CONCERT REPORT: Glastonbury (June 29)

Canada and Europe (May 11 - August 3, 2008). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
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margaret
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by margaret »

A colleague who was not keen on LC has just returned from Glastonbury. At 42 he is somewhat younger than me and did not mind camping in the probable mud. I asked him today how he enjoyed Glastonbury and he replied that the very best thing about Glastonbury was seeing Leonard Cohen :D , who was simply amazing, quite mesmerising :D

Another workmate went to Manchester, unsure what to expect and has been raving about it since, stating it was the best concert she has ever attended for anyone in her whole life.

Margaret
Dublin 15th June, Manchester 18th June, Edinburgh 16th July
Cardiff 8th. November, Manchester 30th. November Liverpool 14th July 2009 Barcelona 21st September 2009, Las Vegas 11th December 2010
Gerry
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by Gerry »

Hey beckymarche,dry your eyes and get a life and appreciate Leonard for the genius he is and the music he has created all these years.
paddieu
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by paddieu »

Thanks for the inside report :-)

What you didn't cover [and maybe cannot] is whether the sets are filmed, recorded, and then can be
shown to the artist so that they have a chance to reconsider later. Maybe that's not possible on a public
forum anyway !

'Your' cameras [is that right ?] did a goodish job - the vision mixing was terrible at times
though, but thats how it always is at modern gigs..<sigh>
honeyrose
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by honeyrose »

Gingermop, I am very intrigued by your comment that when someone says you can't film them live, you can't film them and that is it. And that the rights to televise a live performance cannot be inserted in a performer's contract which applies to the entire roster of stars at Glastonbury - who could all have taken Leonard's line and refused to have the tv cameras present.

I am really surprised about this. Have the BBC paid for television rights to show Glastonbury? if so what do they actually have the rights to? from what you say it could be just a load of shots of tents, inane presenters and empty stages when the big names are on.

I was reading recently about David Beckham signing up with his US football club, and there seemed to be all sorts of ancillary related rights, like image rights, for which he charged extra, which I would never have thought of. How does it work for international football players for example? I assumed it is written into their contracts that they will play in televised matches.

Hmm. I am a writer, of non-fiction and my book contracts with publishers are quite modest affairs. But occasionally one sends me a contract to sign which is clearly the template for a major internationally published author and it is full of clauses about which markets the book can be published in, syndication rights, film rights, international rights to distributing the material etc. Sadly none of this applies to me, I wish it did, but it is all there in the contracts. I cross out most of it.

I thought all contracts were like this. But you are saying stars' or indeed anyone's contracts with the promoter for live performances at music festivals or wherever, do not include any agreement to be televised and this cannot be inserted legally. The stars can veto this at any time up to the start of their show? The BBC is clearly taking a big risk - one can easily see how some stars might decide to be filmed only by their own crew for their new DVD and cut out the BBC. What price televison rights then? I am shocked.
honeyrose
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by honeyrose »

to add to my last piece - I just found this item below on the In The News website, saying how the record sales of the performers on Glasto who were televised, have had a boost and gone up. Are the doubters out there still saying televising it would have made no difference to Leonard's sales? I can't quite remember the details of the deal his ex manager signed him up to, but didn't Sony get his future royalties in exchange for a lump sum which she then embezzled? Leonard I suppose could be doing a Prince or a George Michael to stop Sony benefitting for a resurgence in his record sales........

"Glastonbury success with chart triumph this weekend.

Jay-Z is set to continue to prove the doubters wrong by following his Glastonbury success with chart triumph this weekend. The rapper's appearance on the Pyramid Stage at the legendary Somerset festival had provoked much controversy with many critics citing his booking as the reason for slower ticket sales for this year's event while Oasis' Noel Gallagher said a hip-hop artist performing was "wrong". But having wowed the Glastonbury crowds on Saturday night - including a tongue-in-cheek cover of Gallagher's Wonderwall - Jay-Z singles are set to climb the UK charts, the BBC reports.

His hit 99 Problems, with which he opened his Glastonbury set, is likely to shoot into the top 25 this weekend while Numb/Encore, his 'mashup' collaboration with Linkin Park, is also likely to re-enter the top 40. Even Wonderwall has experienced a download sales boost, with the 1995 song set to re-enter the top 100.

