Tour Reviews and Other Memories from
LEONARD COHEN WORLD TOUR Spring 2009
April 19
Vancouver, BC
General Motors Place
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Set List for April 19
The Vancouver Sun review & photo
The Province (Vancouver) review & photos
Globe and Mail (Toronto) review
HELLO! review & photo
Vancouver Free Press review & photo
The Epoch Times review
Fan reports
Youtube
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April 21
Victoria, BC
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
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Set List for April 21
Victoria Times Colonist review
Victoria Times Colonist review
Fan reports
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April 23
Seattle, Washington
WaMu Theater
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Set List for April 23
The Seattle Times review
Seattle Weekly review & photos
KEXP 90.3 review & photos
Youtube
Fan reports
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April 25
Edmonton, Alberta
Rexall Place
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Set List for April 23
Edmonton Sun review
The Edmonton Journal review & photos
Vue Weekly review
Youtube
Fan reports
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Vancouver, BC
Set List - April 19, 2009
First Set
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
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Democracy
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest
Vancouver, BC
Leonard Cohen concert nothing short of a religious experience
The Vancouver Sun - April 19, 2009 by Elaine Corden (Photo: Stuart Davis)
Leonard Cohen
Sunday night at GM Place
It is said that a good critic must fully disclose their biases before endeavoring to write about a subject.
And so, if I may be so humble as to out myself forth as a critic before my idol, let me disclose: Leonard Cohen makes me swoon.
It was a dog-eared copy of “Spice Box of the Earth” that first allowed your correspondent to transcend from a fifth grade nothing to a proudly eccentric little bookworm, her already bookish disposition opened up to a world beyond Judy Blume.
It was, as well, the first drop-D chord of “Famous Blue Raincoat” that allowed a musically minded little girl to understand that music allowed more pleasures than a hum-able hook. And, delving deeper, if you’ll permit, it was the gorgeous “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” that gave dignity to that girl as she grew older, with Cohen’s holy writ “We are ugly/but we have the music” serving as the salve to the many wounds that would be inflicted on an awkward teenaged heart.
All this is by way of saying: Sunday night at GM Place, Cohen, could have come onstage, perhaps smoked a Gitane, exhaled an elegant sigh and then left, and he still would have earned a glowing review.
Fortunately, the “grocer of despair” as some have called him, did much more than just show up and play the role of Leonard Cohen, The 74-year-old, on his first tour in 15 years gave a concert that was nothing short of a religious experience.
Backed by an incredibly gifted band comprised of at least nine members, Cohen came onstage to a standing ovation from a packed house. The silhouette- Cohen clad in an immaculate black suit and matching fedora pulled down to just the right angle, was striking from the beginning and for many in the audience it was as if a character has stepped off the page of a novel.
Beginning with the gorgeous waltz of “Dance Me to the End of Love”, it was apparent right away that Cohen is a man acutely aware of his stature, but not content to stand solely upon it. Yes, there he was, on stage, all bass voiced and suave, but what’s more, he was so incredibly present as a performer that it was impossible to do anything but savour his performance. His left hand clutching the microphone like a confident, and his right elegantly aloft, index and middle finger spread as it holding a cigarette, Cohen transcended self-caricature by actually delivering the goods.
His voice was in as good of shape as it’s every been, and so, seemingly, was the man as a whole. Kneeling to the ground for the spooky macabre of “The Future”, his gray hair hidden beneath his hat, it was hard to believe that the man onstage was born before the Second World War.
While Cohen may have a reputation as a peddler of gloom, the actually beauty of his artwork is a barely contained joy beneath the patina of world-weariness. The man who has lived over seven decades understands that underneath the painful tapestry of heartache, beauty and sorrow that comprise so much of life is a deep and bottomless well of laughter — one he draws on for moments of levity when things become too intense (his backup singers performing cartwheels during “The Future being a prime example.)
There were, really, too many highlights to count on the evening, and Cohen is far too gifted a writer, too wholly lyrical a man, to heap praise onto haphazadly. You could either grapple for verbose metaphors or hold the lump in your throat as he took the audience back and forth from the uncommonly holy to the commonly sensuous, his eyes occasionally catching the light under the brim of the fedora as he stared at the heavens, a smile playing on his lips, a true artist, who at 74, somehow magically seemed in the prime of his life.
Vancouver, BC
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen still the best
The Province (Vancouver) - April 19, 2009 by Stuart Derdeyn (Photos: Ric Ernst)
There aren't many shows that begin with a standing ovation before a thing is said or a note struck.
But there is only one Leonard Cohen.
Sunday evening, the man from Montreal gave all more than enough reason to stand up and shout.
In what will be a hard concert to challenge for show of the year, Cohen and his razor-sharp nine piece band brought the poet/singer's entire career into sharp view.
To say the set was exceptional is understatement.
He literally re-invented classics like "Who By Fire" and "Bird On a Wire."
He did it with such utter command of the material too; it really is him in all of those amazing turns of phrase.
Even in prophetic tracks like "The Future," you can clearly tell that - to some degee - he's lived through every line.
With the sound mix as fine, or better, than top quality home stereo each added bit of inflection he put on a particular line such as the oft-mentioned "I'm the little Jew who wrote the bible" was soaked up by the crowd.
