CONCERT REPORT: Glastonbury (June 29)

[scorp]

Tempted, thank you sooooo much for providing the real time vid images that were 'filmed' by fans in the crowd and then put on youtube. I'd take my hat off to you, if i had one. i've been eyeing up Leonard's hat style....



And soooo many thanks again.

[UrPal]

This is the video of the Glastonbury Hallelujah referred to in my earlier post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Zqy1Un ... re=related

I see there is at least one other which may not share the qualities of "accidental brilliance" I was describing.

[JonoGlasto]

Wow. I never ever thought i would ever get to see the greatest artist / poet ever Leonard Cohen.
Especially in what i've always considered to be my spiriutal home of Glastonbury on the magical Pyrmid Stage as the sun was setting glorious. Exra special as i celebrated my 5th wedding annivesary (i got engaged at Glastonbury 6 years before as the sun set at the Sacred space - the stone circle).

We did love it during hallelujah when he said "i did not come all the way to Glastonbury to fool ya" nice touch special moment.

I love Leonard. He did look like the age was catching up with him. i never want him to retire but thats not realistic, i hope that when he does hes happy, loved and that he gets to enjoy it (how ever he wants to)

I'm so lucky (A happy hippy from glastonbury hill - not far from the sacred tree)

[thethirdman]

Well, that's Dave Spikey for you - about the unfunniest "comedian" I've ever seen. If you're taking your standpoint from him you're errrr, let's put this nicely, misguided and wrong.

As for Dylan's lack of banal chatter between songs I would just add that the only thing that really spoilt the Cohen show for me was the continual repitition of band intros .... every bloomin' solo was followed by an intro. After a while this became not only tedious but rather embarrassing for both audience and musician.

i'm taking my standpoint from what i witnessed that night which was a past it performer who was massacring his wonderful songs (lay lady lay was a particular low point) for what can only be the money, its certainly not for the audience! thank you once after a song i wouldn't consider "chatter" although you may consider manners banal.
even when he went electric and they were booing him he still talked to the crowd maybe even he knows how bad he is and is just too embarrassed to speak.

while i don't feel it was remotely embarrassing i do agree with you that he did intro the band far too many times and that was also a good thing about the Glastonbury performance as he did far less of this but if i had a choice between the two i'd rather have a performer who is gracious enough to acknowledge people rather than well lets face it Dylan because I've never been to a concert before or since where the performer ignored his audience!

[A.Sukitu]

... this a bit of media coverage ...

In HELLO magazine No 1029 15 July 08 pg 81, Cerys Matthews: My Glastonbury Diary :
(in last paragraph:)

"We came off as Leonard Cohen began, which was incredible, the highlight of the festival."

[for info, Cerys Matthews used to sing in Catatonia].

[bobbyp]

the glasto show is mentioned in this piece.

i'm sure it was amazing gig but the writer says that people were crying all the way through...i can imagine that as well.

insanely amazing!

http://www.thequietus.com/articles/dylan-vs-cohen

it's a good piece too cos he brags about how much better cohen is than dylan.

thoughts?

bobby p x

[confetti]

that is a lovely piece and such a lovely photo of Leonard. I think the main difference between the 2 men regardless of their work, is that Leonard seems to appreciate and respect his fans, whereas Dylan seems to treat them with contempt. Plus Leonard is much more sexy.

[imaginary friend]

Attn: Luke Turner (author of Quietus piece)

On behalf of all women alive and some deceased, don't you dare call Leonard a '...shrivelled old cove'!

[tiggs]

Oh no confetti, I have to agree with you for the second time ( sorry ) . Ok so he is the most influential writer of the last god knows how long and the only singer whos lyrics I findb important. And he has a voice that most artists would die for, but yes , as a totally heterosexual man , with a few weird tendencies ??? , he is sexy as f**k. I wish I had the charisma and talent that he has.
Bob who ??? , if only he could sing in key.

[seanmiller]

He mentions Dylan's abysmal late 90s Glastonbury set... as I mentioned previously it was one of the most underwhelming experiences of my musical life so far... I am a person who is fairly easily pleased when it comes to live music... I enjoy festivals because you get to see people you've not seen before and very often these young bands are absolutely magic. LC was magic, Al Green was magic, David Bowie was magic, Elvis Costello was magic (1989, where have the years gone?), and Roger Waters was magic. Dylan made watching paint dry a very tempting option.

Sean

[confetti]

you would rather they would just cancel than behave like that, Sean. I love Van Morrision and have been lucky enough to only see him when he has been on form, but there were a few times that he would have been better not showing up than taking peoples money for the abysmal performances he is reported to have made.

