Dance Me To The End Of Love
The Future
Ain't No Cure For Love
Bird On The Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who By Fire
Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Take This Waltz
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Avalanche
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
Democracy
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recited)
Anthem
First Encore
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Second Encore
Sisters of Mercy
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
Final Encore
That Don't Make It Junk
Famous Blue Raincoat
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest
Dance Me To The End Of Love
The Future
Ain't No Cure For Love
Bird On The Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who By Fire
Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Avalanche
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
Democracy
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recited)
Take This Waltz
Dance Me To The End Of Love
The Future
Ain't No Cure For Love
Bird On The Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who By Fire
Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Anthem (Leonard expresses his love for Montreal and receives a tremendous ovation - mp3)*
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Avalanche
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
Democracy
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recited)
Take This Waltz (Dedicated to Montreal poet Irving Layton - mp3)
First Encore
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Second Encore
Sisters of Mercy
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
Final Encore
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest
* Leonard: "So happy to be here tonight… So much of the world is plunged in darkness and chaos,
famine, disease, war and we have the (inaudible). I am so grateful to be here and to be from here…
Thank you friends. Tonight, I'd like (inaudible) your kind attention.
At this moment, we stand for Montreal. Thank you."
Jazz Fest: Concert Review: Leonard Cohen at Place des Arts, June 23
The Montreal Gazette
- June 24, 2008 by Bernard Perusse (Photo: Marcos Townsend)
Let's face it: until Buddy Holly comes back from the dead, it's highly unlikely that any show will ever be truly worth $250.
That was the top price for Leonard Cohen's three sold-out concerts at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts. Still, on Monday night, at his first hometown appearance since 1993, there appeared to be nothing but joy on the faces of the paying customers. So much for Cohen's largely undeserved reputation as the guru of gloom.
The singer and poet alluded to his long absence in a line that has been well publicized, but still drew howls of laughter. "I haven't been on a stage here in 14 or 15 years," he deadpanned before easing into a tender and soulful arrangement of Ain't No Cure for Love. "I was 60 years old – a kid with a crazy dream."
To ease the pain of the ticket cost for his homecoming party, Cohen delivered a beautifully-selected look back at his entire catalogue that was generous, to say the least – more than three hours, not counting intermission.
Most importantly, Cohen really did the songs. Backed by a wonderful nine-piece band, he has rarely sounded better, singing clearly and with more power than his last couple of albums would have suggested. He confidently climbed the ascending lines of Hallelujah, added some muscle to In My Secret Life and did faithful and hushed renditions of Suzanne and Sisters of Mercy that erased more than 40 years and seemed to have a few wiping away tears.
There was palpable emotion connecting this dapper, utterly charming man, who kept tipping his hat in gratitude for the love, with an audience that would happily have kept him there until the proverbial four in the morning (and, yes, he sang Famous Blue Raincoat).
It would be impossible to count how many times the wildly enthusiastic room erupted in spontaneous cheers over favourite lines, like "I was born like this, I had no choice/ I was born with the gift of a golden voice," from Tower of Song. During that song, Cohen pecked out a couple of amusing little bluesy solos on keyboard.
"Vous êtes très généreux, merci," he said dryly when he drew applause for those rudimentary notes. He also translated a few of his occasional recitations for the occasion.
As he wound down, most appropriately, with I Tried to Leave You, the audience laughed heartily at his song choice: the three-hour mark had just gone by. And when he sang the closing line, "Here's a man still working for your smile," they cheered as loudly as they had all night.
With one last bit of business – a sweet a cappella version of Wither Thou Goest with his band members – Cohen asked his audience to drive home safely, thanked them for their open hearts, took his final small bow, basked in his last standing ovation and left the building.
Le chanteur et poète montréalais Leonard Cohen a entrepris lundi soir sa série de trois spectacles à la Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier de la Place des Arts, à Montréal.
Pendant trois heures, ses admirateurs ont pu renouer avec le chanteur d'origine montréalaise, qui ne s'était pas produit dans sa ville natale depuis 15 ans. Son dernier spectacle remonte à l'époque de l'album The Future, paru en 1992.
Cohen a chanté certains de ses classiques, comme « Suzanne », « Hallelujah », « Dance me to the end of Love », ainsi que de nouvelles pièces.
