Arlene's Leonard Cohen Scrapbook

Leonard Cohen Scrapbook

Arlene Dick passed away peacefully on March 13, 2013 with her loving family by her side.

FRIENDS Meet-up Dinner Night Before Leonard Cohen Concerts at Radio City, New York-April 5.13

February 9, 2013

To celebrate Leonard Cohen shows at the New York Radio City Music Hall on April 6 &7, Dick Straub has organized a fans meet-up dinner "the night before."

April 5, 2013
East of Eighth here
254 W. 23rd.
at 7:00 pm
Conveniently located between 8th Avenue (C,E subways) and 7th Avenue (#1 subway)
in the same block as the Chelsea Hotel.

Bonus: Fans can view Leonard Cohen 75th birthday tribute plaque on permanent display in front of the Chelsea Hotel.

Blue corn chips and pita, with humus and guacamole
Mixed green salad.
Main courses include two pastas, one vegetarian the other with prosciutto.
Other main choices: sirloin steak, chicken, salmon, and a seasonal harvest vegetable platter.
Sodas and coffee and tea are included, as well as a wide choice of desserts.

For those wishing to order alcoholic beverages, full bar service will be available and individual tabs will be kept.

Total for meal is only $35 each. This being New York, bills must also include tax at 8.75% and a 20 % gratuity, bringing it to $45 per person.

Esther Cohen is attending as well as Sylvie Simmons with her ukelele.

Fifty people is the maximum set by the restaurant. So, an accurate accounting is needed as early as possible.

Please respond your intentions (even if it's only a maybe) to Dick Straub at dickstraub@yahoo.com or on the leonard cohen forum here

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Organizational thanks also go to Jarkko Arjatsalo, webmaster of all things Cohen and Joe Way co-chairman of the Madison 2012 Leonard Cohen Event.

The Delightful Back Story of Lisa Kline's Leonard Cohen Unified Heart Tattoo

February 7, 2013

Portland Nov 11,12, Lisa Kline (upper right and bottom) & Arlene (upper left)

On Nov 11,12, Lisa Kline and I were both in Portland for Leonard Cohen's concert at the Rose Garden. In the morning, I invited Lisa, a fellow Canuck, to my hotel room to watch the November 11th Remembrance Day memorial on my laptop. The ceremony in Ottawa was to be streamed live at 11 am on the CBC network

Lisa brought us coffee and when she removed her UHTC jacket, her UHTC tattoo was revealed. She told me the story about it which I thought was delightful. So I asked her to please send me her story to post on the LC Scrapbook and she did. Thank you, Lisa. Here it is in her own words.

For years, I thought that I might like to get a tattoo, but the problem was deciding what image to have permanently inked into my skin. It had to be meaningful, and it had to be something that I would be happy with for the rest of my life. After I saw Leonard Cohen in concert during the 2008-2010 tour (which was a profound, life-enhancing experience), it occurred to me that a unified heart would make a perfect tattoo. Not only is it a beautiful symbol, but it is a great reminder of those sublime concerts. However, thinking about getting a tattoo and actually getting one are two different things, and for quite a while I never had the guts to do anything about it. How it finally became a reality is as follows:

In 2011, I went to Montreal with my good friend Rachel, a fellow Leonard Cohen enthusiast, who also shared my interest in the idea of a unified heart tattoo (but like me, she had never mustered the nerve to do anything about it!).One afternoon, we were walking along Blvd. St. Laurent (or “St. Lawrence Blvd,” as Anglophones may say), a few blocks from Leonard Cohen’s house. We came upon a tattoo parlour, and we both started laughing because we simultaneously remembered a delightful interview with Leonard Cohen from 1966. In the interview, Leonard jokes that he is thinking of changing his name (to “September Cohen”) and getting a tattoo. When the interviewer asks of the latter, “Where?”, Leonard smiles and says, “There’s this place on St. Lawrence Blvd.” After a brief moment of discussion and contemplation, Rachel and I realized that we simply could not pass up such a wonderful opportunity! A few hours later, we each proudly had a unified heart tattoo, and whenever anyone asks us “where” we got them, we can smile and say, “There’s this place on St. Lawrence Blvd…”

From the 1966 CBC interview (approx 4.50 depending on how many ads at the front)
Leonard Cohen: ... I thought that I would ... get a tattoo
Beryl Fox: Where?
Leonard Cohen: There’s this place on St. Lawrence Blvd.

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Lisa Kline is LisaLCFan on the leonrd cohen forum
Not all CBC archived videos are accessible outside of Canada. So a big thank you to Lisa for finding the one above.
Another video and full transcript of the CBC Beryl Fox interview can be found at Speaking Cohen Webheights here
For background about the poppies Lisa and I are wearing and Nov 11th Remembrance Day, see Leonard Cohen Commemorates November 11th Wearing The Emblematic Poppy

A Sobering Uplifting AMEN, Leonard Cohen Los Angeles Concert Nov 5,12

February 4, 2013

When I made a final pass through all the memory cards from my last six concerts (Austin x2, Denver, LA, Seattle, Portland) I found my video of AMEN from the LA Nokia on November 5. I certainly can understand my inefficiency following that concert. (see my earlier report, Wonderful Leonard Cohen Concert in Los Angeles at LA Nokia Live But A Difficult Evening 11.5.12 )

My new found video gave me a chance to think a little more about Leonard Cohen's sobering AMEN and my ambivalence about his magnificent song.

