CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Concert reports, set lists, reviews, photos and You Tube links. Fan meet-ups before and after the concerts.
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tomsakic
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by tomsakic »

I would not mind some "fans" did jump there, including that loud woman. Some people are really getting too much into LC's music these days.;)

Burgenland Sept 5 2010 was completely stone venue, open air opera stage in the canyon, and the sound was perfect in first row - we did get the great bootleg recording, didn't we? Luckily, in the last moment Jura was wise enough tosee what is going to happen so he took the device and wired himself in 10th row or so instead of me - that would be an awful recording.

Btw, Paul, the receip is not the point - the point is that without it, the venue took 20,000 Euros they will not share with agent, promoter, management, Leonard, AEG nor the Italian taxes me guess... and the real point is that when you pay 110 Euros for first row ticket in an opera venue, you somehow do expect dry seats...
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Okudzhava
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by Okudzhava »

Lucky Verona; 15 september - Ennio Morricone, 24 september - Leonard Cohen...

Thanks for the reports, friends.
Belgrade, Serbia, 2. IX 2009.
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TipperaryAnn
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by TipperaryAnn »

They always rent out those little cushions in the Arena, and very welcome they are too and well worth €2 if you're sitting on those cold stone steps (wet or dry) instead of on the "posh" seats below. BTW there's no dress code nonsense up there either for the operas!
Last edited by TipperaryAnn on Fri Sep 28, 2012 1:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bulat
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by bulat »

Fabrizio De André almost official home page: http://www.viadelcampo.com/index.html says: Per chi non era a Verona a vedere Leonard Cohen, eccovi il tributo a De André: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVXoN-sN1y4&feature=plcp
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andrea
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by andrea »

Another nice one :-)

http://www.onstageweb.com/recensioni-co ... mbre-2012/

http://www.onstageweb.com/tag/leonard-cohen/

25 set 2012 • di Tommaso Perandin

Recensione Leonard Cohen Verona 24 settembre 2012Arena di Verona, 24 settembre 2012. Nel pomeriggio che precede il concerto di Leonard Cohen, sul capoluogo veneto si abbatte un violento temporale, tanto da mettere in forse lo spettacolo. Il meteo però promette bello, quindi mi muovo verso l’Arena fiducioso. Quando entro le tribune sono ancora bagnate, ma basta asciugare la sedia e metterci sopra un telo portato da casa. La serata è fresca ma il cielo è limpido e stellato. Sono le 21 spaccate quando l’artista canadese, seguito dalla band, prende posto sul palco. Viste le temperature e l’età media del gruppo ho paura che non duri più di un’ora e mezza. Sarà così: alle 22,30 precise (ma sono svizzeri?), dopo una quindicina di brani eseguiti in un’atmosfera d’altri tempi (era da un pezzo che non vedevamo i microfoni con i fili) termina il concerto. Ma è solo una pausa, come si affretta a ricordare lo stesso Cohen: «Non andate via, vi aspettiamo tra 15 minuti». Del resto, 45 anni di carriera non si liquidano in 90 minuti.

Eccoci quindi nella seconda parte del concerto, che ricomincia esattamente da dove era terminato, con il cantautore/poeta canadese che ringrazia tutti per non essere andati a casa. Leonard non ha perso il suo fascino, sfoggia una verve ed una simpatia fuori dal comune. Lo stile è quello, inconfondibile, che amiamo da decenni. Con quella voce grave e profonda che canta testi poetici. Sul palco, oltre ai classici strumenti chitarra-basso-batteria-tastiere si alternano mandolino, arpa, violini, fisarmonica, armonica a bocca e contrabbasso. Tutto incorniciato da un meraviglioso coro. Spettacolo gentile, ma non per questo privo di vibrazioni. Anzi, dentro l’Arena si sprigiona un’enorme energia. Il pubblico ovviamente è over 40 ma ci sono anche i giovani (Caterina Guzzanti è seduta in prima fila). La band è elegantissima: con gli uomini in abito scuro, cravatta e cappello in testa, le donne in tailleur (guarda le foto). Cohen non porta la cravatta ma sfoggia un gessato doppiopetto e l’immancabile borsalino. Il palco è essenziale, senza sfondo, con l’Arena stessa che fa da quinta.

