Tour Reviews and Other Memories from
LEONARD COHEN WORLD TOUR Summer 2010
November 30, 2010
Victoria, BC, Canada
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
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Set List for November 30
Vancouver Sun review & photos
Monday Magazine review & photo
Youtube
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December 2, 2010
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Rogers Arena
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Set List for December 2
Straight.com review & photo
The Province review & photos
Vancouver Sun review & photos
The Globe and Mail review
Youtube
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December 5 & 6, 2010
Oakland, CA
Paramount Theatre
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Set List for December 5
Set List for December 6
Mercury News review
San Francisco Chronicle review & photos
Spinner review
Youtube
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December 8, 2010
Portland, Oregon
Rose Quarter Theatre of the Clouds
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Set List for December 8
The Oregonian review & photo
Melophobe review & photos
Youtube
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December 10 & 11, 2010
Las Vegas, Nevada
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
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Set List for December 10
Set List for December 11
Las Vegas Weekly review & photo
Youtube
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Previous
Christchurch, New Zealand
Brisbane, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Melbourne, Australia
Hobart, Australia
Adelaide, Australia
Victoria, Australia
Perth, Australia
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Victoria, BC, Canada
Set List - November 30, 2010
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
The Darkness
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
First We Take Manhattan
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Avalanche
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Victoria, BC, Canada
Leonard Cohen still on his game as emotions flow
Vancouver Sun
- December 1, 2010 by Mike Devlin (Photo: Lyle Stafford, timescolonist.com)
Who: Leonard Cohen
When: Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
Rating: Five stars (out of five)
Leonard Cohen literally bounded on stage Tuesday night, looking far more agile — and sounding considerably younger — than your average 76-year-old.
He would prove to be to be even more impressive, in all manner of areas, as the night progressed. Over the course of his truly awe-inspiring three-hour concert, Cohen could do no wrong. In any way, shape or form.
He was met with a standing ovation after stepping on stage at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, which he readily accepted. Forget that the gesture has probably been expressed at nearly every one of his 240 comeback concerts during the past two-and-a-half years. Cohen was genuinely gracious in accepting such a gift.
“So kind of you,” he remarked, in that famous baritone of his, before the night’s opening song, Dance Me to the End of Love. “Thanks very much.”
When you go to a Cohen concert, you aren’t merely an attendee. In his words, you're a “friend.” Showbiz speak isn't in his vocabulary, so when Cohen calls you a friend assume you’re a friend for life. A friend for real.
Such a concept might seem inauthentic on paper, but in person it feels the opposite. “I didn’t come to Victoria to fool you,” he sang during a heaven-sent Hallelujah.
Even his new material cooks in surprising ways. The Darkness, which has yet to be recorded, ruminated on the life he has left (“I’ve got no future baby, I know my days are few”) with a perverse optimism. He touched on the same thread throughout the night, with a series of classic songs, era-defining songs, that made mincemeat of the 5,751 friends assembled before him.
The setlist rarely lagged. He was supported at every turn by a crack nine-piece band that included bassist and musical director Roscoe Beck, keyboardist Neil Larsen, guitarists Bob Metzger and Javier Mas, drummer Rafael Gayol, saxophonist Dino Soldo, singer Sharon Robinson, and background singers Charley and Hattie Webb.
Each musician is worthy of mention; Mas, in particular, was a highlight. It may be Cohen’s name in lights, but it was their sonic support that made the music shine.
Cohen was on his game, too, often perched on one knee, serenading with a single hand cupped near his cheek. His emotion was real. He wasn’t selling anything, other than truth. And he looked darn good, too.
It has been suggested that Cohen’s music can build bridges, save lives, cure diseases. I don’t know about that, but it is powerful. Check that. It’s damn near combustible. His personality, on the other hand, while slightly scoundrel-esque in song is utterly charming in the flesh.
“It’s so great to be back,” he said, making reference to his storied show at the same venue just over one year ago. “I want to thank-you for your most warm welcome. That’s the problem. You see, there ain’t no cure for love.”