Âgé de 73 ans, Leonard Cohen vient d'entreprendre une tournée en Amérique du Nord et en Europe.
Les trois concerts présentés à Montréal sont en préouverture du Festival international de jazz, qui lui dédiera cette année le prix Oscar Peterson. D'ailleurs, un spectacle hommage à Leonard Cohen sera donné le 26 juin dans le cadre du festival.
Artiste prolifique
Écrivain, poète et chanteur, Leonard Cohen a fait paraître son premier disque en 1967. Et dès le début, il a eu une grande influence sur la scène musicale. Plusieurs chanteurs, dont Neil Diamond, Diana Ross et Bob Dylan ont chanté ses textes. Auteur de 16 disques, de 11 recueils de poèmes et de deux romans, Leonard Cohen a obtenu plusieurs distinctions durant sa carrière.
En 1991, le chanteur montréalais a été désigné membre du Panthéon de la musique canadienne, et en 2003, il a été nommé compagnon de l'Ordre du Canada.
The singer and poet Leonard Cohen Montreal Monday night began its series of three performances at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts in Montreal.
For three hours, his admirers have reconnect with the original singer in Montreal, which had not occurred in his hometown for 15 years. His last performance dates from the time of the album The Future, published in 1992.
Cohen sang some of his classics like "Suzanne," "Hallelujah," "Dance me to the end of Love", as well as new pieces.
Barely 73 years, Leonard Cohen has undertaken a tour in North America and Europe.
The three concerts in Montreal are Preopening of International Jazz Festival, which will dedicate this year's prize Oscar Peterson. By the way, a performance tribute to Leonard Cohen will be given June 26 at the festival.
A prolific artist
A writer, poet and singer Leonard Cohen has released its first album in 1967. And from the outset, he had a great influence on the music scene. Several singers, including Neil Diamond, Diana Ross and Bob Dylan sang his texts. Author of 16 discs, 11 collections of poems and two novels, Leonard Cohen won several awards during his career.
In 1991, the Montreal singer was appointed a member of the Pantheon of Canadian music, and in 2003 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada.
CBC News
- June 24, 2008 (Photo: Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)
Montreal-born poet-singer Leonard Cohen delighted legions of fans in his hometown Monday night when he took the stage at Place des Arts for one of three highly anticipated sold-out shows.
An exuberant crowd greeted Cohen with a standing ovation, yelling and whistling as soon as the singer sauntered on stage with a sparkling smile.
"Ça me touche profondément, vraiment [this moves me deeply, really]," he said in French, dressed elegantly in a grey suit and fedora.
Cohen, 73, spoke in French during several parts of his three-hour show, translating some of his lyrics as a means of introducing his songs.
"Fais-moi danser jusqu'au bout de l'amour," he said in his velvety voice, before launching into Dance Me to the End of Love, which brought the crowd to its feet in one of several ovations.
It was Cohen's first Montreal concert since 1993, when he played his native city after releasing his album The Future.
"J'espère que malgré les prix gonflés [des billets] vous ne serez pas décus ce soir [I hope you won't be disappointed tonight despite the inflated ticket prices]," he said, alluding to the financial difficulties that brought him out on tour for the first time in 15 years. (Cohen has accused his former business manager, Kelley Lynch, of siphoning $5 million US from his personal accounts.)
Backed by nine musicians, including three singers, Cohen revisited his entire repertoire, including Bird on a Wire, Suzanne, Tower of Song, Take this Waltz and Hallelujah.
Cohen returned to the stage for two encores, performing Famous Blue Raincoat and So Long, Marianne.
"My love, I hope you have been satisfied," he concluded in French, closing his three-hour show with words from 17-th century French poet Jean de la Fontaine. "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime; jamais je ne t'oublierai."
Cohen performs again Tuesday and Wednesday night at Place des Arts, in anticipation of the International Jazz Festival later this week, which will honour him with its prestigious Spirit Award.
He then returns to Europe to resume his tour, which includes a stop at the Glastonbury Music Festival in late June and shows in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
Le Journal de Montréal
- June 24, 2008 by Philippe Rezzonico (Photo: Journal de Montréal - Benoît Pelosse)
Dance Me to the End of Love, a-t-il chanté, hier, en ouverture. Pour ce retour sur scène dans sa ville natale après 15 ans d'absence, les fans de Leonard Cohen étaient prêts, eux aussi, à danser avec lui jusqu'à la fin de l'amour et du temps.
