30 July 2013

Leonard Cohen hates Canberra

| johnboy
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News has the itinerary for the upcoming (and very possibly final Leonard Cohen tour.

It seems the great man can manage to play Cairns, Wollongong, and Geelong, but Canberra in its centenary year is a bit much of a hick town.

leonard cohen

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Ben_Dover said :

gazket said :

who is Leonard Cohen ? I just you tubed him and I don’t think we missed much.

phew…Thanks for that! Without your in-depth anaysis and critical review, we may have made a grave error. Cheers mate!

(You tit.)

I was going to put it a little more tactfully than our friend Mr. Dover, but yeah, you’re showing your ignorance a bit on this one. A good way to describe Leonard Cohen would be to say that he’s (almost certainly) your favourite song-writer’s favourite song-writer.

gazket said :

who is Leonard Cohen ? I just you tubed him and I don’t think we missed much.

phew…Thanks for that! Without your in-depth anaysis and critical review, we may have made a grave error. Cheers mate!

(You tit.)

who is Leonard Cohen ? I just you tubed him and I don’t think we missed much.

joingler said :

johnboy said :

Llewellyn Hall is considered to be far superior to the Sydney Opera House.

Llewellyn Hall is a bit small for the great LC. He would easily sell 5thousand tickets in Canberra and the only venue which holds that many is Canberra Stadium which would be way too big.

The AIS Arena is pretty much exactly that size.

johnboy said :

Llewellyn Hall is considered to be far superior to the Sydney Opera House.

Maybe, but hardly a suitable venue for a popular culture event. I’ve always thought that they need to install seat belts to stop patrons plummeting to their death.

johnboy said :

Llewellyn Hall is considered to be far superior to the Sydney Opera House.

Llewellyn Hall is a bit small for the great LC. He would easily sell 5thousand tickets in Canberra and the only venue which holds that many is Canberra Stadium which would be way too big.

I remember last time he added a concert in Hunter Valley or Hobart 6 weeks before he came so maybe all hope for Canberra is not lost.

Otherwise, I’ll be travelling to Brisbane, Sydney and Wollongong to see my idol one last time

Here_and_Now12:02 pm 31 Jul 13

Having seen kd lang (who apparently doesn’t hate Canberra, as she did stop by) do her version live, I’m afraid that Messrs Wainwright and Cohen both pale for me.

Ben_Dover said :

Barcham said :

I’ve never found much value in anything Buckley has ever done, least of all his Hallelujah cover.

Buckley is like a poster boy for bland sincerity.

He has talent, but little soul.

Has talent? Do you own an ouija board?

This got a laugh out of me I’ll admit.

johnboy said :

Llewellyn Hall is considered to be far superior to the Sydney Opera House.

Paul Kelly plays there Sunday August 18.

Good enough for Kelly, good enough for Cohen.

Conan of Cooma11:36 am 31 Jul 13

Canberra has no suitable venues. Sure, you can pack people in, but the audio quality of the main options if appalling. Many tops acts come here once only never to return – And for good reason.

Llewellyn Hall is considered to be far superior to the Sydney Opera House.

Barcham said :

I’ve never found much value in anything Buckley has ever done, least of all his Hallelujah cover.

Buckley is like a poster boy for bland sincerity.

He has talent, but little soul.

Has talent? Do you own an ouija board?

poetix said :

Barcham said :

I’ve never found much value in anything Buckley has ever done, least of all his Hallelujah cover.

Buckley is like a poster boy for bland sincerity.

He has talent, but little soul.

I bow down to your opinion on poster boys, Barbie.

Hmm if ever there was a poster boy then it would have to be Barbie..

Barcham said :

I’ve never found much value in anything Buckley has ever done, least of all his Hallelujah cover.

Buckley is like a poster boy for bland sincerity.

He has talent, but little soul.

I bow down to your opinion on poster boys, Barbie.

I’ve never found much value in anything Buckley has ever done, least of all his Hallelujah cover.

Buckley is like a poster boy for bland sincerity.

He has talent, but little soul.

bundah said :

For a truly magnificent cover version of Cohen’s song Hallelujah one need go no further than Jeff Buckley..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4_Sm-rgQ

Buckley’s version was just overwrought unfelt histrionics, a pale rip off of his father’s style.

johnboy said :

And the buckley version is just vocal gymnastics.

Give me the gravel voice to convey the depth of the song thanks.

It’s a crap song anyhow but the composer does it best as you note.

No doubt Cohen’s a talented poet, but as a singer he is woeful. Abysmal vocal range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q

That’s not always a problem for a musician though, Mark Knopfler has a very limited, even weak voice, but he’s got the instrumentation to make up for it, Cohen doesn’t have that either.

Buckley’s and KD Langs are the two best versions, they actually have emotion and a strong voice that blends with great instrumentation and pacing.

Meh. Covering Hallelujah has become a shortcut for those who want to display faux passion but can’t be arsed to come up with their own.
Mr Cohen has always bored me rigid but I can’t ignore how many people have been to his recent superannuation tour shows and come back saying Best. Show. Ever.

johnboy said :

And the buckley version is just vocal gymnastics.

You cannot be serious.

No-one calls Mr Cohen an ‘old chook’. Or rooster.

And at the risk of sounding all Switzerland, both versions of the song are wonderful.

I note he’s playing Wellington; they’re beating us on music as well as cricket!

johnboy said :

And the buckley version is just vocal gymnastics.

Give me the gravel voice to convey the depth of the song thanks.

There’s a lot of heart in Buckley’s version and his vocal dynamics are superb.

bundah said :

For a truly magnificent cover version of Cohen’s song Hallelujah one need go no further than Jeff Buckley..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4_Sm-rgQ

You don’t say? One would have to be living in a cave on the Moon for one not to have heard Jeff Buckley’s cover version. :p

And the buckley version is just vocal gymnastics.

Give me the gravel voice to convey the depth of the song thanks.

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you’ve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

For a truly magnificent cover version of Cohen’s song Hallelujah one need go no further than Jeff Buckley..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4_Sm-rgQ

It seems the great man can manage to play Cairns, Wollongong, and Geelong, but Canberra in its centenary year is a bit much of a hick town.

I suspect he probably doesn’t have much of an opinion about Canberra either way.

I’d suggest it’s far more likely that the booking agent/s involved want him to put on shows where people will actually bother going to the effort of buying tickets and showing up to see him perform (i.e. pretty much anywhere BUT Canberra.)

Maybe it’s more a case of Canberra couldn’t be bothered with Leonard.He may have composed some brilliant songs but as for his voice?

Great, I think I’ll go to ADOTG in Geelong. Sweet

hallelujah…

We got a brief glimpse of a tittycarp instead…

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