Heck Of A Guy

A pastiche of posts, featuring song, dance, snappy chatter plus notes on prose, poesy, love, lust, life, and beyond

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Leonard Cohen To Tour USA And Canada

November 20th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Leonard Cohen, Whereya Goin’?

In response to the questions I have already received about last night’s post, Roscoe Beck - Leonard Cohen Tour Coming To US And Western Canada In 2009,

  1. I have no other evidence of substance that The Leonard Cohen World Tour will come to the US and Western Canada in 2009 other than the referenced Uncut magazine interview with Roscoe Beck, the band leader for Cohen’s current World Tour.
  2. Specifically, I do not have a confirmed, tentative, or imaginary schedule of concert dates and locations.
  3. Nor do I know when tickets will go on sale, how much they will cost,  or how many tickets can be purchased at once.1

I do believe that Leonard Cohen, Sharon Robinson, the Webb sisters, Roscoe Beck and the rest of the band will play US and Western Canadian cities in 2009 because

  1. Roscoe Beck’s casual reference to the fact of the US/Canadian schedule is, well, believable.
  2. Absent some specific, as yet undisclosed legal glitch, tax catch 22, or other weirdness, it would be hard to understand why the Cohen [de facto Farewell] Tour would not ultimately come to the US and Western Canada.
  3. I can convince myself that the US and Canada concerts are  being deliberately scheduled as the Big Finish of the Tour.2
  4. Alternatively, I can convince myself that the US and Canada concerts will be used to introduce the long-promised new songs for the also long-promised new Leonard Cohen album.3
  5. I want to believe that Leonard Cohen will play in a venue accessible to me.4 Last time I checked, that would be your Greater Chicagoland area in the U.S. of A.


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  1. That said, I am happy to help fans with ticket purchases. The best strategy is to send all the money you can raise, in small, unmarked bills, to DrHGuy, care of the Heck Of A Guy Web Site, with the number of seats you wish to purchase. I’ll return any excess money - sometime soon.↩
  2. Note: This is pure speculation of my part.↩
  3. Note: Again, this is pure speculation of my part.↩
  4. Of course, I also want to believe that for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.↩

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Tags: Leonard Cohen

The Leonard Cohen Dublin Concert - Photos and (Gasp) Complaints

June 16th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Cohen on screen (Click on graphic to expand image)

The Dublin Concerts

Leonard Cohen just completed three concerts in Dublin.

Cohen arrives on stage (Click on graphic to expand image)

The Who’s Who Who Were In The Audience

According to the June 16, 2008 Herald story, concert attendees at the three sold-out 10,000 seat venue included Bertie Ahern,1 Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, Gerry Adams,2 Bono and his wife Ali, U2 manager Paul McGuinness and his wife, and Gerry Ryan3 and his family.

Webb Sisters on tele (Click on graphic to expand image)

The Criticism

OK, everyone (really, everyone) seems to have been enthralled by Cohen’s performance. This excerpt from The Independent is characteristic:

The 23-song set list takes in all facets of his career with ‘The Future’, ‘Everybody Knows’ and ‘In My Secret Life’ leaving an indelible mark. ‘Tower of Song’ proves especially engaging, provoking mirth when he sings of aching “in the places where I used to play” and cheers with the line “I was blessed with a golden voice.” There’s reverential silence for ‘Suzanne’ — a song that he debuted 41 years ago, and which still retains its understated majesty. Clearly, he’s as delighted to be playing Dublin — as is the audience. After a spine-tingling spoken word version of ‘A Thousand Kisses Deep’ he’s fulsome in his gratitude. “It’s a great privilege to say a poem to you in this city of poets and singers.”


The Venue (Click on graphic to expand image)

Not everyone, however, was enthralled by the location. In the comments section of that same Independent article, for example, Esmeralda writes,

Disappointed with the low-class concert venue, plastic, slippery flooring, foldable chairs that you had to sit on in the pouring rain. Thank you to those entertaining dancers that defied the ridiculously strict stewards who forced you to sit down when you were waltzing to “Take This Waltz.” At least dancing could have kept us warm in the rain. Leonard Cohen is a class act, he is playing indoor concert halls, opera theaters, castle grounds in countries with more stable weather on the continent. Concert goers are willing to pay, but we want first class venues for giants of music and art like L. Cohen. When will there be a concert organiser in Ireland with some ethics?