And other bands who triumphed at Glastonbury are also likely to notice a boost in their record sales this weekend, with Kings of Leon's third album Because of the Times likely to climb some 40 places while their previous two efforts are also set to re-enter the top 75. Elbow's stunning Saturday evening set is to create a surge of sales for their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid, which should chart in the top 20 and the likes of the Feeling, the Raconteurs and Editors have also noticed increased album sales."
tiggs
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by tiggs »

I hate feeling part of a crowd but when I went out and bought everything by elbow after their glastonbury performance I sort of hoped others would do the same. I had leaders of the free world and thought it was amazing, but after seeing them live I had to get everything else.
The power of the media and a damm good performance can do no artist any harm. I still feel that this could have worked for leonard.
Oh and by the way about the performing in front of camera thing, 16 year old bands I work with are taught to perform for the camera and Across The Line TV on bbc northern Ireland actively encourage them to do this with yearly competitions.
I cant help thinking that a legend of his stature had independently done this tour he would have made a lot more, we would have seen more and more importantly he could have kept cash out of the pockets of the sleazy suits.
this is my favorite quote by the way

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men lie like dogs. There is also a negative side
jglBB
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by jglBB »

Except that in the case of Leonard, if there had been a TV contract, all money would have gone to Sony BMG and not a penny to Leonard himself. So we can understand I think.
Pope
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by Pope »

I like many others here looked forward to Glastonbury and Cohen on tv as the closest we could get to a live performance. Nothing doing, Cohen selfishly misread his fans. Done so World Tour dvd sells better - well here's one fan who won't be buying one.
g.
seanmiller
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by seanmiller »

Honeyrose,

With about 40 stages around the site I don't think the BBC would have weeped many tears at being unable to show a few songs from Leonard Cohen... I am assuming you have never been to the Festival as this question of "what are they paying for?" wouldn't, imho, be being asked if you had.

The BBC's coverage of Glastonbury is actually fairly dire, to be honest... most people I know around this area who goes is bemused at how the BBC simply focus on two stages and tend to rarely venture from there... there is amazing theatre, cabaret, the Avalon and John Peel stages have large numbers of very big names, the Jazz World Stage has act after act who would blow away most Other Stage wanabees... with thousands of bands and performers playing over 3 days in an area the size of a small city it's amazing that the BBC will do ridiculous things like get an act to do an acoustic set in their studio and then show their main set... an hour or two focused on just one act is one hell of a percentage of a 3-day festival (ie. around 40 hours of music on the main stages).

The other thing is that whilst I'm sure they could say "if you don't get filmed you don't play" then they wouldn't have had Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan or Roger Waters as they'd have refused to sign - would that have been good for the paying punters? I somehow doubt it.

Good that there's a Festival that puts the people who've PAID first. Ultimately if you want to see a gig pay to see it - if the entire country relied on the BBC the Festival wouldn't have sold all but 900 of the 140,000+ tickets, would have made a huge loss and probably wouldn't be on next year.

And that would be VERY sad.

Sean
Last edited by seanmiller on Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
seanmiller
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by seanmiller »

jally wrote:Seanmiller...are you shepton mallet local? i had 2 really enjoyable days there and spent some time in the local surrounding area. It is really a beautiful countryside (off festival site anyway, that bit is a smidgin crowded :lol: ). Although even from on site up high there are incredible views of the rolling countryside, even better in the sunshine 8)
Jx
Hi Jally,

Yes, I'm living in Shepton Mallet at present - lived in the Glastonbury/Shepton area since the age of 8 (30 years) and love the area, so I'm glad it had such a positive effect on you.

Festival site is also particularly beautiful when the event isn't on... I had to go to Worthy Farm to pick up a form back in April and you wouldn't recognise the place... just fields and green... years ago the Somerset & Dorset Railway used to whizz through that valley along the line they now use as one of the main Festival thoroughfares... must have been a glorious trip... from the station in Glastonbury itself you'd have whizzed around the back of the Tor with the steam flying behind you and arrived at West Pennard Station which was just on the edge of the Festival site (next to a pub called the Apple Tree - not sure if you noticed that one?) and then crossed the main road and whizzed through what is now the Festival site, eventually reaching a wooded valley and upon emerging re-joining the main Somerset & Dorset Bath->Bournemouth line at Evercreech Junction.

Did you climb the Tor?