Truth is, he could've stood on stage and just talked crap in that utterly dreamy deep, dulcet-toned voice.
It's not every septuagenarian who can sing about "needing you naked" without even a whiff of it being nostalgic.
He means now and the message rang through loud and clear: I'm a sexy beast.
It helps to have that sort of instant persona when you talk as much as Cohen did; as in barely at all.
He just did his swaying side to side shuffle dance, hands raised up like a pugilist blocking blows, eyes shut tightly and sang his heart out.
The energy never flagged all night.
OK, there was an intermission between sets because, well, he needs to sell a lot of merchandise on this tour to recoup all those lost funds.
He deserves every penny. The man is a national treasure.
Vancouver, BC
Leonard Cohen mesmerizing
At GM Place in Vancouver on Sunday
From the moment he ran onto the stage to open his show Sunday night in Vancouver, Leonard Cohen had everyone's attention. He set the tone for the evening in his reverential attitude towards the spectacular six-piece band and trio of backing singers, often down on his knees, subjugating himself to their musicianship. The dapper 74-year-old was no less respectful to his audience, playing a generous set, speaking to them politely: "Thank you my friends," he responded more than once to the enthusiastic crowd.
The unhurriedness of the two-part show and the clarity of Cohen's lyrics, delivered with rapt conviction in that gravel-basin of a voice transcended the cavernous, impersonal surrounds of GM Place. Truly, it felt like Cohen was singing to each of us as individuals.
Like a preacher with a subversive message to deal, Cohen's poise and sheer concentration mesmerized: "Follow me," he might as well have said, because he held us in the palm of his hand.
Religion may be a serious business, but Cohen tempered it with his other passion: sex. There was nothing po-faced about this church. "If you want a lover, I'll do anything you want me to," he sang - the opening of I'm Your Man eliciting squeals of delight. "If you want a doctor, I'll examine every inch of you," he continued — and by the sounds of the audience reaction, he had more than a few willing bodies out there.
The aging troubadour was anything but precious about his advancing years, referring to his "old man's mask" and, in A Thousand Kisses, to the pointlessness of starting to work out at his time of life. He couldn't stifle a knowing giggle in the same piece when he opined: "You came to me this morning and handled me like meat/ You'd have to be a man to know how good that feels, how sweet."
The humility in his bearing spoke volumes about the man and his sense of self: he gave over Boogie Nights entirely to long-time collaborator and sultry singer, Sharon Robinson; and when he introduced and thanked his band, the sincerity was palpable. Each time there was an instrumental solo, Cohen stepped back from the spotlight and listened intently, his trademark Trilby held to his chest.
And the band was terrific, from the exquisite guitars of Barcelona's Javier Mas and Bob Metzger to the multi-talented Dino Soldo on a variety of woodwind.
"It's been a long time," Cohen said on playing Vancouver. "Maybe 15 years. I was 60 years old then: just a kid with a crazy dream. Since then, I've taken a lot of Prozac, Effexor, Ritalin … I also plunged into a rigorous study of religion and philosophy, but cheerfulness kept breaking through."
When he bounded back on stage for his final encore, some three hours after the first notes of the night, Cohen looked like he just might be able to carry it off for years yet.
"Thank you for such a memorable night," he said to a standing ovation. 'It's so good to be back in Canada."
And Canada, Mr. Cohen, is delighted to have you with us once more.
Vancouver, BC
Leonard Cohen captures weekend audiences
HELLO! - April 20, 2009 (Photo: Reuters)
After wowing hipsters at the Coachella music festival in Indio, California on Friday, musician Leonard Cohen made a triumphant return to Canada Sunday night where he captured the hearts of the many longtime fans gathered at Vancouver’s GM Place.
The 74-year-old is currently touring to showcase his latest album Live In London, a collection of 25 songs recorded during a 2008 performance at London's O2 Arena. Already the world tour has been garnering rave reviews with words like “magical” rolling off the tongues of fans and critics alike.
Last night’s Vancouver stop turned the vast space of GM Place into a very personal experience for those gathered to hear classic tunes such as 'I’m Your Man' and 'A Thousand Kisses', a trend sure to continue as Leonard plays venues across the country throughout April and May.
“It’s so good to be back in Canada,” Leonard said to a standing ovation from the awe-struck crowd.
Vancouver, BC
Leonard Cohen full of classy contradictions in Vancouver
Vancouver Free Press - April 20, 2009 by John Lucas (Photo: Rebecca Blissett)
At GM Place on Sunday, April 19
A whippet-thin septuagenarian clad in a two-piece suit and a bolo tie makes for an unlikely pop star, but that’s Leonard Cohen for you. The 74-year-old icon is a walking contradiction (and occasionally a skipping-around-the-stage contradiction), part beatific Zen monk and part Old Testament prophet of doom. The Montreal-born poet’s best work is seemingly best absorbed in dark-side-of-midnight moments of solitary contemplation, but it somehow comes across just fine in a hockey rink filled with enraptured fans.
Beyond the odd “Thank you, friends,” Cohen didn’t say much to his Vancouver audience. When he did talk, he told the same jokes that he used last summer when he played the O2 Arena, as many will discover when they crack the shrink wrap on the copies of Live in London they picked up at the merch booth. Not that a little recycled stage patter made much difference; Cohen speaks superbly through his songs, and during a show that clocked in at around three hours, he said plenty.