On the one hand, the words sound so horrific (the horror...I read as the Holocaust) and are difficult to absorb. But the poetry is magnificent. I always find meaning from his writing. But I can never verbalize what it is. I just feel it.

Similar to his Holocaust connected song "Dance Me To The End Of Love", LC again wraps a lovely waltz around AMEN's difficult poetry. And he performs it mostly upright. (Contrast this with Come Healing where he sings it mostly kneeling in "penitential prayer".)

His eyes are often open and looking upwards. His hands are mostly relaxed.

I found all of this made AMEN uplifting.

I liked the song when I first heard it on his newest album Old Ideas. But I began to love the song more and more as the tour progressed. So when I went to those six concerts, AMEN was one of the songs I really looked forward to hearing.

And my wish was fulfilled.

Amen

Tell me again
When I’ve been to the river
And I’ve taken the edge off my thirst
Tell me again
We’re alone & I’m listening
I’m listening so hard that it hurts
Tell me again
When I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again
When I’ve seen through the horror
Tell me again
Tell me over and over
Tell me you want me then
Amen

Tell me again
When the victims are singing
And Laws of Remorse are restored
Tell me again
That you know what I’m thinking
But vengeance belongs to the lord
Tell me again…

Tell me again
When the day has been ransomed
& night has no right to begin
Try me again
When the angels are panting
And scratching the door to come in
Tell me again
When I’m clean and I’m sober
Tell me again…

Tell me again
When the filth of the butcher
Is washed in the blood of the lamb
Tell me again
When the rest of the culture
Has passed thru’ the Eye of the Camp
Tell me again…

Los Angeles AMEN Nov 5.12 - by Arlene Dick

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Lyrics from the Official Old Ideas Leonard Cohen website

Leonard Cohen 2013 World Tour New Logo Unveiled Today - Camp Cohen Is Open

February 1, 2013

Designed by J.S. Carenza III ~ Joey Carenza, Road Tour Manager since the Leonard Cohen world tour began in 2008, designer, photographer, videographer and world tour chronicler of happenings at Camp Cohen who always finds time in his gruelling schedule to keep us avid FRIENDS informed using the newest technology in cyberworld.

"Notes From The Road" here

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U.H.T.C. stands for United Heart Touring Company

Second Leonard Cohen Concert Added St. John's, Newfoundland April 21.13

January 29, 2013

In response to overwhelming fan demand, Leonard Cohen's acclaimed 'Old Ideas World Tour' has just added a second concert at Mile One Centre in St. John's, NL on Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 8p.m

General sale for the second concert begins on Friday, February 1 at Noon local time

To order tickets, click here,

For a complete concert schedule to date and ticket seller links for the 2013 leg, see Marie's Speaking Cohen Webheights here.

Can't See Him, But Can Hear Him - Leonard Cohen's Beautiful "Come Healing", Seattle Concert Nov 9,12 (Partial)

January 25, 2012

"Come Healing" Seattle Nov 9, 12 wide angle & close-up (screenshots)

I love this new song from Leonard Cohen's latest album "Old Ideas" and wanted to capture it when I was on my last six concert adventure. However, it was not to be. Each venue presented an obstacle, either my seat location or strict no video security. The challenge in Seattle was my seat location, albeit first row but off to the side.

Leonard Cohen kneels when singing his "penitential hymn" and the camerman blocked him from my view. I started to video this song hoping the camerman would alter his position, but he didn't. I finally gave up part way through the song, put my camera away and just sat and listened to this delicate intense hymn.

I was very impressed with the Webb Sisters' brilliant harmonies. For the second verse, the two sopranos varied their harmony to match Leonard Cohen's lower register bass and the effect was superb. Very rich and gripping.

Even though my video is only a partial, it is still a beautiful memory of how comforting Leonard Cohen's song of healing is at this particular time in my life.

I hear it as the Mi Shebeirach, a Jewish prayer for healing which asks God who blessed our ancestors to bless and heal our loved ones.

Come Healing

Chorus:
O, gather 'round the brokenness
Bring it to me now
The fragrance of those promises
You never dared to vow

The splinters that you carried
The cross you left behind
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

And let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb

Leonard:
Behold the gates of mercy
In arbitrary space
And none of us deserving
Of cruelty or the grace

Together:
O, solitude of longing
Where love has been confined
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

O, see the darkness yielding
That tore the light apart
Come healing of the reason
Come healing of the heart

O, troubledness concealing
An undivided love
The heart beneath is teaching
To the broken heart above

And let the heavens utter
Let the earth proclaim
Come healing of the altar
Come healing of the name

Chorus:
O, longing of the branches
To lift the little bird
O, longing of the arteries
To purify the blood

Together:
And let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb

O let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb

Seattle COME HEALING (partial) Nov 9.12 - by Arlene Dick

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Come Healing lyrics from Lyrics Mania

"Who By Fire" Leonard Cohen Concert at Seattle Key Arena November 9, 2012

January 22, 2013

Javier Mas & Roscoe Beck (screenshots)

It's a funny thing about camera memory cards and file transfers. Often, a missed gem lies waiting to surprise and delight.