Sean
honeyrose
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by honeyrose »

Yes but the problem for me with big stadiums and festivals is not merely one of cost it is also one of scale. The artist is so far away that you cannot see them except on screens, cannot hear them and if you are short like me, with minor back problems just find yourself squeezed among people who tower over you for several hours. Not a comfortable situation. OK so you can pay to go to a show, but £80 is not cheap for a single show. The great advantage of a televised performance is that you get what amounts to a grandstand view of the stage without the discomfort. So there are attractions for the viewer of a televised festival like Glasto even in snatches. If it was done well, and the Glasto coverage is terrible generally I agree, then there would probably be scope for other festivals to be televised or streamed even at a small charge.

But leaving that aside, the impact of Jay-Z's performance in increased exposure and record sales is clearly very great and so were others and so I am sure would Leonard's have been. As I said before I do wonder if not Leonard chosing not to be televised is because the benefit would go to Sony who own his royalties. I don't know that for certain of course but it is one explanation.
seanmiller
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by seanmiller »

honeyrose wrote:Yes but the problem for me with big stadiums and festivals is not merely one of cost it is also one of scale. The artist is so far away that you cannot see them except on screens, cannot hear them and if you are short like me, with minor back problems just find yourself squeezed among people who tower over you for several hours.
That is true... but the Glastonbury Festival is better than most in this regard as the Pyramid Stage is at the bottom of a large hill, and the sound systems are pretty good... you could have quite easily taken a chair and sat on the hill... the "human" LC would, I admit, have been somewhat small but the big screens would have ensured you "saw" everything going on... there was one each side of the stage and one on the back of the mixing desk area, along with repeater speakers further back from the stage.
But leaving that aside, the impact of Jay-Z's performance in increased exposure and record sales is clearly very great and so were others and so I am sure would Leonard's have been. As I said before I do wonder if not Leonard chosing not to be televised is because the benefit would go to Sony who own his royalties. I don't know that for certain of course but it is one explanation.
Quite possible... but that'd be rather harsh as Sony did BUY the rights to future royalties on the back catalogue... the fact that his manager ran off with the money earned is not really Sony's fault, and I have never seen it documented that LC has any issue with Sony, but may be wrong.

Sean
confetti
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by confetti »

All of us who have been to a concert this year, know how wonderful and special it was. Can you imagine what it would have been like with a camera man standing in front of Javier when Leonard crouched down to sing into his face, or as he recited A thousand kisses deep? I expect there would have been a camera man wandering about in front of the Webb sisters as they sang if it be your will. The people who went to Glastonbury deserved the same experience as the rest of us, and if that meant that we at home didn't get to relive our experience then so be it.

For the people who think this was done for financial reasons, and he has sold out or lost integrity, I think the exact opposite, he has stuck 2 fingers up at commercialism in favour of giving his audience a wonderful experience.
"I needed so much, to have nothing to touch - I've always been greedy that way"
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jarkko
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by jarkko »

This is exactly what I've also heard. Leonard tries always to give his ultimate best, and with a live transmission there is always a risk of technical etc. problems, and the camera crew, going around on the stage, might disturb his total concentration on the song. On the other hand, with fewer cameras, shooting from the distance, the intimacy of the performance would not come through. The TV issue was discussed and decided very early in the spring, and all the key persons in UK knew it. Someone in another department of BBC or the festival organisation was obviously not informed locally, and so the misleading TV schedule was put in distribution.
When it's time to film the tour DVD, special arrangements on the stage will guarantee that it will be a perfect documentary of Leonard in concert.
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gingermop
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Re: Glastonbury (June 29)

Post by gingermop »

Thanks for the clarification, Jarkko.

I know that the production team who were at Glastonbury just automatically presumed Leonard would be filmed (obviously a breakdown in communication somewhere) and only heard that it wouldn't be the case, about an hour before his set. These things happen.

For those querying the coverage: a live broadcast is MUCH more expensive than you can imagine, and the pyramid/other stages are covered primarily because artists are playing there that the majority of the public want to see.
It's not just a case of chucking another two cameramen out on the field - the equipment, editing, staff, etc costs would skyrocket, to the detriment of making other programmes. And yes, all artists could take the same line and say "please don't film me" if they wanted to: but it's doubtful that it would ever happen! Artists have a contractual obligation to play at Glastonbury once agreed, they do not have an obligation to be filmed.

G
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