Ce n'était pas que le retour du chantre, du poète, de l'enfant prodige ni même du maître de la prose et de la mélodie, hier, à la salle Wilfrid-Pelletier: l'événement avait les allures d'une messe farcie d'humour et de chaleur.
Quand, à 19h35 - avis aux retardataires -, Cohen est entré sur scène avec ses six musiciens et ses trois choristes vêtues à la garçonne, devinez qui trépidait le plus? Cohen est entré en sautillant, complet impeccable, chapeau sur la tête et main sur le cœur pour saluer la première des très nombreuses ovations qui lui ont été accordées.
«Ça fait 15 ans que je n'ai pas chanté ici. J'avais 60 ans. J'étais un gamin», a-t-il noté, soulignant au passage que «malgré les prix gonflés, j'espère que vous allez passer une bonne soirée».
Il a alors récité en français un passage de Dance Me to the End of Love avant de l'interpréter avec la même ferveur que si elle datait d'hier. Courbé, parfois même agenouillé devant son guitariste, Cohen chantait le plus souvent les genoux fléchis, avec une intensité qui ne se dément pas malgré les ans.
Et cette voix... Plus grave que la gravité peut l'être, plus profonde que le puits le plus abyssal. Juste à en faire peur pour un chanteur âgé de 73 ans, elle a survolé The Future et Bird on a Wire avec une aisance remarquable.
Plus que les mots, les arrangements somptueux de l'ensemble, soudé comme par un, et les livraisons nous ont rappelé à quel point Cohen est un compositeur aussi génial qu'un auteur incroyable.
Nous avons flotté avec In My Secret Life et été bercés avec la mirifique Take This Waltz comme vivant - tous - un bonheur inestimable.
Le Journal de Montréal
- June 24, 2008 by Philippe Rezzonico (Photo: Journal de Montréal - Benoît Pelosse)
Dance Me to the End of Love, he sang yesterday at the opening. As far back onstage in his hometown after 15 years of absence, fans were ready Leonard Cohen, too, to dance with him until the end of love and time.
It was not that the return of singer, poet, a child prodigy nor even the master of the prose and melody yesterday, the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier: the event had the appearance of a mass stuffed with humor and warmth.
When, at 19h35 - Notice to latecomers - Cohen is joined on stage with six musicians and three singers dressed the garçonne, guess who trépidait most? Cohen entered into hopping, complete impeccable, hat on his head and hand on heart to welcome the first of numerous standing ovations that have been granted.
"It's been 15 years since I have not sung here. I was 60 years. I was a kid, "he noted, pointing out in passing that" despite the inflated prices, I hope you will spend a good evening ".
He then recited a passage from a french Dance Me to the End of Love before interpret with the same fervor as if it dated yesterday. Bent, sometimes even kneeling in front of his guitarist, Cohen sang mostly knees bent, with an intensity that shows no sign of abating despite years.
And that voice ... More serious than the gravity may be deeper than the wells most abyssal. Just a scare for a singer aged 73 years, she overflew The Future and Bird on a Wire with remarkable ease.
More than words, the sumptuous arrangements of all, as if by a welded, and deliveries have reminded us how Cohen is a brilliant composer also an author unbelievable.
We float with In My Secret Life and been rocked with mirifique Take This Waltz as living - all - an invaluable happiness.
La Presse
- June 25, 2008 by Alain Brunet (Photo: Martin Chamberland, La Presse)
En 1993, Leonard Cohen avait donné au Forum une jolie performance de crooner littéraire. À mon sens, seul l'effet de rareté (un spectacle en 15 ans) avait rendu la chose mémorable. Paradoxalement, ses récents problèmes financiers auraient-ils été providentiels pour sa créativité et le ravissement de ses fans? Qu'importe, son retour sur scène s'avère tout simplement éblouissant.
En fait, ce que Leonard Cohen offre à son public dans le cadre de sa nouvelle tournée s'avère clairement supérieur à sa performance de 1993 - à laquelle j'avais assisté. Sa voix, que l'on croyait réduite à quelque retranchement dans le registre grave, a repris vie. L'instrumentation dont il fait usage sur scène est idéale, à quelques exceptions près - certains claviers synthétiques dont il a abusé par le passé, pour citer un des rares exemples.
