No! I want to see Mark Knopfler - like his songs.

Faithfully yours
ray P.

Ray wrote: No! I want to see Mark Knopfler - like his songs.

His songs see him too?

Faithfully yours
ray P.

I am disturbed that your sign off sounds like, "Rapey."

sorry singe not a cohen fan, my partner is, so i know his work but it does not strike a chord with me .........


however i would love to see telecaster maestro "Jim Campilongo" live ( he works mostly in new york but touring europe this year )

i thought i'd be bored of him by now , but still in awe.......

singemonkey wrote: I may not have too much time. He's not a young man. And he's not the greatest guitar player. But who cares. I must make plans.

Leonard Cohen.

I still want to live on a motor car free island because of him. He is without parallel - the greatest lyricist in popular music of the last 150 years. At least. Nobody with his skills had ever considered it before as worthy of attention.

Any love for L. Cohen?

Sincerely,

S. Monkey.

I have love for Mr Cohen!
Good music that! And Hallelujah must be his greatest selling and most well known song too!
Love it though!

Sincerely,
N 86 ?

I'd love to see both. Cohen has gravitas - an amazing presence live. Knopfler has the songs and awesome playing chops.

I am disturbed that your sign off sounds like, "Rapey."

?

Sorry but I can't pour out the love for Lenny the C. He's one of two great singer/songwriters that I just don't get - Joni Mitchell being the other. And I've tried, really, but those two pennies just don't drop for me.

But if you have the means and the time to check out an artist whose music means a lot to you then I heartily endorse that. Make that pilgrimage.

Or bug the local promoters to invite him. You'd think that Cohen is well enough known here to make live shows economically viable.

If you go the pilgrimage route then try to take some other opportunities too. A friend of mine's dad took the kids over to the UK to see Springsteen a couple of years ago. Said friend did a quick bit of research and found that Bob Brozman was playing a little club in London the night before they were going to see The Boss, so he got himself a piece of that action. I went over to see Thompson a few years ago and got tipped off about a Martin Carthy gig in a pub in London, so I dragged the missus off to that (it was amazing, and I have her permission to say so). In the UK and the USA there is well established circuit of smaller venues where you can get to see some fabulous musicians in intimate surroundings and usually at a lower price than you'll pay for the bigger shows. I saw Martin freaking Simpson in what amounted to a MOTH hall in Hampshire.

I think a healthy dose of smack helps one hear Cohen the way he should be heard... an equal measure of glory and despair, stripped of years of unwarranted cheese accumulation. I wanna see Bob D myself, and Faith No More. And and and and.

Too many to choose from, but like Bob, would rather see a great musician in a small Pub type setting, at least where I could order a good pint of bitter!

Would love to see some music greats unplugged, having a pint and being as natural as possible.

Greg, the original guitarist from 'Diamond Dogs" told me this story about his old days of playing live at 'Dylans', Rocky street Yeoville. Foreigner were in town, and popped into Dylans to sample some of JHB's nightlife, and Mick Jones and crew did an impromptu performance right there in this tiny little club, using the Dogs equipment etc. He said it was an experience he will never forget.

Love to see someone like Robert Plant in a small setting with the band he has now

Arena - Ozzy
Club/Pub - AC/DC

Squonk wrote: Too many to choose from, but like Bob, would rather see a great musician in a small Pub type setting, at least where I could order a good pint of bitter!

Would love to see some music greats unplugged, having a pint and being as natural as possible.

I don't care for big arena shows myself, but there are all sorts of options and permutations. In the UK there are lots of small theatres, 300 to 800 seats, that sort of size. That's still OK, though often that kind of venue is reserved seating, so getting there first doesn't necessarily get you into the front row.

We booked tickets in advance for Carthy, but it was unreserved seating so we got to the pub early, had a meal, then joined the queue - which was about 15 strong by that time. It was a tiny venue so we were never going to be far from the action, but we ended up in the 2nd row, mere meters away from the action.

We also got right up front for a Richard Thompson Band show in Wolverhampton (capacity 700). But we stood outside the venue door from about 12:30 (for an 8pm show!) and then when we got inside forget about reserved seating, there wasn't any seating. Alert! That show was really, really loud - so some sort of ear protection can come in handy if you're seeing an electric band at close quarters.

I haven't foresworn the bigger venues completely. We saw two shows at the Royal Festival Hall last year - I think that seats about 3000. The first we near the front anyway. The second we were about 1/2 way back and it wasn't that bad. We saw the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in a big church up in Hampsted. A couple of thousand in there with the extra seating they put in (though the organisers were very kind and kept good seats for us because we had come so far). But something like Cropredy where you stand in a field (or put your deckchair down) and look at a big stage over theeeeeeeeerrrrreee.... Thanks, I'll pass.

My real point is that whilst you're in London or New York to see Leonard Cohen you'd do well to look at what's happening in some of the many smaller venues around town. Those venues and circuits service a different audience and a different set of performers, often "niche" acts who make a strong musical statement that's not everybody's cup of tea.

Billy F. Gibbons

What does the F stand for?

Texas, baby...

I've been disappointed by some of the people I've really wanted to see in the past. Not many big rock bands that I like I'd care to see live for that reason. Except for the Black Crowes and The White Stripes. And the Stripes are broken up and the Crowes change lineups so much you don't know if you're going to get something great or not.

But man Mr. Cohen looks like he's putting on killer shows for a man in his mid-seventies.

+ 1 000

I had a Leonard Cohen day yesterday, listened to most of his back catalogue - goes well with rainy weather
He is without a doubt (next to Tom Waits and Nick Cave), one of the best (well known) lyricists out there.
He manages to find beauty in the most ordinary things, without being cheesy and he's a vivid storyteller.
Not so much a fan of the production and sounds on his work in the 80's though. Prefer the older stripped down
stuff.

Still need to see the live Cohen DVD that came out a while ago. I can imagine that he'd have great rapport with
his audience, being a good storyteller.

What are you gonna do about it though S.Monkey?? The man isn't getting any younger...
I think you should write him a sincere letter to convince him to come check out our little corner of the world,
I'll sign it too.



PS: I prefer Jeff Buckley's version of Halleluja to Cohen's. Stripes are awesome live, saw them
in 2002 (I know, I know I've mentioned it about 100 times here).

make and do wrote: + 1 000

I had a Leonard Cohen day yesterday, listened to most of his back catalogue - goes well with rainy weather
He is without a doubt (next to Tom Waits and Nick Cave), one of the best (well known) lyricists out there.
He manages to find beauty in the most ordinary things, without being cheesy and he's a vivid storyteller.
Not so much a fan of the production and sounds on his work in the 80's though. Prefer the older stripped down
stuff.

Still need to see the live Cohen DVD that came out a while ago. I can imagine that he'd have great rapport with
his audience, being a good storyteller.

What are you gonna do about it though S.Monkey?? The man isn't getting any younger...
I think you should write him a sincere letter to convince him to come check out our little corner of the world,
I'll sign it too.



PS: I prefer Jeff Buckley's version of Halleluja to Cohen's. Stripes are awesome live, saw them
in 2002 (I know, I know I've mentioned it about 100 times here).

+1

Jack Flash Jr wrote:

PS: I prefer Jeff Buckley's version of Halleluja to Cohen's. Stripes are awesome live, saw them
in 2002 (I know, I know I've mentioned it about 100 times here).

+1

I think that's by no means Cohen's best song, and I think it's actually very overrated. It's an exercise in rhyming. How many rhymes are there for "hallelujah"? I'd be more impressed if he wrote a song called "orange".