Dino Soldo not in the tour band

[Mabeanie1]

I am a tireless opponent of standing concerts...um... some of us can not stand even for a short time or at all.

---Arlene

Seconded Arlene. To be honest, I'm finding it hard enough to SIT through a 4 hour concert at the moment ......

Wendy

[gaby&paul]

We agree with Mabeanie1 that the fiddle adds a completely new dimension, and there is no doubt that Mr. Bublitchi is a virtuos violin player. But on the first Ghent concert the sound of the violin seemed to dominate the scene and in the long run we found it tiring. It fitted perfectly to several songs (i.e. "Dance me to the End of Love", "Going Home"), but in our opinion it did not carry over four hours. And, as we perceived, some songs like "Sisters of Mercy" were simply ruined by the new arrangement. Unfortunately we did not realize the "great rapport between Mitch, Alex and Javier on the right hand side of the stage". Concerning the band (not Leonard!) we missed the magic touch we could experience so often during the 2008 - 2010 tour. For our ears (and eyes) the "old" UHTC including Dino and Bob (may he get well soon!) were the most perfectly balanced ensemble - compared by Gaby with another Leonardo masterpiece ...
We hopefully look forward to Paris.

[ritibima]

I deeply agree with Gaby&Paul.
Without Dino and of course Bob ( he is much better!!) the band and
the sound is not so good.
Everyone with musical understanding must feel it.
There is abolutely no doubt!!

[Mabeanie1]

Without Dino and of course Bob ( he is much better!!) the band and
the sound is not so good.
Everyone with musical understanding must feel it.
There is abolutely no doubt!!

How on earth can you say that ritbima? What a put down - on both counts. Mitch is an excellent guitarist and Bob is NOT much better. As for "everyone with musical understanding must feel it" - are you saying Leonard (who put this band together and decided who the members would be and the sound they would make) has no musical understanding??

The sound is different. It is not better and it is not worse. It is different. After 3 years of the "old" band and the release of a new album, it's time to accept the change and move on - without the need to insult the intelligence (musical or otherwise) of other members of this forum and, indeed, of Leonard himself.

Wendy

[mirka]

De gustibus....
I second Gaby&Paul's opinion, without Dino the sound seems flat and way too 'polished', almost bland.

Also from what I see on YT clips, there is no exchange of energy between musicians on the right side of the stage.
Dino is not only a superb musician, he genuinely enjoys playing music, has great contact with the audience and gives off a good vibe, it was certainly felt during the 2009 UHT:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15843#p180676

[ritibima]

I can say because it is my opinion.
That does not mean bad abour other musicans,
all in the band are very good.
But the old band was perfect and I say again:
perfect only with!! the instruments of wind.
The violin is good and should stay but not without Dino!!

[susanne30072009]

QUOTE from RITIBIMA: "Everyone with musical understanding must feel it.
There is absolutely no doubt!!"

Hey, I think, this is way out of Line, really!
What in the World gives you the Right to judge others?
You can always say, what you think, what you feel about things.
This is your right, this is your opinion, no questions about it.
But this is YOUR perception of things! Don't push others in any Direction; this is simply not your function.

It is in fact, without any doubt, a Change of Direction in the Musical Arrangements.
But your statement, that "Everyone with musical understanding must feel it", means, that all others, who doesn't agree with you, has no Musical taste (or a bad one). And this is simply not fair. Who are you, to judge others?
Sure, you're free to say, I like it, I don't like it, or I don't like it anymore or whatever. But we are talking about Music, an artistic profession.
And any Artist (can be a Musician, a Writer, a Composer, a Painter, a Actor etc.) surely want to develop further his Creations, his "opus", his Songs, his Paintings, his Performances or whatever it is.

I have no problem, when yo say: hey, it was better the Way it was before for me, I prefer Dinos Performance.
But to say, "that everyone with musical understanding must feel it" suggest in the reverse, that everyone else, who like the "new" Way of the Arrangements, has no musical understanding. And that is bold, to say the least, Really!
To say: "this one is better then the other one, I liked the old Band better then the new" = ok, it's your view of things.
But this has nothing to do with any others Musical taste; it is just your standing.
You can say, that you don't like it, ok; then leave it, don't go to any further Concert.
But don't tell others, which taste is the right one and which one is not.
In any case, Performances at any Art isn't the right Field for such statements. There is no accounting for taste...
And I am happy with this. We don't need it in any other way, really!