Backed by a crack band attired in variations on his own well-tailored outfit, Cohen delivered selections spanning most of his recording career. Over the decades since 1967’s Songs of Leonard Cohen, his voice has acquired depth both sonic and symbolic: it’s lower in tone, dipping into the bass-baritone range, but it also has a rich timbre suggestive of a life lived in pursuit of intangibles like truth and beauty. It was predictable, then, that the lines that generated the biggest whoops of appreciation were these from “Tower of Song”: “I was born like this, I had no choice/I was born with the gift of a golden voice.”
It’s funny, yes, because Cohen’s weathered croon is no one’s idea of a heavenly instrument, but it’s also true. Nobody can sing a Leonard Cohen like Leonard Cohen, which he proved with “Hallelujah”. Thanks to a seemingly endless stream of covers, that mid-’80s tune has become Cohen’s best-known song, even among those who have never heard him sing it. They should, because, at least on this occasion, the author’s version bests them all, sounding simultaneously carnal and divine, like two angels fucking. (And if you think I’m being needlessly vulgar, you clearly haven’t seen the picture on the sleeve of New Skin for the Old Ceremony.)
Mind you, it didn’t hurt Cohen’s case that he had Sharon Robinson and the Webb Sisters backing him with pitch-perfect midnight-mass vocal harmonies, or that keyboardist Neil Larsen’s swirling Hammond B3 sent the song’s chorus pealing through the stadium like a cathedral bell. Indeed, the supporting cast provided the evening with many of its highlights, with Cohen graciously stepping aside (and doffing his trilby) to give each member of his band a turn in the spotlight. Spanish multi-instrumentalist Javier Mas, for instance, displayed lightning-fast fretwork during a stunning laud solo that served as the intro to “Who By Fire”, providing an apt Middle Eastern touch to a song based on an ancient Jewish liturgical prayer. Later, Robinson took the lead vocal on a soulful “Boogie Street” (which she cowrote), and Charley and Hattie Webb gave the fatalistic “If It Be Your Will” the benefit of their impeccable duet singing.
Things were just as impressive when the focus was on Cohen himself, as during a shiver-inducing version of “The Partisan” and a simply haunting take on “Suzanne”. That Cohen can still uncover fresh layers of meaning in his own writing was evident in “The Future”: he punctuated the line “I’m the little Jew who wrote the Bible” with a chuckle, as if the lyric conveyed a joke that he was only just starting to get. It all goes to show, I suppose, that if you keep seeking after the aforementioned intangibles, you never stop learning, even from yourself. Cohen is abundantly aware of his advancing years; he even quipped of the last time he played Vancouver, about a decade-and-a-half ago, “I was 60 years old then; just a kid with a crazy dream.”
He said that in London, too. But so what? When someone delivers a show as deeply satisfying as this one was, he can get away with telling as many corny old jokes as he likes.
Vancouver, BC
Leonard Cohen Leaves Vancouver Audience Spellbound
The Epoch Times - April 20, 2009 by Ryan Moffatt
The magic is as strong as ever
Not many performers command a standing ovation before they play a single note. Leonard Cohen is one of the exceptions. As he walked onstage in a grey suit and fedora, the sold out crowd at Vancouver’s General Motors Place took to their feet to welcome the 74 year old singer/poet.
Backed by a nine piece band of virtuoso musicians, Leonard Cohen opened his three hour set with “Dance me to the end of Love”.
Radiating a surprising passion and energy the enigmatic poet seemed to be enjoying his time onstage and the unexpected adoration he has experienced on his latest tour. His gravelly voice a few octaves deeper than it was the last time he toured added an aged beauty and wisdom to his songs.
Apart from a little nimble dancing, Cohen sang with his eyes closed, head tilted skyward as if in prayer rather than song. Fitting, since his lyrics; laden with Christian imagery and love, are modern hymns for many of his fans. He didn’t say much throughout the performance and he really didn’t need to. When your songs carry as much weight as Cohen’s does there really isn’t much that needs to be said.
With a complete head of gray hair and all the outward signs of age he seemed spry and full of an energy that defied his 75 years. “It’s been fifteen years since I last was here,” quipped Cohen. “I was sixty then, just a kid with a crazy dream.”
The set list contained classic material like “Bird on a Wire”, “Suzanne”, “The Future” and ”I’m your Man” among many other vintage Cohen songs. His rendition of “Hallelujah”, complete with swirling Hammond organ in the background, was the best received and inspired a standing ovation of its own. This Cohen masterpiece has been covered by over 150 artists including Bono, Jeff Buckley and Willie Nelson, but no one can deliver its beautiful lyrics as well as the poet-master himself.
Garnering eighty 5-star reviews, Cohen’s tour has taken him to sold out shows across Canada, Europe and America. “It feels so good to be back in Canada,” said the Montreal native who has become Canada’s unofficial poet laureate to the love generation and beyond.
Since his release of Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) which included such songs as “Suzanne,” “Sisters of Mercy,” and “So Long, Marianne”, Cohen has charted a unique course that has waxed and waned with the seasons. From critical acclaim, loves lost and gained to becoming an ordained Buddhist monk he has always stood aloof with an old world sense of dignity that has made him timeless and always relevant. “I’ve spent the last few years in an intensive study of the religions of the world, but cheerfulness kept breaking through,” deadpanned Cohen in his self-deprecating, wry sense of humour.