At one point, he would refer to Metzger’s astonishing guitar solos (on Bird On the Wire he delivered a pair of scene-stealers) as “geometries of liveliness.”
Once a poet, always a poet. And yet, he's so much more than that these days. Words are his first love (Cohen published his first collection of poems, Let Us Compare Mythologies, in 1956, while still at McGill University) but he’s an equal-opportunity performer these days.
His delivery, his on-stage essence, has become as dramatic as any aspect part of his oevure. And after three years of touring, with a new album in the works, it’s about to get a whole lot more refined.
Victoria, BC, Canada
Hot Dawgs 'n' Leonard Cohen: Let's Compare Dichotomies
Monday Magazine
- December 1, 2010 by Nick Lyons (Photo: Lorca Cohen)
Leonard Cohen
Tuesday, November 30
Save on Foods Memorial Centre
The title of this review will, no doubt, offend many a reader: "How dare you put Leonard Cohen, Canada's National Treasure, next to a wiener, much less behind a wiener (plus, isn't 'dog' spelled with an 'o'? Show some respect, man!)". Hopefully, you didn't stop reading there--and if you have managed to come this far, maybe you will come a bit further. Hot dogs are not really the point, of course, and though they do have their place (as you shall soon see) let us shift our collective gaze from mechanically separated meat products to Canada's long-reigning poet laureate.
Leonard Cohen has made a career, and a long one at that, of analyzing dichotomy in poetry, prose and song. His second novel's very title, Beautiful Losers, a seeming contradiction in terms joined together by the poet himself. Beautiful Losers was successful and quite controversial due to, amongst many other things, its strange pairing of sacred and profane. Cohen is able to see the beauty in an asshole (and lips too), but he can also see ugliness in a dove. His unique ability to yoke disparate, if not outright conflicting, binaries may very well be the key to his enduring success.
With Cohen's penchant for dichotomy in mind, the venue for Tuesday night's concert (Save On Foods Memorial Centre) was the perfect fit. While many would have undoubtedly preferred to have seen Cohen at one of Victoria's many more beatific venues, there was something poignant in watching people eat popcorn, pound double fisted draught and, yes, shove hotdogs into cavernous, salivating mouths while waiting for Cohen to show up with his holy poetic anointing. When the lights dimmed and Cohen finally took the stage, many (if not all) were blessed.
He hit the stage running too, his suit and athleticism masking a well hidden fragility. For just over three and a half hours--Cohen joked, before going into his last song, that he and the band would stop at 11:30 exactly, regardless of whether or not the song was finished, in order to adhere to our town's strict policy; thankfully, they bent the rules a bit and finished the song-- Cohen walked, kneeled and bowed his way through a set that represented every stage of his forty year career. While Cohen stopped short of spraying the first four rows with a foam gun as Ozzy Osbourne did in the same venue just a few weeks prior, he managed to get his point across sans suds.
Cohen's entire concert was an exploration of dichotomy. All of the musicians, Cohen included, were dressed in black and white. The show was divided into two distinct and very different sets. The band featured twin vocalists (literally), each one beautiful in her own distinct way. And Cohen, the man we all came to see, managed to play the roles of both front man and spectator throughout, often stepping out of the spotlight to allow various members of his band take over, sometimes for an entire song. Cohen looked on adoringly, happy to see his words issuing from the mouths and instruments of his long time bandmates, holding his hat to his heart as he watched them play; the front man doubles as spectator.
Cohen's humility is unfathomable. He is the man we all came to see. He is the man who caused an inordinate amount of traffic in West Fernwood before and after the show. He is the man who has written a thousand poems, successfully seducing millions of women worldwide in the process. He is the one who, before even starting a successful musical career, wrote and published two novels. He's our man. And yet, he so willingly and graciously shares the stage, introducing, in the most spontaneously poetic and long winded of ways, each member of his band by name. He didn't stop there, either. He went on to thank the sound people, the light people and even the monitor dude. He thanked all of us too, several times, for coming (and after the brief intermission, he humbly said "thanks for coming back" as if genuinely surprised that we did). With Leonard Cohen, greatness and humility reside in the same, all-too-mortal, space.