Au service de Cohen et de son immense répertoire, un orchestre de six musiciens et trois choristes mêle avantageusement les genres: inflexions juives et tziganes d'Europe de l'Est, compléments méditerranéens (grecs, par exemple) et autres croisements imaginés au terminus de l'Occident se fondent ainsi dans le folk, le blues, la soul ou le gospel ayant germé en Amérique.
Dans le cas qui nous occupe, l'habit fait ici le moine: le complet anthracite et le feutre gris de Cohen ne sont pas sans rappeler cette élégance modeste des immigrants juifs du siècle précédent. À plusieurs reprises, il lèvera son chapeau et congratulera son public comme ses musiciens. Voilà qui coiffe l'identité du septuagénaire, parfaitement assumée.
Permettons-nous d'insister: ce à quoi nous avons eu droit (hier et lundi) à la salle Wilfrid-Pelletier tient du rêve, de l'échange idéal entre un public fidèle et un grand artiste revenu dans sa ville natale dont il incarne si bien le brassage des cultures. La réception survoltée de ses fans n'était-elle pas en soi une pièce d'anthologie? Aurait-on battu des records d'ovations?
«Fais-moi danser jusqu'au bout de l'amour» a-t-il récité en français, traduisant quelques rimes de sa première chanson au menu: Dance Me to the End of Love. L'accueil a été délirant dès son apparition sur scène, l'émotion n'a cessé de fréquenter des paroxysmes pendant ces trois heures de récital. À maintes reprises, on a vu un Cohen sincèrement touché par son public issu des "solitudes" montréalaises (anglo, franco, juive, etc.) telles qu'il les a vécues en grandissant dans cette île.
«Merci Montréal malgré les prix gonflés», a-t-il échappé non sans humour, avant d'entonner la prophétique The Future, qui évoquait en 1992 (année de sa création) un chaos alors insoupçonné au lendemain de l'effondrement d'un ordre mondial tel qu'on l'avait connu depuis la Seconde Guerre.
«Il y a 14 ou 15 ans, la dernière fois que je suis monté sur scène, je n'étais qu'un gamin de 60 ans avec des rêves fous. Depuis, j'ai pris beaucoup de Prozac, étudié la philosophie et les religions, observé une diversité de cas psycho-socio-politiques... Et je puis dire sans crainte de contradiction qu'il n'y a pas de remède pour l'amour». Ain't No Cure For Love, a-t-il enchaîné devant une toile soul et gospelisante.
Genoux fléchis, épaules voûtées, recueilli, il enveloppe son micro de son aura, cueille au passage les ondes les plus clémentes pour les redistribuer à ses ouailles. Plus que généreusement, il puise dans un répertoire qui tient du trésor national. Bird on the Wire façon gospel blues, Everybody Knows servie en marche pop aux effluves country, puis un air entonné avec sa choriste principale et coauteure sur ses deux derniers albums, Sharon Robinson: I smile when I'm angry/I cheat and I lie/I do what I have to do... Voilà Who By Fire, superbe plongée dans la nature humaine comme il y en aura tant d'autres pendant toute la durée de cette soirée. On se rend à l'entracte notamment avec Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye et Take This Waltz, inspirée d'un poème de Federico Garcia Lorca. Car il est aussi question de poésie dans ce récital: en français comme en anglais, les mots sont souvent dits avant d'être chantés, la puissance d'envoûtement s'en trouve accrue.
Après l'entracte, on aura droit à l'autodérisoire et bluesy-kitch Tower of Song, émaillée d'un solo minimaliste du chanteur au clavier. «Vous êtes très généreux», déclare notre pince-sans-rire à la foule qui vient d'applaudir candidement sa performance. La chanson se terminera sur une pissante dissertation de son auteur sur le «ouh dam dam» chanté par les choristes. Bien sûr, la seconde partie du récital regorgera d'incontournables: Suzanne, Avalanche, I'm Your Man, A Thousand Kisses Deep, Anthem... Hallelujah, une des plus reprises de son répertoire (kd lang il y a quelques semaines à peine), déchaînera carrément l'auditoire.
