CONCERT REPORT: Ottawa, Ontario - December 7, 2012

[bridger15]

From a recent article about the movie Argo:

While taking refuge in the house of then Canadian ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor (Victor Garber), the diplomats are trained by Mendez to act and behave like a Canadian film crew, right down to not pronouncing the second “t” in Toronto.

http://o.canada.com/2012/09/10/the-argo ... e-in-iran/

Bless you Mary for posting this. When I saw the movie, I howled when I heard that specific instruction by the CIA.
---Arlene

[bobrob86]

A set of pictures that i took. from the Friday night concert
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0098009/photo ... 198102207/

What a generous performer!
I was able to get pretty close near the end of the show, so the last ones have good close ups.
Enjoy
Bob

[mutti]

Thank you all for the information on how to pronounce Toronto! for posting here and the private messages I got too.
Its like " you say Tomaato and I say Tomato"... ha ha
Those of us on the west coast called it TO or Toronto pronouncing the 2nd T....now I know...the proper way when I get out east again.
(2 nephews and 2 grand nephews won't keep me away for long).
Of course there is a lot of 'controversy about the Montreal bagels vs the West coast bagels, the east coast vs laid back west coast, in both Canada and the US! I better stop now..
Cheers!
Leslie

[Goldin]

Oh, that's quite interesting and a bit bizarre.

In conversation, locals generally pronounce it /təˈrɒnoʊ/ tə-ron-oh, /ˈtrɒnoʊ/ tron-oh, /ˈtrɒntoʊ/ tron-toh, /toʊˈrɒnə/ toh-ron-ə, or i/təˈrɒnə/ tə-ron-ə, or, in its most abbreviated form, /ˈtrɒnə/ tron-ə.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Toronto

[sturgess66]

The only odd thing to me - this is the first time he didn't mention the city he was playing in during Hallelujah. Last time he was in Ottawa (at the NAC) he referred to "the nation's capital". Not sure what happend last night. Has this happened elsewhere?

To the best of my observations, attending six concerts and watching youtube videos from the North America leg, LC only mentioned the city by name once, on opening night in Austin. Second concert Austin and therafter no city name. He usually said something like "here tonight." However, in Montreal. he did say "I did not come home to fool you".
---Arlene

If I remember correctly, last night he said "I did not dare come here to fool you".

Mary

I just posted a video in the Saskatoon thread of "Hallelujah" - that was just now uploaded
(there was not much video from this show)

And Leonard says (@5.55) "I did not come to Saskatoon to fool you"

Uploaded by debarazzi (Saskatoon show)
Hallelujah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbbn6PD6Bik

[bridger15]

There you have it, Sochijava, about your great OTTAWA CONCERT Hallelujah question.
Lots of info for you now.
---Arlene

[sturgess66]

Terrific video of La Manic from Ottawa - with introduction -

Uploaded by caro8680 - Thanks!

La Manic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG72qOUkw9o

And more from caro8680 -

First We Take Manhattan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF6UBfJQhlQ

So Long Marianne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_HK2RkUKhM

[Mollydog]

From a recent article about the movie Argo:

While taking refuge in the house of then Canadian ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor (Victor Garber), the diplomats are trained by Mendez to act and behave like a Canadian film crew, right down to not pronouncing the second “t” in Toronto.

http://o.canada.com/2012/09/10/the-argo ... e-in-iran/

Bless you Mary for posting this. When I saw the movie, I howled when I heard that specific instruction by the CIA.
---Arlene

Thanks, Arlene.

...and in case anyone's interested, we don't pronounce either of the T's in Ottawa. It's Oddawa!!

Mary

[Tchocolatl]

Happy Birthday Sojichava! Can not think to a better gift, indeed. How wonderful the atmosphere was. Save the last dance for me, being the last straw...

But. But, but. Toron(t)o is not Leonard Cohen home town. He did not go there to fool you. Toronto is such a Margaret Atwood surrounding, to me.

Nice to read the letter from Gerry Boley. I sometimes wonder what English teachers are doing with Irving Layton in their classes. He is not as a Man as Leonard Cohen is, but I found this quote from him "I am a genius who has written poems that will survive with the best of Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Keats." I don't know if it is a real quote, but it is certainly what I really felt, that he is among the greatest of this world, when I first read one of his short story.

Regarding this near perfect thing. Maybe it is just another case of blindness due to intense watching of ligth pouring in so warm and brilliant all the evening. There certainly must be a crack somewhere, the guy told himself.

[sturgess66]

Another video from caro8680

Save The Last Dance For Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4d8OFOxHpw

[stfa]

At ACC (TO) mentioned 'Toronto" first night, second night was something like "you fine people"...

Thanks for the update, stfa. I checked out a first night vid and disappointngly LC pronounced the second "t".
There may have been an even bigger roar from the crowd if he had said it the local way "Torono"
---Arlene

Funny I noted that at the time!!! I love the discussion going on here..... Being a Bruce fan also I noticed Springsteen is always very precise in pronouncing ToronTo at his concerts in the last 10 or so years!!! But he can be forgiven since he is American - with Leonard he should know better - but then again being from Hamilton who cares how it is pronounced!!!

[stfa]

Thank you all for the information on how to pronounce Toronto! for posting here and the private messages I got too.
Its like " you say Tomaato and I say Tomato"... ha ha
Those of us on the west coast called it TO or Toronto pronouncing the 2nd T....now I know...the proper way when I get out east again.
(2 nephews and 2 grand nephews won't keep me away for long).
Of course there is a lot of 'controversy about the Montreal bagels vs the West coast bagels, the east coast vs laid back west coast, in both Canada and the US! I better stop now..
Cheers!
Leslie

Just don't call them BAG els as the folks in Kitchener (once Berlin) do!!!

