Firstly, a big
THANK YOU JARKKO for arranging great seats for Forum members: back of Block A2, on the floor, near the stage - wonderful! Twice as close as when I was at the O2 in July.
What a great gig!
I am astounded that Leonard (and the band) can still manage to pull off these 3 hour masterpieces night after night.
He started about 15minutes late, and there seemed to be less chat in between songs, but I'm not complaining!
As in July, the audience seemed to loosen up and come alive (in an English sort of way) during "Hallelujah". I guess everyone has their own way of enjoying Leonard, but I couldn't help noticing how few heads were swaying and how little people were singing along. The audience were polite, and pleasant, and generally well behaved, but to me these songs, especially choruses like "Hallelujah", are meant to be sung by the masses! I noticed a few people quietly mouthing the words. Again, I do believe this is more an English thing. I bet the audiences in Dublin, Scotland, Wales and the continent (esp. eastern Europe) were much more alive and involved.
An observation: Sitting so near the front I had to keep turning around just to remind myself that I wasn't in a village hall. In July (where I was sitting on raised side seats about half way back from the stage, looking diagonally at the stage from a height) I had a greater sense of the sheer mass of people - it really felt like Leonard had turned a soulless arena into a giant temple with 20,000 pilgrims, and songs like "who by fire" seemed to have a much more profound significance - as if the prophet Leonard was kindly reminding us, humanity, of our own shared immortality. Still, last night there was something profound and spiritual going on, much more than just a great musical performance.
The band was superb. Javier Mas especially I thought. I'm no expert, but it felt like I was hearing a true virtuoso - like two people playing one instrument- such passion, and intensity, and yet at ease and smiling. The entire band had a lot of passion. Great to hear Sharon Robinson sing all of Boogie Street. The Webb Sisters sounded great; even acrobatics in "The Future"!!! Also, they are both so beautiful and sexy (vocally and visually), which makes for the perfect balance to Leonard's own old-crooner-sexiness. "If it be your Will" again was just sublime. "Democracy" has been moved to later in the show. I guess at the moment it has an added significance. 'Democracy is coming to the U.S.A' got a real good cheer from the crowd. Delighted to hear songs he didn't play in July - "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "The Partisan". The latter had such a good groove. I guess I'll have to wait for the DVD to enjoy "Avalanche".
Finally I'd just like to add is that despite the O2 having a bit of a soulless-shopping-mall feel to it, I found the staff friendly and helpful. Due to poor health I need to rest a lot. I phoned the arena a couple of days earlier and the medical staff were extremely accommodating and even allowed me to have a bed to lie down and rest on to regain some strength after my journey before the performance! This really made a difference to my evening, and even allowed me to boogie! I felt very well looked after.
A great evening.
Thank you again Jarkko
Thank you Leonard
Thank you Teachers
Thank you everyone.
Martin
in a way that lit up the whole arena.