Cohen embarked on his latest venture partly because of financial difficulties resulting from the alleged embezzlement of his savings by his former manager. If that was the impetus for hitting the road again it seems Cohen is genuinely enjoying the ride.
Much like Johnny Cash in his later years people are drawn to him because he is important and his influence on our modern culture is undeniable. There is nobody like him and there never will be. His songs and poetry are a source of national pride and after all it may be the last time that he will perform them; at least with this much vigour. The last time he took to the stage was 15 years ago and at that rate he will be ninety by the time he heads out on tour again.
It didn’t matter that Cohen gave such a fine performance, he could have mumbled a few words and left the stage and the majority of the crowd would have been happy to pay the ticket price all the same. As the audience took to the exits after the fifth encore there was a sense of gratitude that lingered. We got to see Leonard Cohen one last time.
“Anthem”
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
L.C.
Vancouver, BC
Blogs and Other Fan Reports
Blog - "BuenoStyle" - "The sublime lyrics of Leonard Cohen"
He brought me to tears more than once . . . during Hallelujah . . . during the spoken word piece 1000 Kisses Deep . . . and during If It Be Your Will with the divine Webb sisters singing angelic harmony...
Blog - "Girl in the world" - "Bird on a Wire"
He also did something I’ve never seen a performer do: he treated the musicians and crew with reverence. He introduced the band at least twice, and allowed several opportunities for each musician’s talents to be highlighted. He bowed to each member and thanked them with a sincerity that was returned...
Blog - "Wirearchy" - "'Cheerfulness Kept Breaking Through'"
He did not disappoint. 3+ solid hours of prophetic and touching poetry, arranged by and with superlative musicians, every note and arpeggio crystal clear...
Discuss the tour and read fan reviews on The Leonard Cohen Forum and in French on the Leonard Cohen Forum (French site).
Victoria, BC
Set List - April 21, 2009
First Set
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
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest
Victoria, BC
Review: Leonard Cohen remains a rare vintage
Paradoxically, in an age that genuflects at the shrine of youth, ol' man Cohen seems only to improve with age.
Leonard Cohen, now 74, played Victoria last night -- part of his first concert tour in 15 years.
At this winter phase of the venerable singer-songwriter's career, the event had a formal, even regal feel.
The Vancouver Sun touted his weekend show there as "nothing short of a religious experience."
In our city's sports/concert arena, it didn't quite seem the Second Coming. Still, the years have burnished this singer-songwriter favourably.
Even Cohen's famously froggy voice -- a monotonal baritone that twigs twitters in doubters and causes devotees to swoon -- seems to suit him better than ever. This resonant rumble, curiously intimate, jibes perfectly with his visage: the grey hair, weathered skin, eyes closed in rapt concentration.
Dressed in a natty black suit, bolo tie and fedora, he resembled someone's hip uncle transformed into alt rock star. Who else but Cohen -- a pop poet/sage who spent years in a Zen Buddhist monastery -- could pull this off?
He darted on stage shortly after 8 p.m., scoring an automatic standing ovation at what was clearly the Church of Leonard. The audience, plugged with long-time fans, was mostly 50 and up.
Backed by a crack nine-piece band, beautifully amplified, Cohen kicked off with Dance Me to the End of Love.
He delivered it on one knee, singing to his guitarist, hands cupping the microphone with low-key urgency.
What followed was a retrospective of a long, rich career. The Future, a murky paean to fascism, still provokes with its infamous phrase: "I've seen the future brother, it is murder."
Ain't No Cure for Love -- goosed along by Neil Larsen's tasteful Hammond B3 licks -- benefited especially from Cohen's cavernous voice, dipping salaciously deep for the line: "I need to see you naked in your body and your thought." Dino Soldo dished out jazz lite saxophone solos here and throughout. He's a competent session guy, but his sound was a little Kenny G for my taste.
Early standouts included Bird on a Wire. Cohen sang it with a focused intensity, taking off his hat reverentially during the sax break. Never one to chew scenery, Cohen seemed more William Burroughs beat prophet than a pop performer. But he did display a strong stage presence and a canny ability to make the most of his performing strengths, which seemed singular rather than limited.
Cohen lyrics are often bleak -- the world-weary despair of Everybody Knows, for instance, or the unsettling sexual compliance in I'm Your Man. Like Lyle Lovett or Elvis Costello, he loves dark ambiguities (typically, the narrator of Bird on a Wire tries to be free "like a worm on a hook"). Sometimes Cohen reveals a devilish humour. In Everybody Knows: "Everybody knows you've been faithful/Ah, give or take a night or two" (similar to Lovett's wife who "loves to lie beside me, almost every night").
While no chatterbox, Cohen did lob a few funny lines. "It's a great honour to play for you tonight," he said. "It's been about 15 years since I was singing in Victoria. I was about 60 years old, just a kid with a crazy dream."
The crowd responded when, during a more relaxed second set, he rejigged the lyrics of Hallelujah, singing, "I didn't come to Victoria to fool ya!" He also performed Tower of Song, Suzanne, I'm Your Man, Marianne and First We Take Manhattan.