[stfa]

I'm posting this video here *guessing* that it is from Ottawa since it was uploaded in Dec 8, the day after this show
But I'm not sure - maybe Mary or Sojichava or another forum member who was at this show can verify? Else - I will just leave them here.
A "clue" is that in "Hallelujah" he says "I did not come here tonight my dear friends to fool you"

Might be Tronna second night (5th) - he said something similar then.

[sturgess66]

I'm posting this video here *guessing* that it is from Ottawa since it was uploaded in Dec 8, the day after this show
But I'm not sure - maybe Mary or Sojichava or another forum member who was at this show can verify? Else - I will just leave them here.
A "clue" is that in "Hallelujah" he says "I did not come here tonight my dear friends to fool you"

Might be Tronna second night (5th) - he said something similar then.

Thanks stfa - sounded vaguely familiar from another show - I will put in Toronto thread.

I just removed it above and replaced it with an Ottawa video of "Save The Last Dance For Me"

[madeline]

I loved the concert. Cohen made an arena feel like a small club. When the first encore performance began the band seemed to settle into a 'jam session' feeling that made me wish it were a real jam session and they'd just keep going, getting hotter and looser, past midnight and into the wee hours of the morning. At the same time, I had to ask myself how much more we, the fans, could expect from 'the lazy bastard in a suit' who had promised, at the beginning of the show, that he and his band would give us everything they've got. Well, we did get two fantastic encores and a brilliant show.

The set list was eclectic and satisfying, the musicians (including his "angels") outstanding, and Leonard's performance was perfect.

I too take exception to the subtitle of the review in the Ottawa Citizen, which was written by Lynn Saxberg and titled "Cohen refuses to get old." Saxberg wrote a glowing review without a single criticism, however the subtitle was "Legendary artist wows crowd with near-perfect show." It struck me as peculiar to refer to a "near-perfect" show when the actual critic wrote about a perfect show.

These titles and subtitles are not written by the reporters/reviewers and I suspect Saxberg may not have been pleased, either. Every once in awhile something really is perfect and there's no shame in a critic saying so, even if Leonard himself might disagree: "there is a crack in everything/that's how the light gets in."

If there was something imperfect about the show it was the heat in the arena. Gasp! I had to take off my stingy fedora because sweat was dripping from my brow. Likely, because there's a hockey strike in Canada, the concert floor was not covering ice, as it usually does, and that may have been why the temperature was incredibly high.

I also noticed in the other Ottawa newspaper article posted on this forum (I forget the name of the paper and I'm no longer in Ottawa, but anyway . . . )that Cohen was quoted as saying he looks in his mirror and says, "Lighten up, Leonard." What he actually said was, "Leonard, for chrissakes lighten up." Much funnier! If the reporter didn't want to risk actually putting "for chrissakes" (or for Christ's sakes) in the paper (which is dumb, considering the stuff that does appear in daily papers these days) he should have written it like so: "Leonard . . . lighten up." Nit picky, I suppose, but a reviewer's job is not to rewrite what the performer said, it is to accurately quote what was said.

This may have been my last Cohen concert (of 2, although I'm happy to say I attended the night when Cohen was inducted into the Glenn Gould Hall of Fame earlier this year.) My sister, who hadn't seen Cohen before (and paid for our tickets) was starting to freak in the car on the way to the concert and I told her, "Relax, things don't go wrong where Leonard's concerned. The last time I saw him in concert he arrived on stage at the same time I got to my seat, so we both got a standing ovation." This is precisely what happened this time, as well.

It looked like real trouble after the concert when she discovered she'd lost her keys. While she reported to the lost and found, etc. I was able to shop for merchandise and pick up a silk scarf for her, as we were celebrating our own little Christmas the next day. She was told to go to the car and see if the keys were in it. If not she'd have to call a cab. So we walked to the car. I noticed a few sparkly things on the ground and said, "What's that!" only to have it turn out to be a tin can or an empty foil bag. But she was ahead of me, approaching her car, while I followed, eyes to the ground and found the keys. I picked them up. In retrospect I should have pressed the button to turn on the headlights but all I did was start shaking the keys,like jingle bells, and say "Here they are!" On the drive home I reminded her, "Nothing goes wrong where Leonard's concerned."

The last time I saw him, Massey Hall, when he first started playing Canada again after a decade of playing Europe only, I knew I was going to meet him after the concert and was crestfallen when it didn't happen. I was busily working out the fact that we'd won the tickets, it was a great concert and actually no-one had promised I was going to meet the man, when my then husband nudged me and jerked his head to his right. Leonard was walking right along with us. When we got to the lights we waited for the walk sign and John said, "Leonard, it's so good to have you back." They shook hands, John introduced himself and me. I, who had practised all day so as to have interesting and intelligent things to say "when" I met him blurted, "Leonard, I love you."
The light changed, Leonard walked on ahead, looked back over the shoulder and gave us the thumbs up.

I didn't expect to meet him this time, nor did I hang around hoping to. I knew it wasn't my turn.

The next day, at our little Xmas celebration, I told my sister if she hadn't lost her keys I wouldn't have been able to surprise her with the blue silk scarf she absolutely adored.

Nothing goes wrong where Leonard's involved. It's not my doing, that's for sure. He is: humble, gracious, lithe, a poet, a musician, a point of pride for Canada and a man gifted with a golden voice that just gets better the older he gets.

He won't live forever but I pray to G_d that he lives for a long, long time. Of course, his music and words will live forever.

p.s. I totally blew my freelance writer's budget on merchandise. I will sell my program, which I believe is the same as the program sold in Europe ("Old Ideas" cover, tons of great pics, stickers (!), cheesecake shot of Leonard) for $50.00. If interested, let me know.

xoxo