Il concerto era cominciato con Dance Me To The End Of Love, eseguita in una tonalità molto bassa che l’ha resa ancora più introspettiva. Dopo i ringraziamenti formali alla città di Verona ed al pubblico, Leonard aveva anche promesso che durante il concerto lui e la band avrebbero dato «tutto quello che abbiamo da darvi». Mi colpisce il testo di The Future, che su YouTube esiste in versione censurata, con tanti beep su frasi come “Give me crack and anal sex”. Non poteva mancare Suzanne, una poesia scritta nel ’66 e poi trasformata in canzone l’anno successivo, divenuta celebre in Italia grazie all’interpretazione (in italiano) di Fabrizio De Andrè, datata 1974. Leonard dedica il pezzo proprio al nostro adorato menestrello. Nella setlist (leggi la scaletta completa) anche brani tratti da I’m Your Man dell’88: la title track e Every Body Knows.

È mezzanotte quando Leonard intona Alleluia, una preghiera universale impossibile da cantare con gli occhi aperti. Poi il walzer di Take This Waltz e la chiusura con Different Sides, tratta dall’ultimo Old Ideas. Sembra proprio finita ma Cohen, ballando in un modo che ricorda Roberto Benigni, rientra inaspettatamente per un altro paio di bis. So Long Marianne e First We Take Manhattan, estemporanea e divertente scorribanda nell’elettronica. Scatta una interminabile e inevitabile standing ovation, con il pubblico in piedi, sulle gradinate come in platea, che balla divertito. Grazie Leonard, hai mantenuto la promessa.
1976 june Zürich (both evenings)
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2009 july koeln - august venice - september barcelona
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bulat
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by bulat »

Fabrizio De André - Suzanne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-KUBgYC-ow

Fabrizio de André - Nancy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKn9nSbWxCQ

Fabrizio De André - Giovanna D'Arco Versione Inedita 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2NCY5hTrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1kPT4OJxQM
johnny5
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by johnny5 »

tomsakic wrote:Only unpleasant fact was that the venue's staff didn't bother to clean the seats of rain in 4 hours between storm and show, so 110 Euros seats in first rows were completely wet, and then they "rented" small pillows for 2 Euros per piece, without bill or receipt - that is, if they had 10,000 people, 20 000 Euros earned without receipts and without sharing it with Leonard's tour promoter or the artist's management - plain robbery of the paying audience and taking of 20,000 Euros behind everybody's back. When I pay 110 Euros for seat, I do expect it to be clean and NOT WET and I do expect that venue staff, and the venue being a famous opera Roman amphitheatre, is capable of cleaning the water off the seats in 4 hours. I will probably never buy a ticket for that place in my life. At least they did not have sausages and beer.
Well Tom, absolutely nothing to say about wet seats, they should have been cleaned, that's it. During the opera season the seats get covered with waterproof sheets until gates open... I don't know why they didn't do it.

But I'd like to say something about red cushions.
Cushion "rental" is a service offered by a non profit care giving organization, the Croce Verde (Green Cross) http://www.croceverdeverona.org/.
They signed an agreement about that with Arena Foundation on july 7, 1914 (yes, before WW1)...

That's why no bill and no receipt: I'm sure someone did let LC, the promoters and the management know about that, so no robbery. Maybe this could have been clearly explained by the guys who rented them...


Proud of having been there (up there, sitting on a dry stone :) )
Thank you all for sharing great photos and videos

Giovanni
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Mabeanie1
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by Mabeanie1 »

johnny5 wrote:I'd like to say something about red cushions.
Cushion "rental" is a service offered by a non profit care giving organization, the Croce Verde (Green Cross) http://www.croceverdeverona.org/.
They signed an agreement about that with Arena Foundation on july 7, 1914 (yes, before WW1)...

Giovanni
Thanks for the info Giovanni. I am happy to hear that the cushion money goes to a good cause.

Wendy
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andrea
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by andrea »

Dear Wendy,

yes Giovanni is right, that is why I always take cushions when we got to the Arena. Yes iI is an old tradition in Verona and the money goes to the green cross ....and many many years ago and for a long period ...also Marco' s mother did sew them for the Arena, every summer new ones.....but those obviously are from younger sewers ;-) and it is really good that they kept to be a no profit contribution to the greeen cross !!!
Andrea
1976 june Zürich (both evenings)
2008 july london - july loerrach - july lucca - october berlin - october milan - november london
2009 july koeln - august venice - september barcelona
2010: july salzburg - september florence- - december las vegas
2012: august ghent - september berlin - verona
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Albert
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by Albert »

Strange discussion here
Nobody is forced to pay 2 Euros for these little things.
Cannot see any robbery here....