Victoria, BC
National treasures just hitting their prime
Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot still make music on their own terms
You're going to write about the concert, right? It's the concert of the year. A religious experience. You must write about it, they said. A bunch of people at the concert, and afterward, all said they expected me to.
Well, I wasn't planning to write about Leonard Cohen. I wasn't even going to go. Then friends in Vancouver told me the concert on the Sunday night at GM Place was unbelievable, so I snagged a couple of late-breaking tickets and headed for a rare midweek trip to Victoria.
I also felt Adrian Chamberlain did a super review in the Times Colonist the next day, catching the spirit of the evening, leaving little to add. I'm in awe nowadays of fast-writing critics. The show finished after 11 p.m., yet he got all the main ingredients into the review, including the reference to Victoria in Hallellujah. Kudos to Mike Devlin for his review of the Killers too. These guys know how to write on deadline.
But first, let's talk about Gordon Lightfoot. Like Cohen, he is a bona fide singer-songwriting Canadian icon. And, like Cohen, he's getting on in years. Lightfoot is 70, Cohen 74. National treasures. And both beloved. They both also seem to be working out.
I saw Lightfoot in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. His hair is now long. He's rake thin. And he's not dead, which is a bonus. He almost died a few years back from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.
And he still has that voice. Mesmerizing, memorable. Remember Tears Are Not Enough, the Canadian song for Africa? The ensemble cast of singers included Neil Young, Anne Murray, Dan Hill, Bryan Adams, Tom Cochrane and Joni Mitchell. But the opening five words -- "As every day goes by" -- are sung by Lightfoot and they still send chills down your spine. Just five words.
His voice strains a bit to hit the high notes now. He still has terrible stage presence (I never have been able to work out why a man who can write such majestic lyrics as those that make up the Canadian Railroad Trilogy mumbles and shuffles and stumbles on stage. He sings and it's pure poetry; when he talks he's almost inarticulate. (He asked us if Nanaimo bars were really, you know, world famous. We couldn't tell if he was being funny or ironic or, well, just asking.)
His music is still fabulous. Not just the old songs, but here he is, at 70, continuing to write beautiful lyrics and create catchy tunes. I went because I thought I might never get to see him again, but also as a thank-you for the music over the years. He sang almost all my favourites, though he left out Did She Mention My Name? which is still one of the most beautifully understated songs ever written about small-town Canada (is the ice still on the river?).
He's forever Lightfoot. Cohen, however, has reinvented himself for this tour. Yes, at the core, he's still the poet-troubadour, still singing lyrics that are, in turns, spiritual and sexual, but he now wears a fedora and sharp suit, has a tight, awesome backup band and singers, and looks to be thoroughly enjoying himself.
He skipped onto the stage. He got a standing ovation before he sang a word. And then he sang, in a gravelly voice that -- like Lightfoot's -- is part of the fabric of our collective musical experience.
At the interval, I asked a guy selling T-shirts to show me the back, which lists tour dates. The tour, after Victoria, was headed to Seattle, then Alberta, to Chicago, to eastern Canada, to New York, then back to Europe, to England, Norway and Spain. He started the year in Australia. He's bopping around the world delivering three-hour concerts. Scores of them.
This is gruelling stuff. As we left the concert, a woman walking in front of me said to her friend, "I'm whipped. I don't know how he does it night after night." Me either. It was a superb shared experience. An evening few of us will ever forget.
The fact that Cohen can still fill large arenas around the world and deliver performances that honour the past but are contemporary and relevant, is nothing short of thrilling. The fact the other septuagenarian, Lightfoot, is creating new, exciting music, is reassuring.
It may be a cliché to suggest they're better than ever. Or that they're redefining what it means to be old. But they are. They both said it was an honour to perform for us. The privilege was all ours.
Victoria, BC
Blogs and Other Fan Reports
Blog - "In A Spacious Place" - "Leonard Cohen in Victoria"
...Having stirred our hearts for three and a half hours, Cohen skips nimbly from the stage. We move quietly, almost reverently out into the night, perhaps able to live more gently towards ourselves and more kindly towards those with whom we share the often painful journey that is our lives. His honesty has left the world a better place.
Discuss the tour and read fan reviews on The Leonard Cohen Forum and in French on the Leonard Cohen Forum (French site).
Seattle, Washington
Set List - April 23, 2009
First Set
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
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
Sisters of Mercy
If It Be Your Will
Democracy
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest
Seattle, Washington
Concert review | Troubadour Leonard Cohen delivers masterful WaMu show
Concert Review: Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen performed a masterful sold-out show in Seattle April 23 at WaMu Theater, demonstrating that the 74-year-old troubadour is the best interpreter of his own canon; review by Misha Berson.
He has not performed in Seattle in about 15 years, Leonard Cohen told his sold-out WaMu Theater crowd on Thursday. The last time was back when he was only 60, he cracked, and "just a crazy kid with a dream."
Cohen fans could not have dreamed of a more fulfilling, transporting return by the esteemed Canadian troubadour. With a luxuriant band and three backup singers, all of whom have accompanied him on his current world "comeback" tour, Cohen graciously welcomed the crowd into his "tower of song." And like a poet-shaman of old, he put us under a seamless, timeless musical trance that lasted more than three hours.