Au début d'une série de neuf rappels, notre Leonard se sera fait rassurant «On n'est pas pressés». Effectivement: So Long Marianne, First We Take Manhattan, Sisters of Mercy, Closing Time, Famous Blue Raincoat, I Tried To Leave You, entre autres, le tout coiffé d'un chant a cappella (Wither Thougoest, tiré de l'Ancien Testament) et d'une strophe traditionnelle exprimée en français: «Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai.»
La Presse
- June 25, 2008 by Alain Brunet (Photo: Martin Chamberland, La Presse)
In 1993, Leonard Cohen gave the Forum a nice performance crooner literary. In my view, only the effect of scarcity (a show in 15 years) had made it memorable. Paradoxically, its recent financial problems, have been providential for his creativity and the delight of his fans? Regardless, his return on stage is simply dazzling.
In fact, what Leonard Cohen offers its audience in its new tour is clearly higher than its 1993 performance - which I attended. His voice, which is believed reduced to some retrenchment in the register serious, life has resumed. The instrumentation which he used on stage is ideal, with some exceptions - some synthetic keyboards which he abused in the past, to cite a few examples.
Serving Cohen and his vast repertoire, a band of six musicians and three singers advantageously combines genres: inflections Jewish and Roma of Eastern Europe, complements the Mediterranean (Greece, for example) and other crossings imagined the terminus the West and are based on folk, blues, soul or gospel have sprouted in America.
In this case, the habit here is the monk: the complete and anthracite gray felt Cohen are not recall this modest elegance of Jewish immigrants from the previous century. On several occasions he will lift his hat and congratulera his audience as his musicians. That cap the identity of septuagénaire perfectly assumed.
Let us insist: what we got right (yesterday and Monday) at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier wishes of the dream, the ideal exchange between a loyal following and a great artist returned to his hometown which he embodies so the mixing of cultures. The reception survoltée its fans it was not in itself a piece of anthology? Could it broke records ovations?
"Give me dancing until the end of love," he recited in french, reflecting a few rhymes of his first song to the menu: Dance Me to the End of Love. The reception was delirious from his appearance on stage, the emotion has ceased to attend paroxysms over the three-hour recital. Repeatedly, we saw a Cohen sincerely touched by his audience from "loneliness" Montreal (English, French, Jewish, etc..) Such that he experienced growing up in this island.
"Thank you Montreal despite the inflated prices," he escaped not without humour, before sing the prophetic The Future, which referred in 1992 (the year of its creation) then unsuspected chaos following the collapse of an order World as it had experienced since the Second War.
"There are 14 or 15 years, the last time I went up on stage, I was a kid 60 years with crazy dreams. Since then, I took a lot of Prozac, studied philosophy and religions, observed a variety of cases psycho-socio-political ... And I can say without fear of contradiction that there is no cure for love ". Is not No Cure For Love, he chained to a canvas and soul gospelisante.
Knees bent, shoulders arched, collected, wrapping his microphone its aura, picking the waves passing the most lenient for redistribution to his flock. More than generously, it draws from a directory that holds the national treasure. Bird on the Wire a gospel blues, Everybody Knows served up pop the smell country, then an aria sung with his main vocalist and co-author on her last two albums, Sharon Robinson: I smile when I'm angry / I cheat and I lie / I do what I have to do ... So Who By Fire, superb diving in human nature as there will be many others throughout the evening. It went to the intermission including Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye and Take This Waltz, inspired by a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca. It is also about poetry recital in this: in french and english, words are often said to be sung before, the power of bewitchment is being increased.
After intermission, we will have the right to autodérisoire and bluesy-kitch Tower of Song, enamelled a solo singer minimalist keyboard. "You are very generous," says our deadpan to the crowd just candidly applaud his performance. The song ends on a dissertation pissante of its author on "ouh dam dam" sung by the choir. Of course, the second part of a recital of regorgera inescapable: Suzanne, Avalanche, I'm Your Man, A Thousand Kisses Deep, Anthem ... Hallelujah, one of the best times of her repertoire (kd lang ago just a few weeks), déchaînera squarely the audience.
