leonardcohenforum.com

Maarten: re Los Angeles
Just to alert you. LC sang "Dance me to the end of love" twice. The second time was following I'm Your Man.
It was a bizarre night at the LA Nokia concert.
---Arlene

Twice? - That's really a bit bizarre.

Does anybody remember him doing something like that before? - Not in 2008 - 2010, as far as I know.

He did sing "Manhattan / Berlin" twice in 88 (or 93?). - But well, that was in Berlin ...

Hartmut wrote:Does anybody remember him doing something like that before? - Not in 2008 - 2010, as far as I know.

He did sing "Manhattan / Berlin" twice in 88 (or 93?) - But well, that was in Berlin ...

Exactly. The last time it took place almost twenty years ago:

LEONARD COHEN
Berlin, Deutschland - (Tempodrom)
May 25, 1993

Hartmut wrote: He did sing "Manhattan / Berlin" twice in 88 (or 93?)

It was 1988 and 1993, by the way.
http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/88berlin.html
http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/93berlin.html

Hartmut wrote: Does anybody remember him doing something like that before?

A forum member (I don't know if he wants to remain anonymous) told me he sang 'Dance me' twice in Vienna in 85.

And according to this page:
http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/85vienna1.html
he did 'Bird on the Wire' twice in Vienna in 85.

Also, there's this thread
viewtopic.php?f=74&t=33036
where AlanM mentions that he (Leonard, not Alan) performed 'Dance Me' twice in Montreux in 1985.

Goldin wrote: The last time it took place almost twenty years ago:

Thanks, Roman.

Hi Hartmut

Looks like this has happened from time to time (but not for a while). I don't have the link to the earlier forum discussion, but Artur (Banalny) OBM shared a recording of the 1988 Roskilde Festival, Denmark, where Damce me was played twice and Manhattan three times...

Best,
Bruno

Hi Bruno,

Thanks.

StBruno wrote:the 1988 Roskilde Festival, Denmark, where Damce me was played twice and Manhattan three times...

Wow, three times. The crowd must have reacted really favorably the first two times ...

Or maybe they ran out of material. Hard as this is to imagine.

Hartmut

Well, I hope Jarkko will not delete all these off-topic posts, but separate them into a special thread
Speaking about songs performed twice on the same evening, one can easily recall (besides Dance Me, Bird, Manhattan, mentioned above):

Early 70s - at least three big live hits, they were performed, for example, in the end of Frankfurt 1970 concert:

28. Bird On The Wire (2)
29. Lover Lover Lover (2)
30. So Long, Marianne (2)

1976 - Do I Have to Dance All Night was performed as the last song of both sets in various occasions.

Generally speaking, it looks like Bird on the Wire (2) was one of the most common endings of a concert before LC Tried to Leave You in 1980.

Unfortunately, I can't recall any fundamental posts on this subject, and don't have any time to research it now.

Some interesting setlists from CohenLive.com:
Kingston, ON, 1970-10-15 - three times So Long, Marianne
Vienna, 1974-10-07 - three Birds on the Wire
Zurich, 1976-06-21 - Do I Have to Dance All Night x 3 (also Hey, That's No Way x 2 and Lover Lover Lover x 2)
Munich, 1985-03-09 - three Birds on the Wire

Both Pentti Lentäjäinen and I remember that Leonard performed "Democracy" twice in his 1993 concert in Helsinki. It was 10th in the set, and then again the last encore song, 21st.

-- From the Los Angeles 2012 thread you will find out that Leonard sang "Dance" again because so many in the audience did not make to their seats in time.

jarkko wrote:Both Pentti Lentäjäinen and I remember that Leonard performed "Democracy" twice in his 1993 concert in Helsinki. It was 10th in the set, and then again the last encore song, 21st.

Thanks.

Hi,

Leonard performed Bird on the Wire twice during the late concert on Dec.14th 1979 in Dublin. (I'm unable to delete this - my post is incorrect)

All the best,
merton

Zurich, 1976-06-21 - Do I Have to Dance All Night x 3 (also Hey, That's No Way x 2 and Lover Lover Lover x 2)

that's interesting and mysterious - I wonder if there was somebody of extra special significance in the audience.

