Leonard Cohen 2008-09 Tour Statistics

[yaniv297]

Hey everyone,
I've done some statistics about each song and how often it was played during the recent tour. All the setlist information comes from here:
http://users.telenet.be/maarten.massa/d ... 8-2009.pdf
Which means it counts until the second LA show (Oakland not included). I didn't count the non-confirmed show either.
The forum won't let me upload the original xls file, so I'll find a way to upload it later. In the meantime, here are the statistics for the complete tour:
(If you find any mistakes please tell me)

Songs played:

The following songs were played on every single show this tour (106 times total):

Dance Me To The End Of Love
The Future
Bird on the Wire
Everybody Knows
Who By Fire
Suzanne
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
First We Take Manhattan

99% (Every show except the Benicassim show, which only included 10 songs):
Tower Of Song
Anthem
Ain't No Cure For Love

97% - Democracy (103 out of 106)

96% (Every full length show):
In My Secret Life
Take This Waltz
The Gypsy's Wife

95% - Boogie Street (101/106)

94% - I Tried To Leave You (100/106)

92% - So Long Marianne (97/106)

84% - If It Be Your Will (89/106)

81% - Closing Time (86/106)

76% - Whither Thou Goest (81/106)

69% - Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye (73/106)

55% - A Thousand Kisses Deep (58/106)

54% - Famous Blue Raincoat (57/106)

48% - The Partisan (51/106)

37% - Heart With No Companion (39/106)

32% - Sisters Of Mercy (34/106)

31% - That Don't Make It Junk (33/106)

27% - Chelsea Hotel (29/106)

11% - Waiting For The Miracle (12/106)

10% - Avalanche (11/106)

3% - Lullaby (3/106)

By Album:

Most represented album:

1. I'm Your Man (630 performances total)
2. The Future (412 performances total)
3. Various Positions (340 performances total)
4. Songs Of Leonard Cohen (310 performances total)
5. Ten New Songs (236 performances total)
6. New Skin For The Old Ceremony (235 performances total)
7. Songs From A Room (157 performances total)
8. Others* (142 performances total)
9. Recent Songs (102 performances total)
10. Songs Of Love and Hate (68 performances total)

*Others = Whither, Thousand Kisses and Lullaby
(I counted Thousand Kisses as others because the song was never played, only the poem).





That's it for now. I'll upload the full file later. What do you think?
Please comment.

[KaimiK]

Great analysis, thanks! But, now I'm worried - how can you see him in concert and not hear So Long, Marianne?!!! Or Chelsea Hotel - or The Partisan - or Sisters of Mercy... Oh my, I suppose he should just have a 6 hour show - perhaps a two day event in my backyard - as long as I'm wishing!

[tonymoco]

What do you think?
Please comment.

I think you're as amazing and crazy when it comes to Leonard Cohen as I am, but in your own unique way.

Thank you for all that hard work. What's most meaningful to me is knowing how many of us (individuals and audiences) have shared a similar experience.

A couple of things:

I believe "If It be Your Will" is always performed by the Webb Sisters.

Almost all of the songs on the set list are on "The Essential Leonard Cohen" album.

[yaniv297]

Thanks for your response

Kaimik - you probably don't have to worry about any of these, other then "Sisters of Mercy".
"So Long Marianne" was problematic in the beginning of the tour, and was ommited from 9 shows in June 2008. But since 15/06/08 it was played on every single show, and will probably continue to be.
"The Partisan" was played on every single show since 10/10/08, and "Chelsea Hotel" was played on every show since Novemeber 14th 2008.
"Sisters of Mercy" is a lot less sure though. It was dropped from a handful of Sep-Nov 2008 shows, and was only played in 37% of the 2009 shows. It wasn't heard live in a while.

Myself, I'm worrying about "Famous Blue Raincoat" because it's my favourite song, but it seems to have a steady spot in the setlist. Also "Avalanche" seemed to have been dropped completely, and I would like to see "That Don't Make It Junk" played more. Not to mention so many songs who weren't even played once "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong" "Alexandra Leaving" "Joan Of Arc" and more...

Tonymoco, thank you but it wasn't as hard as it seemed. It's not like I counted everything, it was done really easily in excel, and since all setlists are similar i've been able to use a lot of copy+paste+change one detail as needed. It didn't take more then an hour.

And I noticed that too about the essential - the setlist seems to be almost like a Greatest Hits setlist (other then a few songs like I Tried To Leave You). I'm hoping for more album tracks, maybe instead of pop tracks like "Ain't No Cure For Love" which I don't really like, but I'm very happy with those setlists anyway. As long as Famous Blue Raincoat stays in, that is.

[KaimiK]

Joan of Arc would be an excellent addition. It's one of my very favorites and I would love to hear it live, but I havent' seen it on any setlist so far...

[MaryB]

Excellent job janiv297 and greatly appreciated! This puts all of Maarten's setlists in a brand new light. Looking forward to your updates!

Best regards,
Mary