And so, for three and a half long--but all too short--hours, we Victorians were able to catch a glimpse from both near (thanks to the massive screens which flanked the stage) and afar (if we chose to shift our gaze from screen to stage) Leonard Cohen, the legend and the man. After several gracious bows, Cohen slipped back into his secret life, leaving us to contemplate the powerful distillation of his inordinate wisdom which is too often ignored in our often frivolous cultural climate. And maybe all of this black/white, good/bad stuff is just a ruse, my roundabout take on Cohen's indisputable genius. Maybe I'm the "dealer [who] wants you thinking, that it's either black or white, [but] thank God it's not that simple, in [Cohen's] secret life." Maybe. Maybe not.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Set List - December 2, 2010
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
The Darkness
First We Take Manhattan
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Avalanche
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Leonard Cohen weaves timeless magic in Vancouver
Straight.com
- December 3, 2010 by Tony Montague (Photo: Rebecca Blissett)
Canada's most famous poet still looking spry at 75
Leonard Cohen is on top of the world, living a poet-vagabond’s dream. Since he started touring again in May 2008, after a long hiatus, he’s performed three-hour shows in more than 200 cities on four continents, and far from showing signs of fatigue, the 75-year-old looks spry and fit, and happy to be on stage. For his performance at Rogers Arena, Cohen came on jogging, and, at the end of the long first set, he literally pranced off, with one arm raised and flapping comically.
The Montreal–born writer and singer was happy to be in his homeland once again. “It must have been 40 years ago after a show in England some journalist wrote ‘Leonard Cohen is a boring old drone, and should go the fuck back to Canada where he belongs,’ ” he told the sold-out audience at one point. After listing off a string of great Canadian artists from Gordon Lightfoot to Neil Young, he ended with “Well, I got that off my chest.” The crowd roared, and Cohen beamed, before launching into “Anthem”, savouring the chorus: “There’s a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in”. He proved that poetic affirmation with his voice, which was rough, dark, and frayed at the edges yet superbly luminous, with all lyrics clearly articulated to make the words shine.
Cohen reeled through a back-catalogue of his greatest songs. The list and the order were essentially the same as on his previous Vancouver visit in April last year, but nobody was complaining or yelling out for favourites. The audience stayed rapt, hanging on every word, and the sound was so good you could hear every syllable.
A dry, almost-monotone delivery is Cohen’s way of drawing the listener in; if he drones, that’s an asset not a fault. His singing on this night was mesmeric and cleverly nuanced, the phrasing and slight shifts of timbre, volume, and texture making the performance captivating. For “The Future” he raised his voice to a growl in places as he railed against brutality and stupidity. For “Bird on a Wire” he drew out the spaces between lines to suggest the bewilderment of a man confronted by his own dark side.
The singer’s gestures were also carefully calibrated to enhance the sense of intimacy. Most of the time Cohen was hunched over the microphone in his left hand, while his right hand responded to lyrics with small clutching or waving motions. In many songs he got down on his knees at the front of the stage, not to evoke prayer but to increase his sense of vulnerability and closeness to the audience. As a result, this didn’t feel like a show in a hockey arena.
Cohen also kneeled several times in front of Catalan-strings wizard Javier Mas as his sideman played solos on bandurria, Cuban laud, archilaud, and guitar. Canada's most famous poet seemed genuinely in awe of his nine-piece band, and with good cause—all the musicians played magnificently. Keyboardist Neil Larsen was superb on Hammond B3 organ, embellishing songs with swirling flourishes, Dino Soldo displayed a master’s command of an array of instruments (saxophone, electronic clarinet, keyboards, and harmonica), keeping the sonic textures varied. And Cohen’s ultra-low register was sweetly offset by his three backing singers Sharon Robinson, and sisters Charley and Hattie Webb, the latter occasionally playing a suitably angelic small harp.