At the beginning of a series of nine reminders, our Leonard will have been reassuring "There is no hurry." Indeed: So Long Marianne, First We Take Manhattan, Sisters of Mercy, Closing Time, Famous Blue Raincoat, I Tried To Leave You, among others, all wearing a song a cappella (Wither Thougoest, from the Old Testament ) And a traditional verse expressed in french: "A long time ago that I love you, I can never forget."
With just 15 minutes to showtime, some of Leonard Cohen's most devoted fans streamed toward Place des Arts last night, eager to welcome one of Montreal's biggest legends back to the stage after a 15-year absence.
"I think he's an icon everywhere," said Christian Norton, who celebrated his 30th birthday at the concert.
Even so, Cohen is perhaps most celebrated in his hometown, where old friends and neighbours gathered to revel in the talent of one of their own.
At 85, Gwen Berkowitz had been waiting a lifetime to see a live performance by the man whose poetry and music helped to define her life.
"He was such a break from the traditional religious Jewish culture that when he started we all ran to him," she said.
Berkowitz was accompanied by friends Lori Calman, 56, and Liselotte Fisher, 89, who used to live next door to Cohen on Vendôme Ave.
"That monotonous voice of his is wonderful," Calman said. "I'm one of the '60s generation - and he was out there."
Long-time fan Bob Antonyk also grew up in Cohen's neighbourhood.
"He'd sit outside and play with Jesse Winchester, and Mordecai Richler used to hang out there," he said. Antonyk, 57, lined up at dawn to get second-row, centre-of-house tickets the morning they went on sale.
"I think Quebecers, they love romance, they love sensuality," said Antonyk, who attended the show with his wife, Lesley, 55. "I like his moves and his music. If you're open to it, you get absorbed in it - it's pretty incredible."
Inside, the concert hall quickly filled to capacity. Latecomers scurried to their seats as houselights faded and the band assembled. Suddenly and without fanfare, a stylish figure in a dark suit and fedora sauntered to centre stage. With a deafening roar, the audience stood and saluted the man who helped Montreal find its soul.
Burlington Free Press
- June 26, 2008 by Brent Hallenbeck (Photo: Aaron Harris, The Canadian Press via AP)
MONTREAL — There are a couple of big differences between the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the recently concluded Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. One glaring one I gleaned from my visit to Montreal on Tuesday was how disruptive the festival is; three normally hectic blocks of St. Catherine Street and various side streets are blocked off from traffic with stages that will feature outdoor music to complement the big-name indoor shows for the next 11 days. It’s a great time to be a music fan in Montreal, but not such a great time to be a driver.
The other big difference is that Burlington’s festival is pretty much a jazz-purist’s dream, while Montreal’s offers an almost even mix of jazz stars and musicians from other genres. That’s how I came to see recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Leonard Cohen play the second of three “pre-opening” jazz-fest shows at Place des Arts.
Cohen is a Montreal native and one of the best songwriters in rock history. I learned years ago when I was in college what he meant to his hometown when I went to a concert by one of my favorite songwriters, Lloyd Cole, at the old Spectrum a little farther east on St. Catherine. The Scottish singer name-dropped Cohen in the song “Speedboat” and the crowd went wild with love for its local hero. I wasn’t into Cohen at the time, but over the years I heard covers of his tunes by Cole and other musicians I dig, all of whom helped open my eyes and ears to Cohen’s amazingly deep, perceptive songs.
Cohen hadn’t played his hometown in 15 years; he shuns the limelight, and he spent years at a Buddhist retreat in California. The three sold-out shows in Montreal this week demonstrate that his return was long overdue, as did the raucous standing ovation Tuesday that welcomed the always dapper Cohen.
Wearing a suit and fedora, the normally English-speaking Cohen greeted the crowd in French with something I understood (“Merci”) and something I didn’t. A woman sitting to my left who had struck up a conversation with me before the show knew I didn’t speak French and translated what he said: “In spite of the high prices” — tickets went for as much as $225 — “I hope you won’t be disappointed.”
There were no signs of disappointment from the moment he and his nine-member band opened with “Dance Me to the End of Love.” Cohen’s songs of old were sparse but intense; with the full band they blossomed to lush and energetic. His voice, which in the ’60s and ’70s was a sometimes flat combination of Paul Simon’s quiet pensiveness and Lou Reed’s street sense, has evolved into an imperfect but booming baritone that adds contour to his already rich songs.
