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Monday, January 19, 2009
Leonard Cohen U.S. tour kicks off in Austin
Hallelujah! Canadian singer-songwriting legend Leonard Cohen is starting his 2009 U.S. tour at the Long Center April 2. This is a tip from bassist Roscoe Beck, the Austinite who serves as Cohen’s musical director. There are no ticket details yet.
Cohen’s promoter AEG Live could not be reached for confirmation, though a source at the Long Center said the final details of the show are being worked out.
Cohen has not toured the U.S. in 16 years. His recent shows in Europe sold out in minutes.
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HBO’s feelgood fest for Obama
“We Are One” was what they called yesterday’s Obama inaugural celebration concert that HBO aired free to nonsubscribers and then repeated often like it was an Owen Wilson “comedy.” The title could’ve been lengthened at times to “We Are One Corny Nation,” but being so patriotic, so united, so caring of others, so into “This Land Is Your Land,” never felt so good. Even the insufferably hokey Garth Brooks, who got three songs while Stevie Wonder only got one, couldn’t kill the buzz of jubilation.
Staged on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, with Honest Abe looking down, “One” could’ve been the best all-star TV concert since the post 9/11 show that Willie closed with “America the Beautiful.” But this concert, which was produced by Austin’s C3 Presents, was more real and celebratory than memorial and surreal. Happy days, indeed.
A mix of uplifting rhetoric from the likes of Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks and Jamie Foxx (auditioning for the Obama biopic with an impression of the P-elect) and uplifting music from the biggest pop names in the biz, the show was poignantly produced and moved along at a nice pace.
Early highlights included Mary J. Blige taking Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me” to a whole new level and Josh Groban - I’m sorry, I like him - nailing “My Country Tis Of Thee.” But the show didn’t really lift off until Stevie Wonder showed Usher and Shakira how to sing “Higher Ground” at about the halfway point. That one got the Obamas on their feet.
U2 was the first full band onstage and although their “Pride (In the Name of Love)” sounded a tad tinny (lame singalong, too), Bono singing from the same location where the song’s inspiration, Dr. Martin Luther King, gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, gave the moment elevation. The “four guys from North Dublin” also did “City of Blinding Lights,” a so-so song that Obama came out to before speeches during the campaign because nothing chimes of victory like the Edge’s guitar..
The Chosen One came out once again after “Blinding Lights” and spoke to the crowd, touching on all the keystones of his campaign, no doubt saving his best for tomorrow’s paying gig. His swearing-in should mark the end of speeches about hope and change.
If, like me, you spent Sunday watching football and spaced out on the concert, you can watch it here like I did.
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SXSW grows internationally
Four out of ten acts playing SXSW this year will be from countries outside the United States, organizers announced today.
The United Kingdom holds the lead, followed by Canada and Mexico, Spain and Australia are tied for fourth, followed by Brazil, which will have a huge presence this year.
A total of 52 countries will be represented, including Seven from Latin America and five from Africa.
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