The problem with big screens at concerts is you just look at the screens
(Click on graphic to expand image)

And, in a forum dealing with performing environs, Forfismum observes

Good Lord, I thought that I had seen everything but……no. Yesterday went to see young Cohen in Dublin. The sound check did not start until 5 pm, the official time for the gates to open.The publicity for the gig at the Royal Hospital Dublin Royal Hospital Kilmainham: Conference Facilities for Conferences & Corporate Entertainment in Ireland boasted of a champagne bar, wine bar, Thai food etc all above the quality of the usual concerts, and we had looked forward to a nice picnic before the off at 7.15. We were at the entrance in a smashing setting at 5 and a queue started to form which built until 6.45, but the queue seemed to develope a mushroom head as new folks arrived. Not yer usual lowlifes like myself but “posh” and “artistic” plonkers who thought that queuing was for the dirty peasants and this was pathetic as the venue was all seats, no need to panic etc.

Anyway to the point. Halfway through Cohens performance the crowd from the back seats moved en masse into the two aisles leading to the stage. The security people did their best but were outnumbered and all they could do was hold the mob back. The police could not get in as they were at the back scratching their bums, I mean, who would expect crowd violence from a gang of old women fans of the venerable Leonard?

I am dead serious here folks, I have never seen such behaviour at concert before. Slipknot, Pixies, Radiohead, Muse, all full of teenagers and only the odd skirmish but this was scary. Crazed 50-70 year old women [and men] determined to see their God, but not in the way that kids worship bands, there was a fanatic aspect to it that i have never seen before. One of Irish radios top presenters was in our row with 4 kids and he was escorted our by a phlanx of security guys and we had mad bastards trying to climb over our seats and over us, as I said, scary. If you were to see these women in the shops you would think that they were harmless, that there was no danger but some form of mass hysteria seems to have taken over. The security boys and girls were magnificent in preventing a disaster, remember the Bradford fire? the Hyshel [spelling] disaster? and other such events. The faces on some of these people and the eyes were frightneing. Give me a mosh pit any day.

There is an ongoing discussion on the pros and cons of the Dublin setting and the crowd, part of which can be found at LeonardCohenForum.com


End of concert (Click on graphic to expand image)

Credit Due Department:
Photos (and most captions) are by Karl Smyth.

Footnotes

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  1. Bartholomew Patrick “Bertie” Ahern (Irish: Parthalán Pádraig Ó hEachthairn, born 12 September 1951) is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008. Ahern has been a Teachta Dála (TD) since 1977 and he represents the constituency of Dublin Central. He served in the governments of Charles Haughey and Albert Reynolds as Minister for Labour (1987–1991) and Minister for Finance (1991–1994). He also served briefly as Tánaiste after the break-up of Albert Reynolds’ coalition government. In 1994 he was elected sixth leader of Fianna Fáil. From Wikipedia↩
  2. Gerry Adams: MP (Irish: Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, which is the second largest political party in Northern Ireland and fourth largest party in the Republic of Ireland. Adams is credited with having played a pivotal role in helping to end the Troubles in Northern Ireland. His leadership and ability to communicate and negotiate with both paramilitary forces and also politicians such as John Hume and John Major was the catalyst that brought about the Good Friday Agreement. From the late 1980s, Adams was an important figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, initially following contact by the then Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume and subsequently with the Irish and British governments and then other parties. In 2005, the IRA indicated that its armed campaign was over and that it is now exclusively committed to democratic politics. Under Adams, Sinn Féin changed its traditional policy of abstentionism towards Oireachtas Éireann, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland, in 1986 and later took seats in the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly. However, Sinn Féin retains a policy of abstentionism towards the Westminster Parliament. From Wikipedia↩
  3. Host of numerous TV and radio shows↩

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Tags: Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen In Toronto: Performances A+ Reviews C-

June 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Leonard Cohen Live Toronto June 6, 2008

Good Clean Wholesome Fun Features Videos Of Leonard Cohen Live In Toronto, Rates Reviews Uninspired Albeit Positive

A plethora of videos of songs from the Leonard Cohen Toronto concerts and annotated links examining the reviews of those performances now reside at GoodCleanWholesome Fun thanks to my anonymous stand-in.

