leonardcohenforum.com

zwirnie wrote:

tomsakic wrote:Can anybody confirm the setlist?
I understand that Dance Me to the End of Love was done twice in Los Angeles, but why here as well? I think somebody on last.fm simply copied the setlist from LA - there's Night Comes On missing, and it says Webbs performed If It Be Your Will instead of Coming Back To You, what's probably a mistake.

Leonard Cohen @ Key Arena // Seattle

Dropped with photos by Zach Frimmel





Although the genealogy of music may be ambiguous, or at least unknown to most, the in-the-moment euphoria that music is capable of bestowing on the body is very synonymous with a “religious experience.” It goes without saying that even impious people understand and can achieve this ineffable elation. It is in this sphere of cerebral spirituality where Leonard Cohen’s music can be found cradled in the arms of love and lament.

When one thinks of iconic music that has originated from Canada, one may make mental notes for: Neil Young (who coincidentally played the night after Cohen), Glenn Gould, Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Joni Mitchell, and yes, our septuagenarian debonair in shining armor, Leonard Cohen. Of course, Leonard is a bit unorthodox when it comes to expressing his melancholy rapport with piety and ubiquity, yet more traditional in the sense that his poetry and musicianship are so intrinsically human. Whereby his genius gleams from the faces of his dressed-to-the-nines buttons to his upwardly “Hallelujah”-glittering eyes.

This past Friday night in Seattle at Key Arena, Leonard Cohen gave Seattle another reason to sing his praises. He lowly and slowly spouted his songs of agony and his David-like psalms of praise while on his trembling knees and with his guttural glory. When it comes to Cohen’s music, the more forlorn the lyrics the more powerfully beautiful. Interestingly, an older gentlemen sitting next to me noticed I was taking notes and decided to give me his two cents suggesting, “The older you get the less depressing his music really is.” It’s probably not a universal opinion, but a valid and ponder-worthy one nonetheless.

In describing a Leonard Cohen concert it seems appropriate to reference the Canadian crooner’s own songs – “First We Take Manhattan” and “Tower of Song” – by stating that onlookers were surely not “sentenced to twenty years of boredom” because Leonard Cohen was truly “born with the gift of a golden voice.” Despite the fact that Cohen repeatedly sells out large-volume venues, the irony of his enshrined voice is that he can’t really sing that well, which makes it that much better. Albeit, like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Cohen’s allure doesn’t stem from his American Idol pipes; on the contrary, it’s his aphoristic wit, mellifluous confidence, and grassroots mastery.

As a quick tangent, I saw Dylan play at UCF Arena in Orlando a couple years ago so I figured it would be an appropriate comparison. Dylan played for about 120 minutes, Cohen 180. Except for singing, Dylan said absolutely nothing throughout his whole set, Cohen lavished his audience with jokes and gratitude. Cohen sang with sharp pronunciation, Dylan mumbled every word into the ground. Do with that info as you will, I’m not deploring Dylan, but it’s interesting to note the differences in the artistic angles each maestro took.

Even though it’s the internal display of passionate talent by Leonard and his multi-instrumentalist ensemble that makes the live experience worthwhile, the light show was certainly quite the synchronized spectacle. White clothes of purity posed as the backdrop, which sequenced some ballads to solid tones and other ballads to multi-colored hues. The fading of each song resulted in killed stage lights and only a vibrant, monotone backdrop, which created a silhouette effect for all ten performers on stage. Some times this color would be Klimpt’s “The Kiss” gold, or a “Starry Night” blue, or even a Gogol Bordello purple. One other thing to point out was the neon artwork that floated behind the main backdrop that could only be seen before the show and during the intermission. It changed at some point, but the first canvas appeared to be a nude, male Biblical figure with breasts holding the reigns to a large horse standing beside him. The other was more of a David figure playing a harp.

One transitional technique that Cohen used throughout the set was to opine his more poem-based soliloquies – like “A Thousand Kisses Deep” – as he humbly curled himself front and center with ominous synth draping the silence. Another tactic he used was introducing all his global-garnered band members with their respective titles and hailing cities like his drummer from Mexico City and the twin sister backup vocalists from England.

Despite the three and a half hours that elapsed over the entirety of the event, the contagious nature of Leonard’s painstaking and philosophizing presence allowed time to unnoticeably pass as he practically played through the duration of four albums. With such an articulate anti-hero quipping verses like “ There’s a crack in everything / that’s how the light gets in” there isn’t much else you can say other than, “Amen.”

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Check out more photos from the night below:

revengeofthepencil wrote:A great show, although not without its low points. I know it's probably heresy to offer any sort of criticism on this board, but I think a lot of people would agree that some of the music behind Leonard's songs has taken on a certain "soft rock" feel that does not always serve them well. There was a stretch near the middle of the concert (starting around "Democracy") where I felt like things got really bogged down. But then that last hour - "Hallelujah," "So Long Marianne," "Take This Waltz," "Famous Blue Raincoat," and on and on just knocked me out. I left with a huge smile on my face and a feeling that I really had heard one of the great voices in modern music give a performance worthy of his own genius. This was my first time seeing him play, and if it turns out to be the last I can still die happy.

findingtime wrote:But then again, I could be completely wrong.

tomsakic wrote:there was NO two Dance Me in Seattle

Webbs are performing If It Be Your Will again now, not Coming Back To You.

B4real wrote:

findingtime wrote:But then again, I could be completely wrong.

findingtime, you are correct.

findingtime wrote: Rafael Gayol was quoted as saying that sometimes the band played so quietly you could almost hear dust particles colliding. How interesting an expression and how apt a way to discuss the use of silence in music. Note selection has a lot to do with music, but a great and underappreciated part of music is the silence between the notes, the places where the composer has not written or the musicians do not play notes.

B4real wrote:ah Rachel, I remember that. Long live the interval but in Leonard's music not quite so l-o-n-g as John Cage's!

holydove wrote:

findingtime wrote: Rafael Gayol was quoted as saying that sometimes the band played so quietly you could almost hear dust particles colliding. How interesting an expression and how apt a way to discuss the use of silence in music. Note selection has a lot to do with music, but a great and underappreciated part of music is the silence between the notes, the places where the composer has not written or the musicians do not play notes.

music is about the intervals between the notes, & the silences are crucial - in fact, without the silences between the notes, there is no music. This discussion reminded me of John Cage's composition, titled 4'33", which consists of three movements, each of which consists solely of "silence", & for which the musican is instructed to not hit any notes. This is a radical extension of the concept of silence in music, & perhaps a bit tangential to your discussion, but I find it so interesting, I couldn't resist mentioning it. Perhaps you are already aware of this composition, but in case you are not, & would like to read more about it, here are a few links: