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Hi Lizzy,

it consisted of her signing "your legs white like the winter" at various pitches for about 5 minutes, so varied was the range that I first that it was a man trying to impersonate a woman, for the most part it sounded very off key, as i stated earlier I thought the sound was poor, especially in the first half, even Nick Cave sounded off for the initial song, and i have attended enough cave concerts to know what he should sound like.

Kieron or some other of the attendees might be able to give their "take" on her performance

Take care

Al

as an edit, i would say that one of the pluses was the great mix of young and old at the concert, great to see so many people in their late teens early 20's with an interest in LC's music

Ahh, okay, thanks, Big-al. Do you think you might've enjoyed the concert more had you had better seating? For me, Laurie's vocal range and expression would've been interesting. Thanks for your description.

Yes ~ I felt very much the same about the Berlin Event attendees, too. It's heartening to know that the heart will go on and on and on... .

~ Lizzy

Hi Big Al & Kieron-

Thank you so much for the reports! And I agree with Lizzy that we are all the poorer who weren't there to begin with.

Al, are you my old friend from the newsgroup? I haven't corresponded with you in a couple of years and I think that it's a shame that we've lost touch, and moreso if you were encouraged to go to a concert that you didn't like by my reports.

My first question, did Laurie Anderson have her funny little violin for "Dear Heather?" Her takes on "If it be Your Will" and "The Guests" at Brooklyn were very quircky, but that's Laurie and that's why Hal included her. I have a recording from Brooklyn and the more I listened to it, the more I appreciated her. I can safely say that about Leonard's performances as well. One of the first things that I remember in describing my reaction to LC with my friends, is that he always seemed to leave me behind-still longing for his earlier works-until I came to realize the brilliance of his new work (sometimes months-maybe years later).

Al, one of my favorites, Christy Moore, says that he will never play "The Pointe" again. He says that it was designed as a railway station and when you hear the sound in the back row-the train has left the station long ago. I was, of course, very fortunate to have witnessed the original concert in Brooklyn in the front row. It gave me the opportunity to appreciate the creative work of the musicians as they challenged genres and put forth new "takes" on old songs.

Kieron, thanks so much for your reviews. I sure wish that I was there having a Guiness or two before the concert with you and all-and discussing it in vivid detail afterwards.

Please keep it coming-as Dick reminded me last week-"Hey, why not ask for more?"

All the best,

Joe

Your experience is very interesting, Big Al, I guess it's the reaction of the fan who appreciate the original versions. I know that I personally am very confused how most of the fans react extremely positively to any Leonard Cohen cover although most of them are, in my ears, awfull or totally missed the point. Like they, deep inside, do think that Leonard is "limited" singer. (I think quite contrary - his songs are suited for that voice, or: that voice was made for those songs). But I was releaved to discover that there are much more fans (in Europe mostly) who share my approach, and were shocked and laughed at Rufus Wainwright (who deserves so for his close-up shots during Everybody Knows on Hall of Fame TV broadcast). I guess that some of Dublin destructions of Leonard's songs you described were equally horrorfull as some of Berlin Event's performances, like Ann Vriend's take on Coming Back To You (totally missed reading of the song, which calls for deprecating, humble, reverent approach, not showing off a la Celine Dion), or Wendy McNeill's performance of It Be Your Will, in the church, when some people from back rows expected G-d's lightning to struck her there in the front of the altar, under the cross.
This saying, I actually wanted to comment that I didn't attend any of Came So Far For Beatuy shows, but when I got the first one (from New York) on CDs my reaction was similar to yours. Later, when I got Brighton recording, it was better, and I put it in the context. Some are great, some good, some are different but great (Antony), some experimental (Laurie Anderson), some missed (Rufus), some beatiful (Linda Thomson), some from his former back-up singers, some are intentional jokes (Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On with all performes and Nick waving with his leg as on his own shows).

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Now,

Lou Reed started signing then played with his amp and screamed over it to finish one of us cant be wrong

Lou on Joan of Arc

This is great. Somehow I am not surprised with the choice. Nico, Chelsea Hotel, both songs written there, with her in (Leonard's) mind. I guess that the choice of those two songs meant much to Lou Reed.

Am still in Dublin so this will be short-

my 2 cents say that it was overall a brilliant set of concerts. Thursday abit better than Wednesday. (Sorry to say one song was left out and cast take on Memories was shortened....)

Anjani absolutely glows--- and to my amazement she sounded just as good in front of 8500 people as she does in quiet venue ---- the Point got quiet for her! And she showed absolute command of the stage and of her two songs (Blue Alert and I Never got to Love You).

Also fabulous to reconnect with Cohen friends -- too many to mention now but we had good meetups preconcert arranged by Kieron (thanks)and many of us shared one B&B.

The Point is ACTUALLY a converted train depot Joe -- with many failings (toilets and hall widths) --- But fortunately the sound was excellent from our fourth row seats, and those in the U shaped balcony said it was good.

Sorry that B section was a bummer Big Al -- and another personal Hi to you from a long time back! Wish we had known you were there and had a chance to say hi.

One other Big Bummer -- the program indicates that Thursday was the last Came So Far for Beauty concert-- it has been retired. Hal confirmed no more are likely.

Anjani was also an angel to meet Thursday after the show in front of the stage with most of the fans we knew were there.

Jarkko has photos and set lists and we are here tonight for one more dinner together and some evening beers with those still here.

Best to you all gang! Wish you were here.

dick

Boy, so do I, Dick... especially with the show-closure news . It's great to finally get a more personal report on Anjani and her performance. It's wonderful that all of you [who hadn't ~ two notable exceptions ] finally got to meet her. I'll bet she was gracious and lovely as could be. Looking forward to the photos of everyone

Thanks for your report, Dick. You make it sound like something I wish I'd experienced and seen. Oh well... shoulda woulda coulda New York .

~ Lizzy

Hi Dick,

Thanks for the great report! Sounds like you are all having a wonderful time.

We've been thinking of you all this week-we know you are representing the Cohen brethren well in the Emerald Isle. Don't know if you'll see this until later, but hope everyone has a safe trip home. Really disappointing that this was the end-I had hoped to see it again in Los Angeles. Oh well, I guess, we'll have to be content with an LC and Anjani tour

Hi Tom,

You and I need to discuss covers at length! I don't have time to comment too much on your post, but suffice it to say-there are many other factors that go into cover versions other than artist's intent-and I'm not just speaking about commercial aspects. I speak from a musician's standpoint-a poor musician, if you will-but one who looks at any work as a "tabula rasa" or blank slate. I won't disagree that there are some covers that don't seem to work (but there is a degree of pleasure usually derived even from those, if one looks at what the cover artist is trying to achieve).

This is a much too long discussion for right now-but I am so happy that Anjani and our other friends had the opportunity to present these versions to a mostly appreciative crowd.

Warm regards,

Joe

I flew back from Dublin today and I am trying to stay up as late as possible as that is the best possible cure I know for jetlag.
Anjani was in good form. She sounded lovely and sang my favourite of her songs - Never Got to Love you. Antony sounded fantastic on his version of if it be your will, that blew me away. I wasn't as crazy about his version of the Guests. Nick Cave was such a showman all the way through. Every song he did was amazing. Dress Rehersal Rag is the one in particular that I remember adoring. And another was his version of Suzanne. And he has some endearing new facial hair. Very charming. That Nick Cave panache!
Jarvis Cocker also really appealed to me. His rendition of Chelsea Hotel No. 2 was unbelievable. Death of a Ladies Man that he sang with Beth Orton was amazing. Henning and I were discussing how that could have been a really interesting ending song for the gig, but Memories was used instead. Jarvis pinned an Iron Cross to his Lapel very nicely.
The Handsome Family did some nice stuff. That man has a very deep voice and it is quite impressive to listen to. I believe they did a thousand kisses deep as one of their songs. One of the most contentious songs of the evening was Gavin Friday's version of Hallelujah that he did with Mary Margaret O'Hara. It was absolutely the opposite of a traditional version. I actually liked it. It was totally over-the-top if you were expecting a traditional version of the song, but as an art piece it was interesting.
I loved Teddy Thompson's songs. Tonight will be fine is great and enjoyable. The Future was exceptionally good last night - just amazing.
Perla Batalla and Julie Christensen were on stage for almost the entire night singing their hearts out doing back, and they did an amazing job at that and at singing Anthem. I also have to give Julie props for being the only thing I could tolerate about Joan of Arc with Lou Reed. I know a lot of people are fans of his but it didn't seem to me that he was prepared to do justice to any of the songs that he was supposed to do at the gigs. He seemed to get a lot of the words totally wrong and to be off on a tangent with the tune, too, so it wasn't a highlight for me. I guess a lot of things come down to taste, Laurie Anderson's Dear Heather and Robin Holcomb's songs didn't work for me either.
All in all, the whole show was a delight. I very much enjoyed going to both. It was worth the long trip. The long trip of course gave me the opportunity to see good friends and have a nice holiday and it was a lot of fun, so I am very thankful for the whole thing! It was especially nice to meet with Anjani again after last night's show, so that was a real treat.

I'm not suprised Diane, I'd say they were queuing to meet you. It was lovely to finally meet you, I am glad you had fun or are maybe still having fun in Connemara.

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< * Oh dear... did we forget to tell Margaret to take along a tether for you, Diane ? * >
Looks like you enjoyed yourself ... and since we apparently did forget, still are...

Thanks for your report, too, Anne . By the time we put all these together, those of us who couldn't attend, will feel a little like we had... depending on where our seats were, of course .

Okay, you reporters, start copying-and-pasting your reports over to Jarkko's new, designated thread .

What a stunning photo of Anjani ~ talk about glowing!! Everyone looks rapt/enraptured. I see so many familiar faces... did anyone get a count on how many 'Event' people attended Dublin? The venue's physical environment looks perfect. Too bad the sound was lacking.


~ Lizzy

Nothing to do with the 'gathering', in that these are pictures I took of Dublin as I was exploring it by myself, but here are my photos of Dublin.

Tim

Blimey Lizzy, I did not realise I was capable of writing on here when I was asleep and dreaming .

Thank you, Kieron, and it was good to finally meet your lovely Irish self, too. Thanks for arranging the get-togethers!

Also, it was good to meet again with Helen from Dublin and Sheila from Kilkenny, both of whom I met in Berlin, but too briefly. Helen, you said I'd get over my tendency to romanticise Ireland to hell and and back. I think I am a lost cause .

I will jot down some of my concert highlights in one of the other threads, but here are some highlights of the rest of being in Dublin:

1. Staying in the North Star Hotel with Margaret. The hotel was fine, apart from having a window that would not close, and a bar that would not open. Margaret was marvellous company for the two days.

2. Visiting the National Library, where we arrived just in time for a free showing of a short Ibsen play, which was excellent. Then came the WB Yeats exhibition: what a top-rate audio-visual display of his life and works. Thanks for mentioning it earlier in this thread, Ken; we might have missed it otherwise.

To pick one short quotation; these lines from Under Ben Bulben appear on Yeats' gravestone. I thought they had an arresting, haiku-like quality, particularly in such a context:

Cast a cold Eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by

3. Getting off at the wrong bus stop and seeing the Oscar Wilde statue in Merrion Square, accompanied by plinths covered in some of his words, such as "The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves." and "You have to set yourself to music."

4. Visiting Kilmainham Goal. The guided tour, including details of those who have been executed in the history of Ireland's struggles, was very affecting. The stories of children sent to prison for stealing food when they were starving during the famine were also terribly sad.

5. Meeting up with all you lovely people, above mentioned, plus Jimmy O'Connell and sister Pat, Jarkko and Eija, Henning and Elke, Dick, Linda, Andrea plus husband and son, Tim, Willy and Wybe, Ken, Padma, and Miriam (apologies if I have forgotten anyone my memory is not the best). See you all again soon I hope.

Go raibh maith agat,

Diane

ps Andrew! we visited the Clifton Court Hotel. Alas, Sean was off sick, we were told by his barman friend. We left a note behind the bar for him, anyway. We had a nice meal there, Margaret and I, and it did look as if it would be a nice place to stay. Mission semi-accomplished.

Tim, thanks for the photos. An elephant or a dog?