Now a spry 74, Cohen literally skipped onto the WaMu stage, to the strains of his rapturous love song, "Dance Me to the End of Time." Looking gangster-of-love sharp in his trademark black suit and rakish fedora (his band sported the same look), Cohen swirled us through the riches of his songbook — from the witty doomsday scenarios ("The End"), to the love ballads of heartbroken jubilations ("Ain't No Cure for Love"), to the incisive anthems ("Democracy") and haunting incantations ("Hallelujah").
Cushioning his "thousand kisses deep" voice (still a surprisingly sturdy basso rasp) were the musicians saluted repeatedly by the Buddhist-Jewish singer with warm praise, and reverential bows from the waist.
The band earned his love, with lush instrumental arrangements that brought out the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern flavor of Cohen's minor-key melodies. The work of Javier Mas, a Spanish virtuoso of such string instruments as the bandurria, and the snake-charming horn solos of Dino Soldo on a variety of horns, were especially savory. And the celestial harmonies of British sisters Charley and Hattie Webb, and vocal interplay of Sharon Robinson (co-composer of "The End" and other Cohen odes), were integral to the mix.
But the songs of human failing and transcendence Cohen has wrought over a lifetime could soar even without such fine embellishment. Marbled with biblical allusions and existential ironies, prayers and omens, apocalypse and celebration, sexual politics and political metaphysics, they are novellas and elegies and sermons on the mount.
And they're saved from pretentiousness by wit, and self-mockery, and sheer genius.
The complexity and erudition of Cohen's songs make most pop-music lyrics seem like nursery rhymes. "The dealer wants you thinkin' it's either black or white," he intoned. "Thank God it's not that simple, in my secret life."
Arguably, save Bob Dylan, no other pop bard has stockpiled three hours of material as profound, eloquent and enigmatic as what Cohen and company performed. But while he rose to fame in the 1960s alongside Dylan and others, the Montreal native was not shaped so much by folk Americana as by Beat poetics and the chansons of such French balladeer as Jacques Brel.
It was folkie diva Judy Collins who first popularized Cohen's songs ("Suzanne," "Famous Blue Raincoat") in the U.S. And when Cohen's debut album appeared in 1967, many listeners preferred Collins' prettier treatments of his tunes to his own craggy-voiced, string-drenched renditions.
But at WaMu, there was no doubt that the songwriter is now recognized as the definitive interpreter of his own canon. For eloquence and intimacy, his expressive voice-of-God delivery of such standards as "Bird on the Wire" could hardly be bested.
"Ring the bells, they still can ring / Forget your perfect offering," he sang. But on this concert tour, perhaps but hopefully not his last, Cohen's offering was as close to perfection as one dares to imagine.
Seattle, Washington
Leonard Cohen at WaMu Theater
Seattle Weekly - April 27, 2009 by Hannah Levin (Photos: Laura Musselman)
The reception Cohen received when he bounded (yes, bounded) out on stage almost immediately brought me to tears. The entire audience was instantly on its' feet, welcoming the 74 year-old legend with a degree of outward affection few artists could even imagine experiencing. Looking impressively fit and fiercely dapper in a precisely tailored black suit, charcoal shirt and sharp fedora, he launched immediately into "Dance Me to the Edge of Love."
With ample assistance from what appeared to be the most gracefully accomplished collection of backing musicians on the planet, Cohen delivered a masterful, 3 ½ hour set (with one brief intermission) that encompassed all the highlights of his mammoth catalog, including "Bird on Wire", "Everybody Knows", "Who By Fire", "Chelsea Hotel No. 2", "Suzanne", "Hallelujah", and "I'm Your Man."
Unsurprisingly, he was a consummate and gracious showman, poetically introducing his band (describing one guitarist as "the architect of the arpeggio") like a proud father and offering up between song banter so artful, I was certain I could just listen to an entire set of his spiritual musings. "I once turned to a rigorous study of philosophy and religion, but cheerfulness kept breaking through," he said during the break after "Waiting For a Miracle". It would be impossible to single out a highlight, but watching him wind his way through an epic encore that included "So Long Marianne", "First We Take Manhattan" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" and retaining enough chutzpah to dance off the stage in exactly the same manner he'd arrived was unforgettably heart warming.
Finally, it's worth noting that I've never been a huge fan (or much of a detractor) of WaMu Theater's qualities as a venue, but my indifferent position took an abrupt 180 that night. The sound was mixed meticulously, with every wisp of clarinet and flutter of harp placed precisely, while Cohen's vocals were right where they were supposed to be—magically enveloping the entire room and yet sounding like he was whispering into your ear. Granted, the regal aesthetic of the Paramount might have seemed like a more fitting choice for such an iconic treasure, but my hat's off to the team behind the Cohen show for engineering such a flawlessly executed production.