At the end of his first song, Cohen doffed his hat and bowed — a move he repeated all night — and the crowd cheered loudly — something they repeated all night. An evening that was partly about nostalgia but mostly about the thrill of watching a vital performer was on.
It’s one thing to hear Cohen sing about regret and apology in “Bird On A Wire” recorded as a 30-something, but to hear him sing on stage as a 73-year-old “Like a beast with his horn/I have torn everyone who has reached out to me,” the words veer from self-pity toward mature reflection upon a life not always well lived. Hunched over his hand-held microphone, the brim of his fedora obscuring his eyes, his mysteriously aloof stance relayed the edgy cynicism of “Everybody Knows” (“Everybody knows you’ve been faithful/Give or take a night or two/Everybody knows you’ve been discreet/But there were people you just had to meet/Without your clothes/Everybody knows”).
He concluded the first set with the lovely, soaring “Anthem.” The key couplet is “There is a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in,” which crystallizes his bleak outlook tempered with love and optimism. If he’s an embittered cynic at times, it’s only because he wants things to be the way they should be, beautiful. The woman sitting to my right, who works for a French-speaking entertainment publication in Montreal, told me as much during intermission. There’s a beauty in despair, she said, and the beauty in Cohen’s songs makes her cry.
Early in the second set Cohen bent down on one knee as he began singing “Hallelujah,” arguably his masterpiece and my leading candidate for the most beautiful song ever written. I’ve heard a lot of great versions of this song — Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, Brandi Carlile and John Cale have all masterfully covered this complex song of love and sex — but to hear the man who created it sing lines like “Love is not some victory march/It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah” so passionately was one of those powerful concert moments I’ll always treasure; the extended ovation after the song indicated I’m not the only one.
Near the end of the show he recited a sad, romantic poem, “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” over only a light riff supplied by keyboard player Neil Larsen. The woman to my right, the one who said Cohen’s songs make her cry, was sniffling the whole time. During the encore, when Cohen and backing singers Charley and Hattie Webb delivered the similarly aching “If It Be Your Will,” the woman to my left, the one who helped me translate Cohen’s French greeting, was dabbing her eyes.
The beauty of despair.
He concluded his nearly three hours of music by thanking the crowd for the night and for “the many years you’ve kept my songs alive.” The crowd spent the night thanking him enthusiastically for putting so much life in those songs in the first place.
The Montreal International Jazz Festival hadn't even officially started, and the feeling was that it had already peaked, that it was a roaring success. Leonard Cohen slew in his three sold-out shows in Place des Arts last Monday through Wednesday, and if the jazz-fest powers-that-be could have hooked up with the papal powers-that-be and assigned sainthood on this country's - hey, probably this planet's - most gifted Jewish-Buddhist poet-balladeer, that would have been done, too. As it was, jazz-fest topper André Ménard handed Cohen's son Adam the festival's highest honour he could, the Montreal International Jazz Festival Spirit Award, with instructions to pass it on to his pop.
Cohen Sr. was back in Europe on Thursday night, continuing his world-wide tour, and was thus unable to attend the outdoor Lenny Love-In, which officially kicked off the jazz fest and attracted an array of songsters, like Adam, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Zachary Richard and Michel Pagliaro, to pay musical homage to him. The scene in front of Place des Arts was transformed into a shrine as thousands and thousands of Montrealers showed up to pay their respects to a native Montrealer, even if the only glimpse they caught of Cohen was on a giant video screen. Like the Place des Arts shows, the outdoor spectacle was as close to a religious experience as you'll find outside of a chapel - and without need for additional stimulants and intoxicants.
Lenny, could you feel all that love, even from England?
Must admit I was a little - nay, a lot - skeptical when word first surfaced from the Hallelujah trail at Place des Arts on Monday about the first of Cohen's shows. Hell ... sorry ... heck, the man hadn't performed on stage in 15 years. And even then, though his words resonated, his voice was on the fragile side. And, oh yeah, he is 73 years old, an age where his contemporaries are singing the praises of Metamucil not Marianne.
After Tuesday night's performance, yet more were converted to the Cohen cause. Some of my most cynical, albeit musically knowledgeable, cronies went on to marvel that the Cohen concerts were among the best they had ever witnessed, and three ranked it best ever.
