Leonard Cohen Tour
Tom Layesman
beginning on May 11?
So far, there are no U.S. dates. It is billed as the 2008-2009 World
Tour, so hopefully some U.S. shows will be added.
Tom
Baltimore, Maryland
lightf...@rogers.com
I may be blowing the budget attending the 4 Lightfoot @Massey shows
mid-May but am considering a last minute decision to try to get a
ticket to the 2nd Toronto Cohen show..if they aren't both sold out
already. Prices are ridiculous tho..and I'm sure the scalpers will be
out en masse along Front St..
we'll see..After studying Cohen poetry back in high school in the late
60's/ early 70's and following his career I've always wantd to see him
live..
His tour page only goes to the end of July so it's a safe bet that
he's going to hit quite a few U.S. cities after being overseas..
http://www.leonardcohen.com/tour.cgi
Char
Tom Layesman
Thanks for your response. I hope you're correct about the addition of
U.S. dates. If you go to the second Toronto show (or any others), could
you post some comments and setlist? :)
Tom
drb...@sbcglobal.net
poet...@webtv.net wrote on 4/17/08 8:16 PM:
If he makes it to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I'd love to go. I'll be really
surprised if that happens though.
donnie
lightf...@rogers.com
Even if I don't make it I'm sure the papers here in Toronto will have
set lists and reviews and interviews prior to the shows..
You can check on-line with the cities he's going to for their reports
as well.
I'll post the Toronto stuff one way or the other..
Tom Layesman
Donnie,
Leonard has played Austin City Limits twice (1988 & 1993), so I would
think Texas would certainly be part of any U.S. dates.
I saw him in Washington, D.C. for both the '88 and '93 tours. My only
regret is not buying the 1988 "I'm Your Man" tour polo shirt. That was a
beautiful shirt!
Tom
lightf...@rogers.com
Another date added to Toronto. I will be out of the country from the
7th till 28th so won't get to any at all:
http://www.thestar.com/article/428026
Cohen adds another show at Toronto stop
LORCA COHEN PHOTO
Leonard Cohen at the first preview concert in Fredericton. His
daughter Lorca had special access to take photos inside the bubble
around him. (caption under picture at link above)
May 21, 2008 04:30 AM
Martin Knelman
Good news for those who've been crying because they don't have tickets
to see Leonard Cohen at the Sony Centre next month.
Cohen has belatedly decided to do a fourth Toronto show on Monday,
June 9.
His world tour will be officially launched at the Sony on June 6
(after several weeks of preview gigs in smaller venues and smaller
cities), with additional Toronto concerts set for June 7 and 8.
An announcement of the extra date will be made this week. Tickets will
go on sale by phone and in person at the Sony box office at noon on
Saturday.
You don't need an oracle to predict more Leonard-mania. The other
concerts were sold out in record time, despite steep prices, with top
seats going for $250.
"We've been under pressure from Toronto because of the demand," says
Robert Kory, his lawyer and manager, speaking from his L.A. office.
At first Kory was reluctant to add to the huge workload. After all,
Cohen is 73, and a rock tour would be gruelling even at 23.
Cohen, nervous about whether he'd be able to pull it off, had thought
his tour in the early 1990s would be his last stressful taste of live
shows and life on the road.
It was only because of his much-publicized financial problems and the
need for a retirement fund that he changed his mind.
Now after several concerts in the Atlantic provinces, he is ecstatic
about how well it's going and the reception he has been getting.
"Leonard is having a wonderful time," Kory says. "And the demand is so
great all over the world – Europe, Australia, South Africa – this
could go on for two years."
But there's another reason he wanted to add an extra night here.
"Toronto has a special place in Leonard's heart," says Kory. "It's the
city that gave him the most support early in his career."
Four decades ago, the late Jack McClelland, CanLit pioneer, made Cohen
a literary star by publishing his poetry and fiction.
And these days, after the political upheavals of the past 40 years, a
lot of his old friends and suporters from Montreal live in Toronto.
That's why Cohen was happy to spend a week in Toronto a year ago when
Luminato presented a musical take by composer Philip Glass on Cohen's
The Book of Longing. That's why the Drabinsky Gallery became the
exclusive North American dealer when Cohen's visual art went on the
market.
Of course there would be a lot more concert tickets available if Cohen
had chosen to play the Air Canada Centre. And he will play an arena in
London in July.
But in Canada, Kory says, Cohen chose so-called soft-seat venues
because he wanted to feel an intimate relationship with the audience.
Another reason Cohen prefers the 3,200-seat Sony: this is where he
performed on his last tour 15 years ago, in the summer of 1993.
Mark Hammond, the Sony's program director, says there was almost no
resistance to ticket prices.
"The first reaction was often a gasp," Hammond says. "But then most
people would say, `Well, that's okay, this will be his last tour.'"
The world of rock tours has a term for the choice of smaller venues
when there's a market for big ones. It's called an "underplay."
But don't get the idea this is a small show. There are 35 people on
the tour, including a band of 10. Cohen spent three months conducting
rehearsals and orchestrating every exquisite detail. And he's onstage
for three hours.
Kory created a bubble to protect Cohen, with a ban on interviews and
backstage visitors.
Cohen's daughter, Lorca, a skilled photographer as well as the owner
of an L.A. furniture store, had special access for up-close pictures.
In Kory's eyes, months of prep paid off the night of the first show in
Fredericton. "To see it all come to life in front of an audience was
magical. Leonard just soared.
"`Sublime' is the word for it."
lightf...@rogers.com
Another date added to Toronto. I will be out of the country from the
Tom Layesman
Tom
ran...@telus.net
This is really too cool. His friends are back and his hair is no
longer grey (although his true friends never really left and I'm
envious of that mane of hair he has, same as Gord). Another legend
lives on. Ron J.
Tom Layesman
His manager allegedly ripped him off for a few million a couple years
back.
However, reports indicate that Leonard has been extremely happy with the
concerts and the critical and fan response, so the tour will hopefully
continue on to the U.S. :)
lightf...@rogers.com
http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/06/12/cohen-wore-earplugs-to-a-dylan-show/
interview to read or watch on video..