures the atmosphere at this marvellous rain-soaked show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvjABg1CMX4

Speaking of rain, our last video is an extract of Closing Time. Severe weather advisory - Watch out for the video screen shots of torrential rain falling on the stage. And some enthusiastic crowd reaction at the front of the stage ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovk_x52aeNs

helensj & steve

[stargazer61]

Thank you to everyone who posted the videos....much appreciated. Strangely enough I was so absorbed in the performance that I didn't really notice quite how bad the rain was until I saw it on one of the videos!

Can I echo comments about the number of people going in and out just for food and drink; it was both rude and annoying. I know many people had great difficulty in getting to the venue (I was lucky and arrived early, and in time to see the whole of the soundcheck ....thank you Leonard for 'Lover'!!!!); people arriving late were not the problem as hat could not be helped, it was the 'can't survive for 10 mins without drink' brigade!!!!

Was quite happy with the atmosphere and people jumping up and down during the encores because it was such an exciting, wonderful show but ...to the two women who continually climbed on top of their seats at the end of each encore song thus completely and utterly blocking the view for people behind them....grrrrrrr!!! I'm not normally a violent person but if they ever do that near me again, they are going to get a boot up their backsides! I was in A5 N 102 and they were in L.......so if you are reading this and recognise yourselves..beware!

[somewhat_nifty]

I was in A5 N and a couple of rows ahead were three girls with a banner - does anyone know what it said? (I couldn't read it in reverse!) Are you members here? Leonard looked like he saw it at one point!

In response to the First We Take Manhattan request above, I have an 'action' recording here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYEY-Td0npI