Seattle, Washington
Live Review: Leonard Cohen at WaMu Theater 4/23
KEXP 90.3 - May 1, 2009 by Jim Beckmann (Photos: Hilary Harris)
The past week in Seattle saw two historic and rare performances, both at the WaMu Theater, and both quite different from each other. This past Monday, My Bloody Valentine roared through the expansive venue with all the noise of a jet engine, albeit a sonically complex and layered one, touring after more than a dozen years of inactivity (check the review and photos here). But on the Thursday before, Leonard Cohen, the legendary Canadian songwriter-poet, took the same stage and performed like he hadn’t missed a beat since the last time he played Seattle 15 years ago, when he was “just a crazy kid with a dream” (he joked that he was just 60 at the time). Ably backed by a stylishly decked-out six-piece band, including the masterful Spanish guitarist Javier Mas and vocal harmonies by his writing partner Sharon Robinson and the Webb sisters, Cohen made up for lost time with a two set, three encore show. If you can think of a well known Leonard Cohen song, chances are he played it: “Chelsea Hotel,” “Bird On The Wire,” “Dance Me To The End Of Love,” “Waiting for the Miracle,” “Tower of Song,” “Hallelujah,” “Suzanne,” “Sisters of Mercy,” “Famous Blue Raincoat,” and so many others thrilled his long-time fans. Between those, he recited poetry, like “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” and stepped back to let Robinson and the Webb sisters take over on “Boogie Street” and “If It Be Your Will,” respectively. If anyone felt old during the nearly three hour concert, it was those audience members whose stamina surely paled in comparison to Cohen’s reserved but continual theatrics: his spry jog on and off stage for each set, his repeated kneeling before Mas’ inevitable guitar soloing, his suave hip-tilt/arm-pump combos and his sly boogying as he sang the line, “see the white man dancing,” during “The Future.” Cohen was as alluring as he’d ever been, and his voice, as impeccable — deep and rich, if not more so now. If there were any critiques to be made — like of the slightly dated quality of the instrumentation, time-stamped by an over-reliance on saxophone and Hammond organ — you can’t fault the musicianship of anyone on stage, as they all performed brilliantly. And Cohen made certain we were aware of it by generously championing each member at least once during each set. Joy was the theme of the night — of the musicians, of the audience, of Cohen himself — and seemed just as Cohen described in his introduction to “Anthem,” of how during the process of performing these songs, with their often emotionally beleaguered, weary or jaded nature, again and again “cheerfulness kept creeping through.” Finally, as he closed the third encore, after the humorously apt “I Tried to Leave You,” Cohen gave a final blessing on “Whither Thou Goest” and many of us left fulfilled by more than just a night of entertainment — but rather, by the entire career of one of rock’s most influential songwriters.
Seattle, Washington
Blogs and Other Fan Reports
Blog - "Frog Hospital" - "Leonard Cohen, the Entertainer"
It was wonderful. I knew he was a great singer and poet, but I discovered that he is a consummate entertainer as well. He really did it all...
Blog - "Citizen K." - "Leonard Cohen"
By the end of the evening, we were participants in an event that summoned forth a state of grace and conferred it on all there...
Discuss the tour and read fan reviews on The Leonard Cohen Forum and in French on the Leonard Cohen Forum (French site).
Edmonton, Alberta
Set List - April 25, 2009
First Set
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
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
Sisters of Mercy
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest
Edmonton, Alberta
Easy-going Cohen
Edmonton Sun - April 26, 2009 by Mike Ross
Legendary Canadian songsmith brings his signature hits to Rexall Place
Sometimes -- not very often -- rock lyrics can become poetry.
Compare and contrast the following: "The girl's got rhythm, the girl's got rhythm, she's got the backseat rhythm, the girl's got rhythm."
And now: "She's a hundred but she's wearing something tight."
Which one is poetry? Trick question -- they both are! But the rock 'n' roll poet we're concerned with today is author of the second line: Leonard Cohen, who delivered a "hit parade" of a very different sort to a nearly sold-out crowd at Rexall Place last night. It's not often you can hear yourself think during a concert at the local hockey arena. During the immaculate, quiet, yet intense show last night, that's exactly what we did as we hung on Len's every wise word - think.
Fans who greeted the 74-year-old basso profundo as if he were the Dalai Lama and William Shakespeare rolled into one were treated to pretty much every bit of Cohen they came for. We got love, we got death, we got the end of the world - and that's just the first song, Dance Me to the End of Love.
Impressive, isn't it? They don't call him "Canada's rock poet laureate" because it sounds cool.
The hit parade continued, ranging from fatalistic romance like There Ain't No Cure for Love to matter-of-fact pronouncements of doom like Everybody Knows. Old songs like Chelsea Hotel - with its adventures of beatnik love -were especially appreciated.
Dressed like pallbearers at a gangster's funeral, Cohen and his most excellent band calmly wandered through most of his well-known songs - filled with deft wordplay of biblical references, sly jokes and some of the most awesome pickup lines ever devised and delivered from this unlikely sex symbol. I've never observed fans listening this intently. Applause and knowing laughter erupted for well-known lyrics like "everybody knows the war is over, everybody knows the good guys lost" and "there's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."
Cohen's voice has gotten lower and even more raspy over the 15 or so years since he's been here, if such a thing can be imagined. I bet it's been 20 years since he could hit middle C. That unique voice, sometimes dropping to a gutteral rasp like a dying man's last words, was contrasted beautifully by the elegant arrangements, tasty accompaniments from a variety of exotic instruments and a trio of angelic backup singers. The overall effect was mesmerizing. Bonus points for the Cohenesque theatrics - like singing love songs on his knees to his amazing Spanish guitarist, or opening his second set by accompanying himself on somewhat of a bontempi organ.
The charming gentleman even managed to localize his patter, referring reverently to the ghosts of hockey within the arena.