My quick survey of the site this morning shows a menu that includes videos of

Read interesting comments about dull (but very positive) reviews of the concerts, including

On the other hand, The Australian has a nice piece about the relationship between Leonard Cohen and his fans trying to get to one of the concerts.

And finally, something negative about Leonard Cohen’s 2008 Tour

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Credit Due Department:
The photo is from Aaron Harris - The Canadian Press (and is the high point of the article)

I extend my thanks again for this assistance from my anonymous benefactor. (Hmmm - “Anonymous Benefactor” strikes me has showing blogonymic potential. Stay tuned.)

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Tags: Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen 2008 Tour Prophesied

January 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off

Online Scripture Predicts Next Coming Of Cohen

On January 13, 2008 at 5:55 PM, Jarkko,1 the Administrator of leonardcohenforum.com, posted this announcement, entitled Leonard Cohen: TOUR 2008, at that site:

The following advance notice is posted with Leonard’s permission.

Leonard Cohen will be touring with his band in
Canada and US in May and in Europe in the summer.
More details will be announced in February.

Sometime Later, …

Curiously, most newspapers and other media sources seem to have noticed the post - and the 10 pages of discussion - only yesterday, many publishing the item as breaking news.

Some articles, such as the one on Pollstar, are even a tad tentative:

Legendary singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen may be hitting the road this summer if a posting on a fan forum at his web site is legit.
[my emphasis]

Those familiar with Jarkko Arjatsalo’s history with the leonardcohenfiles.com (which he started in 1995) and the leonardcohenforum.com are aware of his dedication, his reputation for reliability and accuracy,2 and his close, mutually respectful relationship with Leonard Cohen.3

As far as I can determine, a disclaimer that states, in effect, “if the announcement of a Leonard Cohen Tour posted on leonardcohenfiles.com by Jarkko is legit” is equivalent to and as superfluous as hedging, “if an announcement of a Leonard Cohen Tour made by Leonard Cohen is legit.”


Leonard Cohen with webmaster Jarkko Arjatsalo
(Los Angeles, June 1999)4

Speaking of Leonard Cohen announcing an upcoming tour, …

Heck of a Guy readers may recall this excerpt from a July 16, 2007 entry on this blog with the subtly worded title, Leonard Cohen BBC Interview: “I’d like to go out [on tour] again”

In a 13 July 2007 interview on the BBC program, Front Row, Leonard Cohen discusses, among other issues, his interest in a concert tour, prompted in part by the fiscal crisis caused by the theft of his funds by his former manager:

“I’d like to go out again now. So, I’ve been looking
into it and actually starting to make arrangements.”

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OK, it’s only a hunch, but based on my psychiatric training, my close reading of the declarations published thus far, my study of the CohenKabala, and my tingling spidey sense, I’m going out on a limb to affirm that I detect signs possibly consistent with Leonard Cohen planning to go on tour this year. Maybe. I think.

Footnotes

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  1. I was admittedly tempted to continue the prophesy-scripture motif with a “Jarkko The Baptist” reference, but that seemed pushing it a bit too far. Anyway, I recall that Jarkko is Lutheran and “Jarkko The Lutheran” is a stretch as an allusion. Consider yourselves lucky - this time.↩
  2. I can speak from personal experience to Jarkko’s obsession with accuracy. A post I wrote about Leonard Cohen’s song, Elvis’s Rolls Royce, purported that “I also managed to unearth an extraordinarily rare photo of Elvis, Leonard, & the Rolls.” a claim which was footnoted with “Photos just don’t get much rarer than non-existent.” When the text was reproduced on leonardcohenfiles.com, Jarkko added a note clarifying that the photo had been altered (which it indeed was - nonexistent photos being hard to come by otherwise). While I was taken aback at the time by what I thought was overkill, having since seen other examples of Jarkko’s fastidious regard for verifiable data, I am, in retrospect, surprised only that he didn’t also specify that the activity described by the song itself, Cohen chauffeuring Elvis in his Rolls Royce from London to New York City, was also fiction.↩
  3. Leonard Cohen has, for example, released significant quantities of previously unpublished poems, drawings, and computer graphics to Jarkko for publication on leonardcohenfiles.com. See http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/canfin.html↩
  4. Photo and caption from leonardcohenfiles.com↩

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Tags: Leonard Cohen