The Royal Albert Hall - 1976 - Leonard came back for multiple encores and on the final one he asked the audience if it was ok for him to sing a song for the second time - I can't remember the song - hey
it was 36 years ago!

In 1970s, Leonard usually started and often FINISHED the show with Bird on The Wire.

In 1985, he was still opening the show with Bird on tne Wire, while Dance Me to the End of Love, as new single, was usually 5th in the set list, and then very often performed again in the encores.

Some 1988 and 1993 shows saw Manhattan or Democracy two times.

All the setlist up to 2008 at http://cohenlive.com/



(Only in 1988 shows Dance Me moved to opening place... That is different but much more interesting story. The 1988 tour started in April in Germany, with Bird as the traditional opener, and Bird itself sounded unfinished, between 2nd and 3rd version, and first 5-6 songs were the usual structure, Hey That's No Way and Who By Fire and then new single, Ain't No Cure for Love, at #4 and Dance Me, inherited from 1985 tour in the same spot at #5, as 1985 single.

Then 8th show suddenly had Dance Me.. moved to #2, after Bird, and it sounded like two beginnings, first half unfinished new lines of Bird, and then LC playing long intro on synth - because at that time, Dance Me... had beautiful long intro on synth, as in rest of 1988 tour and in 1993 as well, what I miss now - and then the song itself. It sounded like show started two times. It was like that for another week, and then in third week of the tour the new opener was Heart With No Companion (!), and LC started to drop many songs usually performed in opening slot since mid-70s to 1985 tour, like Who By Fire and Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye, and also he abandoned Famous Blue Raincoat, Gypsy Wife, Lover Lover Lover etc. and converted all songs into new, I'm Your Man arrangements. Bird was moved to #5 where it stayed basically until today. Ain't No Cure, new single, moved from traditional position for new single, which was #4 or 5, to spot #3. Dance Me... was 2nd. That was on Scandinavian shows in late April 1988 and first week of May.

Back in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, May 10 1988 in Nurnberg and next day in Vienna, Dance Me to the End of Love debuted as the traditional opener at #1 where it stayed until this very day. Heart with No Companion moved deep into the 2nd set, where it basically remains today. (Yes, it's a small song but Leonard apparently loves it so that it was published live on both Cohen Live and Songs from the Road, and returned to set list in 2009). Ain't No Cure moved to #2, and that spot was traditionally reserved for new single. (In 1993, The Future got #2 and Ain't No Cure moved to 3#.) Who By Fire was still there at #3, and Bird at #4. (Who By Fire was dropped in 1993 as there was no John Bilezikjian in the band, but returned in 2008 as there was Javier Mas now.) So the traditional Leonard Cohen set list structure, which exists since 1979 at least, was traced well into 2012 - In My Secret Life, as "new" single, was added to #6 in 2008, after Dance Me>The Future>Ain't No Cure>Bird>Who By Fire sequence. (I did expect, prior to 2008 tour, Secret Life at #2 and everything was actually as I predicted:)

I am still surprised that Leonard wasn't more brave for 2012 tour - I hoped he will drop The Future forever and do Going Home at #2. He did that on first shows in Ghent and that was EXCELLENT. I myself was much bored by the set list on my only show in Verona. I still think Going Home is not to be placed in encores as now in the US tour. Actually, I'd like if it moves to #1, as the opening song, and Dance Me would do good at #5 or & again, as in 1985.

What I said already in 2008, it's the usual Leonard Cohen 1988-93 setlist, with some new songs, and many "old" songs, abandoned after April 198, finally returned. Like Famous Blue Raincoat, which was abandoned in 1988.

You can investigate this very interesting stuff at http://cohenlive.com/concerts.htm )

yentek wrote:The Royal Albert Hall - 1976 - Leonard came back for multiple encores and on the final one he asked the audience if it was ok for him to sing a song for the second time - I can't remember the song - hey
it was 36 years ago!

That was probably his unreleased song Do I Have To Dance All Night - he usually performed it twice in 1976 tour.