Susanne + Uwe

[Vicomte]

Leonard Cohen is not good without Bob & Dino? So, in which case why am I wondering as to how Leonard has hung around until 2008 without such musicians? To think, it took him well over 40 years to evolve in to what people saw in 2008, whatever were some of us thinking when we went to see him all those years ago.

Were we really only reading and listening to words, to poetry, to songs that unbeknown to us were just average and were we simply waiting until Dino came along to show how it is done? As for Bob, of course he is excellent, three tours with Leonard point to that for sure but Mitch has also played on a few tours with Leonard way back and from what I have heard so far, he is still as good as ever.

Shucks, I have no musical taste.........

[cohenadmirer]

De gustibus....
I second Gaby&Paul's opinion, without Dino the sound seems flat and way too 'polished', almost bland.

Also from what I see on YT clips, there is no exchange of energy between musicians on the right side of the stage.
Dino is not only a superb musician, he genuinely enjoys playing music, has great contact with the audience and gives off a good vibe, it was certainly felt during the 2009 UHT:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15843#p180676

There was , to my eyes and ears , a lot of interaction and ' energy exchange'on the right side of the stage , musically and - one supposes - personally. However it was laid back , subtle , with no-one dominating
Dino is a great musician but in my view in the later concerts had at times a 'larger than life extrovert' presence somewhat taking the attention away from Bob and Javier at least as as a visual presence. Not in itself bad , and indeed often very entertaining but the calmer current 'right side' feels better to me

At times the inclusion of violin is truly sublime . Just now and again though , i really missed the 'instruments of wind'

Leonard's interaction with the whole band was as always a joy to see. He often closed his eyes to better pay attention to some instrumental solo .

A lesson in mindfulness .

[MarieM]

And let's not forget that Dino and Bob had nearly 250 concerts to build that energy on the right side. Mitch and Alex have had 3 concerts. I'm sure Alex will never reach the "larger than life" status that Dino had. That's probably not a bad thing. Javier manages to dazzle and receive rave reviews just by sitting in his chair and smiling occasionally.

During the last tour many cried out for the violin. But most importantly, I think there would be many, many more unhappy concert goers if Leonard rolled out a new tour that was substantially the same as the last. This is the Old Ideas World Tour, a new name for a new tour, with new songs and a new sound. Leonard has been making music and writing songs before some of you were born. I think he is the best judge of what orchestrations fit the songs he has written. He managed to work it out nicely during the last tour. I don't think it is too much to ask that we give him the benefit of the doubt on this tour and allow this group to reach their stride. If this is the last tour of Leonard's career, I can think of no better way to go out than with a "return to the source" (per B4real).

[leonardmtl]

No doubt reasonable people, with personal tastes, will differ......and while the YouTube videos can create a virtual sense of the event, from the comments here and elswhere from most folks fortunate enough to attend the Ghent concerts, I expect we will continue to experience the profound feeling of being in Leonard's private sanctuary as he records the human condition - and we will come away, as we have in the past, with lifelong memories of a very special experience!

Leonard from Montreal

[mutti]

Thank you Marie and Leonard for your comments. I 100% agree. I am hearing from the people who have attended and from what I am hearing from the videos, absolutely beautiful arrangements. I for one am so happy with the addition of the violin.
As Marie says, this is a new tour....I loved the sounds of the last tour (and all the tours for that matter) and am over the moon with this one.
I am so so very happy and can hardly wait to hear him live myself.
Leslie PY

[mirka]

And let's not forget that Dino and Bob had nearly 250 concerts to build that energy on the right side.

To be true to the facts: I had in mind concerts in Halifax and on PEI (the 5th and 7th concerts of the 2008 UHT), and "good vibes given off by Dino" was taken from Steve Wilcox's report, written after the very first concert, 11 May 2008 in Fredericton.

[1000-kissesdeep]

Gosh the debate goes on I cant comment yet, but i know I will miss Dinos contribution to each song as there is no doubt that each song did indeed have a special twist to it due to Leonards decision of which of Dinos talents to use in which song, and it worked beautifully. I am actually worried about the same sameness of the violin sound, esp now that i have seen a few clips, and from seeing that it seems Gabi and Paul are right. The violin is a very powerful instrument, which can be played in a variety of styles so we will see how many styles there are in the concert.... Perhaps we will be hearing way too much violin because we are going into this experience focusing on violin rather than a variety of wind ( so i think i will leave this thread now so i can experience the new concert fresh and open) Blessings!

[GraceC]

The fact is our ears and eyes are resistant to change, especially in something we love. Give it time.