Toward the end of the show Cohen, who treated the audience with great respect and gratitude throughout, confided that it might be a while before he returned this way. Let’s hope not. His performance was warm and immensely dignified, and the skip in his parting step hinted that he’s still having a blast being a song and dance man, as well as a great poet.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Leonard Cohen still the man after all these years
The Province
- December 2, 2010 by Stuart Derdeyn
Grade: B+
Leonard Cohen is the only septuagenarian selling out stadiums that I can think of.
That the Montreal poet is gigging around the globe as much for financial necessity as creative expression has been oft reported. Nobody would begrudge the man his money after the show he put on at Rogers Arena on Thursday night.
Like his last show here in 2009, Cohen and his incredibly well primed sextet and trio of backing singers delivered a pristine set of his considerable song catalogue.
True, it was much the same as his previous show; all the way down to some of the stage banter.
But the classics are still being re-worked and explored by the man and his band. You needed look no further than the extended version of "A Bird On A Wire," where guitarist Bob Metzger coaxed a gorgeous solo out that saxophonist Dino Soldo answered beautifully.
On the closing word 'free,' Cohen held onto it just long enough to attain maximum drama and get the crowd raving.
Amazing that Hollywood never got its talons into the guy. But he is from a generation of talents that pre-dates maximum product placement.
Literate, probing and always in search of the exact transformative turn of phrase, his work is not about Top 10 - even if "Hallelujah" has replaced "Knocking on Heaven's Door" as the tune every liquor store strummer is strumming this holiday season.
I'd like to hear one of them hit the foghorn basso that Cohen dropped in "In My Secret Life."
The difficulty in attaining intimate moments in an arena is no challenge to this crack unit. The 12-string acoustic solo leading in "Who By Fire" was lovely and the song yielded up some fantastic bass slides from Roscoe Beck as Neil Larsen got funky on his Hammond B-3 organ.
I love the sound person. The entire evening's mix was better than my home stereo.
And an Abba-esque take on "First We Take Manhattan" to boot. It was a night that just kept on delivering the goods.
Plus, he is really self-deprecating too. The line in "Chelsea Hotel" about making an exception for unattractive men was very funny. You've never heard anyone introduce a band the way the group was Thursday night. It was a roast.
Almost as funny as watching the audience sprint to the washroom during the intermission. If only they could design something so you could just go in your seat.
"Thanks so much friends. Thanks for staying." Cohen introduced the second set with the sarcastic "Tower of Song." The lyric about being born with a golden voice was classic. Heck, the whole night was. Yes, he sticks to the script. But it's a good one.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Leonard Cohen Review: He's our man
Vancouver Sun
- December 2, 2010 by Douglas Todd (Photos: Steve Bosch, PNG)
VANCOUVER — Where does it come from? Where does Leonard Cohen get his vigor, stamina, discipline and élan vital?
The 76-year-old’s simmering energy was on robust display Thursday evening at Roger’s Arena as Cohen began wrapping up a remarkable three-year world concert tour that will finally end Dec. 11th in Las Vegas.
The high-octane Vancouver three-and-a-half-hour concert, which grey-haired Cohen opened with a stirring Dance Me to the End of Love, may be one of the last times anyone ever gets to see a live performance by the Montreal-born singer-poet. He will be devoting next year to recording a new album.
His lengthy global tour, which turned out to be far more popular than anyone expected, especially self-deprecating Cohen, was the first that he has done in 15 years. He is getting a tad on in years for another marathon.
His famous bass voice was especially raw as Thursday’s concert began, but warmed up as he pumped through Ain’t No Cure for Love and a sultry, dramatic version of Bird on a Wire.
He was working hard. So was his sophisticated band, including flamenco guitar, harp and electronic sax. His stunningly gifted backup singers also didn’t miss a beat.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back,” he told the audience. “But I promise you, tonight we’ll give you everything we’ve got.”
And so they did. The packed audience of about 8,000, most of whom seemed within two decades of Cohen’s age, gave out a roar. The audience believed their man. They trusted him.
They proceeded to greet almost every tune of the first half of the show with hoots and pounding applause, especially after the angry, foreboding Everybody Knows.