"It's a great honour to play for you tonight," he said, "to play in this legendary place where the spirit of the Great One hovers."
There is a condition of depression that can result from reading too many Kurt Vonnegut novels - Vonnecholia - and similarly from being seduced by Leonard Cohen's artfully-expressed bleak world view. Some old people think the world's going to hell and nothing will ever be good again - they have been for generations - but when Cohen sings with authority, "I've seen the future, brother, and it is murder," it makes one pause. Maybe he's right, maybe we're all doomed. But as long as Leonard Cohen is here to remind us to laugh, sing, dance, have fun while we can, perhaps there is hope after all. As he sang, wisely, "Love is the only engine of survival."
This concludes our awesome week of Canadian Rock Legends. From Neil Young to this in two days represents two poles of craft of great songwriting. Now let the summer of dumb fun begin - and look forward to The Girl's Got Rhythm.
Conclusion --
An immaculate, quiet, intense display of musical magic from the deepest voice of Canadian rock - in more ways than one
Rating: Five out of five
Edmonton, Alberta
At 74, Leonard Cohen still our man
The Edmonton Journal - April 26, 2009 by Sandra Sperounes (Photos: Shaughn Butts)
LEONARD COHEN
When: Saturday
Where: Rexall Place
- - -
Hallelujah!
What else is there to say after three magical hours in the presence of Canadian poet, spiritualist and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen?
The Montreal native had thousands of fans -- no official attendance figure was given -- spellbound by his raspy vocals, philosophical lyrics and immaculate pop arrangements on Saturday night at Rexall Place.
"Thank you very much, friends," he whispered to the crowd of mostly older men and women. "It's a great honour to play for you tonight, to play in this legendary place where the spirit of the Great One hovers."
Forget Gretzky -- Cohen was the Great One on this night.
Accompanied by his all-star team of six musicians and three female backup singers, he climbed his tower of song -- starting with Dance Me To the End of Love, The Future, and an '80s R&B rendition of Ain't No Cure for Love, accented by Dino Soldo's saxophone.
"I'm aching for you baby," Cohen crooned, prompting more than a few appreciative cheers from his female fans.
Bird on the Wire was next, lifted by the gentle twang of a guitar, followed by ghostly versions of Everybody Knows and In My Secret Life, and a tour de force rendition of Who By Fire, featuring harp, standup bass, Hammond B3 organ and the flutters of a Moroccan/Spanish guitar.
Cohen's show capped off an extraordinary month for fans of Canadian music history. April didn't bring us a lot of showers, but we were treated to sets by Gordon Lightfoot, Diana Krall and Neil Young.
Unlike Winnipeg's godfather of grunge, who looked like a beer-swilling recluse with rusted-out cars in his backyard, Cohen was the consummate sophisticate.
Clad in a suit and hat, the 74-year-old rhapsodized about love, religion and sex -- "naked" is a frequent word in his tunes -- and showed off his spryness.
He jogged on stage -- earning the first of many standing ovations -- then gently shimmied around during his set. He often crouched at the start of his songs or bent down on one knee to serenade Javier Mas's guitar or bandurria.
Cohen also chatted intermittently to the crowd -- Young barely said a word at his recent Rexall show -- and even if he repeated the same lines at previous concerts, they still sounded fresh and sincere.
"I was 60 years old ... just a crazy kid with a dream," he reminisced about his last Edmonton show in 1993, garnering hearty laughs from his fans.
His two sets and encores didn't deviate greatly from his Live in London DVD -- or other shows on his tour -- but there's no substitute for watching the real deal bring his fans to tears with Hallelujah or singing Sisters of Mercy in the city where it was written more than 40 years ago.
Even in a hockey arena, Cohen was able to convey a feeling of intimacy -- whether it was with his tastefully warm lighting or the way he cupped one of his hands around his microphone, as if he were gently whispering sweet nothings into his lover's ear.
"You wouldn't like it here / There's not much entertainment," he confessed on Waiting for the Miracle. "And the critics are severe."
Not this time.
Edmonton, Alberta
VueFinder: Leonard Cohen - Hey, that's no way to say goodbye
Vue Weekly - April 30, 2009 by Bryan Birtles
In a way that still seems impossible days after the fact, the usually raucous Rexall Place was turned into a cathedral on Saturday, April 25, 2009. In a space that can hold 17 000, the city's largest concert venue also became its most intimate, as 74-year-old Canadian legend Leonard Cohen took the stage as part of his first concert tour in 15 years. Growling out lyrics about God, love and sex with a thrust that would befit a much younger man, Cohen's lively stage presence and sharp wit held up for over three hours as he knelt, skipped, boogied and joked with the crowd. Though the performance itself was awe-inspiring and is nearly impossible to sum up, the most sublime moments of the entire concert were the ones where everyone else stopped existing, where it seemed as though you were alone in a small room, everything was quiet and all you were doing was listening.
Edmonton, Alberta
Blogs and Other Fan Reports
Blog - "Live Journal - raptortheangel" - "Awesome Weekend"
Then we went out to the Leonard Cohen concert. And oh boy, it was AMAZING. Probably one of the best shows I've ever seen...
Discuss the tour and read fan reviews on The Leonard Cohen Forum and in French on the Leonard Cohen Forum (French site).
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