So I saw Leonard Cohen

Great show! Minus the rain and chill.  but the sets were good and it was enough Cohen to last me a while. 

I really enjoyed and loved the concert. I had my mom with me and she loved it as well.

Does anyone have the setlist? I'm still trying to remember all of the incredible songs I've heard tonight. Plus, unfortunately, I missed the first 5 songs of the first set, because of traffic. I'd like to know what I missed.

i think rain and the cold was the perfect atmosphere for that show.  it was one of the best i've seen.

thatguy wrote:
i think rain and the cold was the perfect atmosphere for that show.  it was one of the best i've seen.

Last night I was thinking the same thing. I just find it so ironic how 2 days before the concert, the forecast for that evening was sunny and mild. Then on Sunday, it quickly changed. Figures as much, sunny doesn't seem to suit Mr. Cohen all that well (just kidding).

Anyhow, even though I was a little cold last night, (I'm so thankful that I didn't get lawn seats by the way) the weather did provide a fantastic atmosphere.

I'll go ahead and say this…out of all of the bands I've seen live and all of the concerts, I think Leonard takes the cake. His live performance was astounding and was a serious treat for anyone who just loves music.

I have to admit though, it just makes me sad that he probably won't be back again. But if he ever is, he should do a concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. I would pay a lot to see that happen.

Read the very first post on this thread. The first five songs are the ones you missed.

saintangelsin wrote:

Does anyone have the setlist? I'm still trying to remember all of the incredible songs I've heard tonight. Plus, unfortunately, I missed the first 5 songs of the first set, because of traffic. I'd like to know what I missed.

Hello wrote:
Read the very first post on this thread. The first five songs are the ones you missed.

Thanks! I just found the set list on the LC Message board as well, and to my relief, I really only missed 4 songs. I came into the venue just as he was performing "Everybody Knows."

Pretty much perfect.  Pure grace, elegance and class.

The concert including the 30 minute set break was around 3 hours and 10 minutes long. Here's the setlist.

1.Dance me to the End of Love
2.The Future
3.Ain't no Cure For Love (the only "bad" song of the night IMO.)
4.Bird on the Wire
5.Everybody Knows
6.In my Secret Life
7.Who by Fire-Featured some great solos by Javier Mas
8.Chelsea Hotel #2
9.Waiting for the Miracle-Ended with the first of many Long standing ovations
10.Anthem

Second Set

11. Tower of Song-LC with only Sharon Robinson, the Webb sisters, and the Keyboardists
12.Suzanne
13. The Gypsy's Wife
14. The Partisan (one of the highlights for me)
15. Boogie Street (Robinson did lead vocals with no Cohen, great performance)
16.Hallelujah
17. I'm your Man
18. A Thousand Kisses Deep (Done as Poem, not the song version)
19. Tale This Waltz

First Encore
20. So Long, Marianne
21. First we Take Manhattan (Best song of the night)

Second Encore
22.Famous Blue Raincoat (Also Amazing)
23. If it Be Your Will (Song by the Webb sister w/o the band. One was on acoustic guitar and one played the Harp)
24.Democracy

Final Encore

25. I tried to Leave you (featured final solos by every band member and singer)
26.Whither Thou Goest (brief a cappella performance by the whole band)


The concert was easily one of the best I've ever been to. The band was fantastic and really added to the experience. I find it somewhat ironic that this was the longest concert I've ever been to and yet, the singer is 74. Cohen literally ran and skipped off stage, was down on one knee numerous times, and danced at points. He is a true showman.

I was honestly surprised at how packed it was. The pavilion was at least 95-98% full and the lawn looked like it was pretty packed. If any one you were out on the lawn, I feel so bad for you; It was raining a good part of the show.


My one gripe that isn't really a gripe…I'm only 20 and the average age of the audience had to have at least been somewhere around 45. I was surrounded by people 3 times my age so I didn't really have anyone to talk to the whole time.

You gotta be kidding!  The *only* bad song of the night was Boogie Street and it wasn't sung by Cohen!

runwhiteyrun06 wrote:
3.Ain't no Cure For Love (the only "bad" song of the night IMO.)

Hello wrote:
You gotta be kidding!  The *only* bad song of the night was Boogie Street and it wasn't sung by Cohen!

runwhiteyrun06 wrote:
3.Ain't no Cure For Love (the only "bad" song of the night IMO.)

I really enjoyed Boogie Street. I've always disliked Ain't no Cure for Love, it's one of Cohen's few stinkers.

Hello wrote:
You gotta be kidding!  The *only* bad song of the night was Boogie Street and it wasn't sung by Cohen!

runwhiteyrun06 wrote:
3.Ain't no Cure For Love (the only "bad" song of the night IMO.)

Agreed.

Great show, couldn't believe his stamina! The musicians really added to the show, I agree. I especially liked the sisters singing "If It Be Your Will"…

Merriweather was pretty nice, especially under the pavilion. I could barely look at the lawn walking for food ($9 slice of pizza!) during intermission, it looked like a refugee camp up there…

3x20=60

Are you saying that 60 year olds don´t know how to talk?

runwhiteyrun06 wrote:


My one gripe that isn't really a gripe…I'm only 20 and the average age of the audience had to have at least been somewhere around 45. I was surrounded by people 3 times my age so I didn't really have anyone to talk to the whole time.

No, but the 60 year olds around me were with their spouses and seemed to have no interest in talking to a 20 year old. It's a very small gripe though, I just studied for finals instead anyway while waiting for the show to start.



So was anyone on the lawn, how brutal was it?

Anyone making the trip to Philly tonight?

I just want to say that I liked "Boogie Street." it sounded pretty cool. And as for "Ain't No Cure For Love" I was quite sad that I missed out on that one. I'm also still kicking myself for missing out on "Dance me to the End of Love".

runwhiteyrun06 wrote:
No, but the 60 year olds around me were with their spouses and seemed to have no interest in talking to a 20 year old. It's a very small gripe though, I just studied for finals instead anyway while waiting for the show to start.



So was anyone on the lawn, how brutal was it?

I had a feeling that you were studying for finals lol. (What major at UMD are you btw?) I even said to my mom that I should have brought along with me something to read during the intermission only because I felt guilty for not doing much work on Monday.

As for talking to people, you should've given it a shot. I talked to a few different older couples. Granted, my mom is 56 so I guess I'm cool with people like that. But one of the couples I talked to told me about the time they saw Leonard back in the 1980s in some small club.

I thought the mix of ages at the show was pretty refreshing. I like being one of the youngest in the crowd (I'm 23) whereas when I go to Depeche Mode in July, I probably won't be the youngest fan there.

There were more than a few babies in my section…don't see that too often in my usual show-going.

In Philly, "Closing Time" and "Sisters of Mercy" were played but "Bird on a Wire" and "The Partisan" were not.

Actually, he did play "Bird on a Wire."  I saw a setlist without it, but that wasn't right.  If my sleep-deprived brain can recall, it was in the middle of the first set, maybe a song or two after "Ain't No Cure For Love."

Stunning show…all of the hype was definitely right now.  And the Kimmel Center's Academy of Music was a gorgeous venue…it sounded amazingly clear.

Hello wrote:
In Philly, "Closing Time" and "Sisters of Mercy" were played but "Bird on a Wire" and "The Partisan" were not.

It's pretty remarkable how well he covered his catalog in these shows. About the only thing I'd have really liked to hear but didn't was "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"…