Did anyone complain about the ridiculous merchandising prices ????

Those ,who asked for dry seats at an OpenAir,have certainly not been to a German OpenAir.

Those ,who complain about the local promotors ,should also take a look at the Cohen Management.
They did choose the venues in risky weather conditions.

And why?. They want to make as much money as possible.

By the way Berlin and Mönchengladbach were not sold out ,and there are still tickets available for Barcelona ,Lisboa
and Madrid.
Maybe it was not a wise move ,to include so many open airs ??
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Wybe
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by Wybe »

We had an wonderful time in Verona with the concert and the perfect organised meet-up's, thanks to Marco and Andrea.

And also the not organised meet-up's where so good, as you see here in the picture.

Wybe and Willy
Verona - Cohenites in the Night.JPG
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TipperaryAnn
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by TipperaryAnn »

Good to see this cheery photo. Some moan and complain, (including a moderator of this forum who was shocked to find his seat wet after a downpour! :shock: ) Others just enjoy being there. As Oscar Wilde said, "Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars".
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swisschris
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by swisschris »

Wybe and Willy, thanks for posting the picture of this memorable night!!

The Leonard Cohen meet-up has been a wonderful experience for me. Seeing familiar faces I remembered from previous LC Events (Hydra 2002, New York 2004 or Berlin 2006) and meeting many new and very friendly Cohenites at the pre-concert meet-up at BREK or the pizza evening at that wonderful restaurant in the church (followed by some drinks at a bar in Piazza Bra and that wonderful, tiny wine bar somewhere in a back street of Verona till it was well past closing time:-)), I enjoyed every minute of it. So thanks to all the Cohenites from Italy, the UK, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, the States and last but not least from my own country Switzerland, it has been a privilege spending some time with you!

And above all, thanks to Andrea and Marco for organising everything - I know how much time and effort that involves and I greatly appreciate it!!

A few words about the concert as well:
It has been the longest LC-concert I have ever witnessed (3hrs20minutes) and the longest concert I have been to in my entire life (until now that had been German singer Herbert Grönemeyer's legendary concert at Montreux Jazz Festival 2003 with a length of 3hours15minutes...). And I know for sure that Leonard and his band have given us all they got to give.
But somehow, and I don't really know why, I had some problems "getting into" the concert, it didn't grab me as much as other LC did. Maybe it was the cold temperatures, maybe the sound problems, maybe Leonard and the singers not being 100% fit (I later learned that at least Leonard still suffered from a cold from all those open-air concerts in northern countries and that Sharon had had stomach problems), maybe a little dissapointment that some of the songs I would have wished to hear (Different Sides, I can't forget, Light as a breeze) were not played.
But still, even this concert ranks far above a lot of other concerts I have seen in the last years. The absolute highlight for me was "The night comes on", followed by "Going Home", "Amen" and "Alexandra Leaving". The violin player is a great addition and I especially liked his playing in "Bird on a wire", a song which normally isn't one of my favourites, on the contrary:-)

Ah, and the sound problems might have had something to do with the fact that on the 2008-10 tour they had brought their own PA system and on this tour they rent it locally...(all explained in Leif's tour blog). So to minimize the costs in order to maximize the gain (mostly for AEG I suspect ) doesn't always pay out in the end...

2008:Lyon July 9th, Lörrach July 25th, Zurich October 25th;
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2010: Basel September 8th;
2012: Verona September 24th;
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Mabeanie1
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by Mabeanie1 »

TipperaryAnn wrote:Good to see this cheery photo. Some moan and complain, (including a moderator of this forum who was shocked to find his seat wet after a downpour! :shock: ) Others just enjoy being there. As Oscar Wilde said, "Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars".
Interesting comment Ann - and seemingly at odds to your usual "say it like it is" approach.

We had a great time in Verona - but the concert experience was far from perfect for all sorts of reasons and there's no point is saying it was. There were stars AND mud.

Sadly we had to miss the original-concert-day meet up where this photo was taken as we were already on our way home by then but it was great to see everyone and the fair city of Verona.

wendy
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Henning
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Re: CONCERT REPORT: Verona, September 24, 2012

Post by Henning »

Hi friends - I enjoyed the days of Verona very much. Increcible how much we fit in in only 36 hours. Didn't count the drinks though.

Fantastic photo Wijbe - your camera is deLuxe. What a great laugh we had to get it as perfect as it is now.

Many thanks to Andrea and Marco for the perfect organization.

H.
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