Such is what happened last night. I discovered my video capture of Who By Fire at the Leonard Cohen Seattle concert on Nov 9.12.

In spite of the pesky cameraman (who blocked my view for most of the concert), I am rather proud of this video.

Javier Mas's new solo intro for the Old Ideas World Tour was...well, running out of superlatives...exquisite. And, Roscoe Beck's outro was powerful.

Leonard Cohen's intense, eyes closed prayer interpretation was spellbinding. The UtanenahTokef prayer on which his song is based resonated deeply and gave me the chills. (see my earlier post Leonard Cohen's Who By Fire and the Unetanah Tokef Prayer in High Holiday Services, 5772)

Seattle WHO BY FIRE Nov 9.12 - by Arlene Dick

Leonard Cohen FRIENDS On The Go, Ghent To Brooklyn - Old Ideas World Tour 2012

January 20, 2013

Key Arena at Seatle Center Nov 9.12 (Facebook/Matthew Lamb)

"I want to express our gratitude to those, I don't want to call them fans,

they are of a much deeper order than fans..."

(Leonard Cohen, Las Vegas, Dec 10/10)

"I found it heartwarming that he referred to us as friends and thanked us all night long"

“He showed a gratitude that’s beyond belief at our attendance,

thanking us, his “friends”, for the very warm reception”

"It is quite refreshing to see a living legend of the music world be appreciative of his fans,

call them friends"

Slideshow Video - Dia

Over 200 photos of Leonard Cohen FRIENDS at meet-ups, out and about and in the audience enjoying thrilling concerts from Ghent to Brooklyn on the Old Ideas World Tour 2012.

Audio tracks are from my own videos:

(1) JOAN OF ARC - Debut on the World Tour (Portland Nov 11/12)
-and-
(2) THERE AIN'T NO CURE FOR LOVE - First perfomance on the Old Ideas 2012 Tour (Seattle Nov 9/12)

THANK YOU to all the wonderful, generous and enthusiastic FRIENDS for sharing your photos.
Knowing many of the people in the shots made me feel like I was there myself.

And thank you Tweeters for the great atmosphere shots.
I love audience shots. It gives me a heightened sense of the Leonard Cohen Community coming together to share a special concert experience, even for me from afar.

Leonard Cohen FRIENDS - Ghent to Brooklyn 2012 - by Arlene Dick

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Re: The Seatle Key Arena official photo at the top - If you look closely at the first row right, you may recognize a few familiar FRIENDS.
The Dia also includes a few audience shots by Joey Carenza, LC Tour Road manager and Leif Bodnarchuk, backline guitar tech.

Leonard Cohen Continues Old Ideas World Tour in 2013 - List of Concerts Announced to Date

January 18, 2013

Concerts of the Spring 2013 Tour

MARCH 2013
March 2, 2013 - Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre

March 3, 2013 - Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre (added today)

March 6, 2013 - Victoria, BC - Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
March 9, 2013 - Regina, SK - Brandt Centre
March 11, 2013 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
March 13, 2013 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
March 15, 2013 - Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Theatre
March 18, 2013 - Tampa, FL -David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts – Carol Morsani Hall
March 20, 2013 - Miami, FL - James L. Knight Center
March 22, 2013 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
March 24, 2013 - Memphis, TN - Orpheum Theatre
March 28, 2013 - New Orleans, LA - Mahalia Jackson Theater
March 30, 2013 - Louisville, KY - Palace Theatre

APRIL 2013
April 2, 2013 - Wallingford, CT - Toyota Oakdale Theatre
April 6, 2013 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall

April 7, 2013 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall (added today)

April 9, 2013 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum
April 13, 2013 - Halifax, NS - Halifax Metro Centre
April 15, 2013 - Saint John, NB - Harbour Station
April 17, 2013 - Moncton, NB - Moncton Coliseum
April 20, 2013 - St. John’s, NL - Mile One Centre

Europe concerts announced so far (more coming!)

JUNE 2013
Tue 18: Paris, France, Palais Omnisports de Bercy.
Fri 21: London, UK, O2 Arena.
Tue 25: Oberhausen, Germany, König-Pilsener Arena.

JULY 2013
Sun 7: Rome, Italy, Il Centrale Live 2013 Foro Italico Roma.
Tues 9: Lucca, Italy, Piazza Napoleone (Summer Festival).
Fri 12: Mannheim, Germany, SAP Arena.
Sun 14: Hamburg, Germany, 02 World.
Wed 17: Berlin, Germany, 02 World.

AUGUST 2013
Sat 17: Odense, Denmark, King's Garden.

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For links to ticket sellers click here

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For more 2013 concert details and other tour info, check the Leonard Cohen Files here