Show Me the Place

Leonard Cohen has a new song out, listen to it here.  It already has a lot of great reviews.  Looking forward to his new album which comes out at the end of January. :D

Another Sublime Leonard Cohen Concert

This week I took a trip up to Vancouver for my second Leonard Cohen concert. Even though I went in 2009 as well, the concert was really wonderful and different enough from the first to make it totally worthwhile. The performers are all impeccable (and each play an impressive array of instruments), and really, who will give you artistry the way Leonard Cohen will? He ad-libs and changes lyrics on the fly, making each performance clever, unique, and moving at just the right moments. His timing, as usual, is flawless.

Standouts for me during the ~3.5 hour evening included A Thousand Kisses Deep, Aint No Cure for Love, Dance Me to the End of Love, and Bird on a Wire. I particularly liked If It Be Your Will (done as a duet by the Webb sisters) as well, and there just happens to be a video of it for you to enjoy (not taken by me):



We got to here one of his new songs too: 'The Darkness'. It might be a little too dark, even for me! But still very enjoyable.



As usual, Cohen is a little self-deprecating, but also funny and entertaining too. Here are two more:

A Brief Hiatus

Things have been hectic over the last month and a half, but there is no excuse for neglecting to blog about my experience at Leonard Cohen's concert the weekend before last. It was amazing! In fact, I think Mr. Cohen sounds better live than in recordings, and over the ~3.5 hours he was on stage there were too many standing ovations and encores to count. Highlights of the evening included renditions of "Hallelujah", "Democracy", and "If It Be Your Will" (the Webb Sisters' duet). Anyway, I'm really glad I got to see what may have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I ♥ CBC & VSO

Last Friday, I woke up just as the Early Edition was doing their weekend prize pack giveaway. Since one of the best parts of the prize was tickets to one of the concerts the VSO is putting on as part of their Beethoven Festival, of course the question listeners were asked to answer concerned Beethoven.

At last, all those years of piano lessons and music history have paid off! After countless times not getting through, I actually did this time, and I knew (guessed!) the answer to the question too. So tonight I went to hear Beethoven's 4th and 5th, which were both awesome (although they really outdid themselves with the 5th).

There are two things I took away from this. First of all, CBC is great. The prize not only included the concert tickets, but also tickets to a play, tickets to theatre sports, tickets to Maplewood Farms, and some Lang Lang CDs. As grad students, we don't often have the time or budget to do these kinds of things, so it's really nice to win such an extensive prize. Also, when you live on a mountain, it's difficult to get away to attend events at all these different places.

Second, I think I was the youngest person at the concert. It's sad. Tickets for students are extremely cheap - if you get the free student access pass, tickets are $10 for most concerts, and you can bring a non-student friend for $15. If you aren't a student, rush tickets are $15. Granted, you can't always get tickets this way, but there's usually a pretty good chance. I've never seen a crappy VSO concert; they've all been absolutely fantastic. The last one I went to was Sumi Jo, but I saw some piano concertos last year that were excellent as well. There's something about hearing [classical] music live that you just can't get from an mp3, CD, or even vinyl (if you can find a player for it!). So why aren't more young people going? I worry that once the current population of attendees is gone, there won't be enough support for the VSO.

'The Future' of Rock & Roll

Off topic post, but I have to say: way to go Mr. Cohen, even if it is a little odd to think of you as a Rock n' Roller...