[maurice]

It is too bad that Leonard Cohen did not perform at Roskilde Festival. He was playing in Copenhagen at the same night when Neil Young took his place at the Orange Stage.

[neo]

I have never written on a forum such as this before and probably will never again, and I have never considered myself a Leonard Cohen fan, but I just had to say this. I was one of two cameramen allowed into the pit to film Leonard Cohen's Pyramid stage performance at Glastonbury, June 29th, 2008. My role was to allow the thousands of people who aren't in the first ten rows to see the performers, displayed on the massive LED screens right and left of stage.

I can happily say that this gig was one of the most spellbinding moments of my career. I held a close up shot of Leonard throughout the performance, in order to convey the intimacy to the back of the crowd, and I was there singing Hallelujah with all my soul along with everyone onstage and off; crew, crowd, everyone.

But the reason why I feel so privileged to have been there that night was because, I was that cameraman standing at the Webb sisters feet, and hearing them sing and seeing them made me feel that I had risen up to heaven......

Hallelujah


Simply beautiful......

......Beautiful design, beautiful concept, beautiful music, beautiful lyrics, beautiful man.....

Leonard Cohen you are the most sublime genius

Great story! Thank you so much!

It would be interesting to know if the show has been taped even if it wasn't broadcasted.

[Henning]

Geoff Berner's Newsletter:

Dear Everybody,

Well, I'm back from a lovely time in the UK, and the big (controversial) road trip out to Winnipeg Folk Fest. About to hit a couple of Scandinavian festivals, and the famous MIR in Oslo on Monday, before I head into the studio to work on the NEW ALBUM! I believe that it'll be called Klezmer Mongrels.

But first, a reflection on festivals.

I've had untold adventures at festivals, and without them, I wouldn't have a career at all, I think.

As far as I can tell, festivals are always crazy, stupid and beautiful.

Here's how you make a festival:

You generally gather thousands of people together in a place that's usually not considered fit for human habitation, like a farmer's field, or a park, or a race track, and then those people proceed to lay waste to the land and themselves for about 2-3 days. By the end, the people are exhausted, ravaged by the forces of nature and the forces of booze and drugs, and the land is a churned up wound full of garbage and shit. People die, people are concieved, marriages begin or collapse. And there's music!

Somehow, magic emerges from the process.

2 examples from the Glastonbury Festival--the UK's biggest, most ridiculous rock festival:

1.
At first, it seemed like a really bad idea to put Leonard Cohen in front of 150,000 drunk, druggy, muddy English people. You could have got a similar auditory experience by sitting at home, putting on a Leonard Cohen record, then phoning up a bunch of rowdy football hooligans and inviting them over for a keg of lager. "I've seen the future, brother, it is murder." intoned the Old Rabbi, and his young, stupid audience seemed to be there for some kind of jaunty illustration of the lyric.

Then, an odd thing happened. The band slowly summoned up (Cohen's band never could be described as "kicking in" to a song) the opening of "Hallelujah". I'd forgotten that mainstream English people love Jeff Buckley, for some reason, and that Buckley's one good song was a cover of that. Immediately, the chavs started to hoot and scream, as if "Wonderwall" was coming on the stereo. And they ALL sang along. Every last philistine, drugged out, ballcap backwards one of that enormous throng lifted their voices and swayed together for a cold, broken Hallelujah. You could see a moment of surprise flicker across Cohen's giant ancient eagle face on the superscreens, before he also gave himself completely to the song, to the word. It was strange and unexpected and beautiful. Festivals are like that.

Then, later that night, back at the circus tent where I was stationed, along with the Stranger Than Paradise burlesque troop, (and after my memorable performance of the Irving Fields classic "Facher", accompanied by a lovely fan-dancing Detroit Jewess named Scarlet O'Harlot), Gordon the dj and I came across a well dressed man, lieing muddy and comatose, face down against our perimeter fence.

We roused him to make sure that he wasn't dead. "You alright there, mate?"

"Alright? No I'm not. I'm a corporate head-hunter. I'm just making money for no purpose. I've been wasting my life!"

Festivals are good for that kind of thing, too.

Here are some dates. Please come see me at MIR, won't you? I love it there.

August 1 - Ostersund, Sweden - Storsjoyran Festival

August 2 - Near Trondheim, Norway - Storaasfestival

August 4 - Oslo - MIR!


October 3 - Vancouver - The Railway Club. Accordion Noir Accordion Festival.

Late October to Late November: European Tour with New Album

http://www.geoffberner.com
http://www.myspace.com/geoffberner
Traitor bride group on Facebook

[Neophyte]

Love the way you brought that magical Glastonbury 'Hallelujah' moment to life, Henning!! Thank you!!