They insisted they had never been so moved - without benefit of stimulants or intoxicants. They called it euphoric. They laughed, they cried, they didn't want to leave the hall - even after this marathon three-hour gig.
And so I was double-dared to take in Cohen's last show Wednesday. Now I'm a believer. The show was magic. The man is magic. Magicians and, indeed, all performers could have learned something from this dapper gent in the double-breasted suit and sporting a fedora.
Cohen has had his share of well-reported financial woes in recent years, but this show was nothing about mailing it in and picking up the bucks to pay the bills and build up the nest-egg again. The show was masterfully conceived and executed. The man was elegant and gracious, but, most important of all, he was able to evoke the power of words in an age when words are getting increasingly short shrift.
But while the poet illuminated the stage, so did the troubadour. Cohen's voice never sounded sharper and more passionate. He did virtually all the Cohen songbook, and he never faltered.
Unlike some of the planet's great poet-troubadours - hello Bob Dylan - Cohen communicates with his audience. He has an endearing self-deprecatory touch: "I was born with the gift of a golden voice" or "I studied religions and philosophies, but cheerfulness kept breaking through." And how 'bout this confession from the ladies' man: "I ache in places where I used to play." But as he went on to add: "I'm still crazy about love." That love obviously works both ways.
Jazz-fest boss Ménard was blown away: "This is by far the best show we've ever done at the festival. It's as close to perfection as any show I've ever seen. It will stand up forever. It will also be a tough act to follow, so good luck to the other performers."
This adulation is not unique to Montreal. Cohen's manager Robert Kory reports that it's been a love-in wherever Cohen has played in this tour, which kicked off May 11 in Fredericton. "There is no question that he has been rejuvenated," Kory says. "There's something to be said for his living a wholesome existence in a mountain retreat in California all these years."
Cohen has fans on every corner of the planet. And he goes to places most acts avoid. He played to two sell-crowds in Glace Bay, N.S. And he will play to a sellout crowd of 20,000 in Oslo.
Montreal impresario Rubin Fogel co-promoted 17 of Cohen's shows, in Atlantic Canada as well as in Chicoutimi and Kitchener. Fogel, like Ménard, has seen some of the greatest acts on the planet, but he, too, has never felt like this before. "Without a doubt, it's the most incredible experience in music I've ever had. Every show he did began with standing ovations, followed by smiles, tears and more standing ovations. I've never seen a performer touch so many diverse audiences like he does. He seeks perfection and achieves it. He also happens to be one of the most incredible humans I've ever met. That's what it's all about."
Fogel recounts an incident in Kitchener earlier this month. He saw Cohen carrying a plastic bag. "He was heading off to a laundromat with his keyboard player and back-up singers," Fogel recalls. "He wouldn't ever ask someone else to do his laundry, yet he probably would have done all the band's laundry if they had asked.Unlike almost every star, he stays in the same places as his band, he eats what they eat, he travels the same way. He gives himself no preferential treatment. He's truly a mensch."
Buzz on the street is that this mensch might return to town for more gigs when the tour moves back on this side of the pond. If so, bookers might consider a bigger room. St. Joseph's Oratory?
Wonderful review by Bill Bernstein and amazing photos by Allan LaCroix from Leonard's Montreal concerts on The Leonard Cohen Files.
Blog - "Angelic Eye for the Gendered-Species Individual" - "Leonard Cohen, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts, Montreal, June 25 2008" There was so much love, and joy, and passion in this, and also such consummate skill, in making it all perfect and effortlessly perfect at that. I can't think of a better concert I have been to...
Blog - "Words are only words but we turn them into gifts... then we seem confused as their meaning slowly shifts" - "Leonard Cohen in Montreal - 6/23/08" I've seen him perform many times before. He was always great. But it's nice to see him smile at last. Thanks Leonard.
Blog - Darkness At The End Of The Tunnel - "Home Town Boy Leonard Cohen Surrenders to Love" And the songs. Think of your favourite, he played it. Most true to the versions we know from his albums, but with the
passion that can only come from a live performance...
Blog - Dr Roy's Thoughts - "Leonard Cohen" It was one of the best concerts I have ever attended...
An exuberant crowd greeted Cohen with a standing ovation, yelling and whistling as soon as the singer sauntered on stage with a sparkling smile.