Given that Cohen performed in Vancouver only last year, the hefty size of the audience at Thursday’s concert, for which official ticket prices soared almost as high as $300, was all the more amazing. So was the adoration.
The crowd thunderously clapped out the pounding beat of the revolutionary tune, First We Take Manhattan, where Cohen admits “they sentenced me to 20 years of boredom for trying to change the system from within.”
And when the band came to its jazzed-up version of Who By Fire, which is about the many different ways humans can die, the audience was hanging on every tribal note and word.
It was a festival of aching love. It grew more ecstatic with each song.
But it was always mixed with Cohen’s biting, brutally honest lyrics, which include deep familiarity with his own hate, confusion, longing and depression.
Addressing the crowd, he lamented about “all the hurt and suffering in the world,” including soldiers dying in Afghanistan – and gave thanks for the preciousness of the “happy moment” that comes when he gives a concert.
The man, lean, lithe and slightly hunched in his dark suit and fedora, is a testament to authentic living – to facing one’s existence with style, honesty and class, especially as one’s time on the planet nears its end.
For that he had the audience’s profound respect. They gave him a standing ovation after he performed Hallelujah, much of it on his knees, while mischievously inserting the line:
“I told the truth, I did not come to Vancouver to fool you.”
None of his Pacific Northwest admirers minded that Cohen’s gravelly, self-mocked “golden voice” was drying with age.
And, anyway, as usual, his voice was backstopped by three breathtaking, suit-clad female singers; including his brilliant long-time co-songwriter Sharon Robinson, as well as the hip-shifting Webb sisters, who crooned as if from another sacred sphere.
The concert, which didn’t end until 11:25 p.m., was crisp and multi-textured throughout.
The lighting was wondrously lurid, almost film noir, rich with purple, ruby, orange and yellow-green. Sometimes Cohen was alone on stage, simply reciting poetry. Other times he and his musical friends were creating a wall of rocking sound.
They performed many old hits, like Suzanne, Sisters of Mercy and The Partisan, but only one tune from my favorite album, Ten New Songs. That was Back on Boogie Street, with Robinson doing a silken solo.
More than almost any other performing artist, however, Cohen continued on Thursday to passionately do what he does best: deeply, maturely explore the complexities of love – sexual, relational and, most crucially for him, spiritual.
As a Jew who takes seriously Jesus Christ, and who has spent years in a Buddhist monastery, Cohen seemed to put a special stress Thursday on the tunes he calls “muffled prayers.”
He was becoming transcendent by the time he came to In My Secret Life, in which he admits “I smile when I’m angry,” and avoids telling people that what really matters to him is the spiritual journey.
And the preacher-poet in him took centre stage when he introduced another song, Anthem, by growling out his signature aphorism: “There’s a crack in everything. That’s where the light gets in.”
The hard facts are that Cohen has kept up his vigorous global performance pace, barring an onstage fainting spell last year in Spain, in part because he almost went broke. His former U.S. manager continues to ignore court orders to return $9 million to him.
Still, Cohen leaves little doubt that he has also been stepping out on stage night after night out of some sense of sacred service.
When he and the Webb sisters did If It Be Your Will during the encore, everyone could hear that he also keeps on singing because he’s convinced it just might the will of a holy power.
Near the end of the concert, Cohen got another one of many standing ovations when he humbly thanked everyone “for keeping my songs alive all these years.”
And after a rousing Closing Time, he concluded by saying the audience’s rapt attention had “made this memorable evening an honour to play for you…. May the blessings find you in your solitudes. Good night, dear friends.”
With his critically acclaimed series of 241 performances winding down next week, who knows if Cohen will ever hit the road again after his December concerts in Portland, Oakland and Las Vegas.
If he doesn’t, live audiences will never be able to witness what the crowd experienced Thursday evening in this city: Cohen’s unique offering of truth, beauty and transcendence.
All the important stuff.
It is mostly by fluke that B.C. got another two dates this year out of Cohen. (He performed before 5,700 on Tuesday in Victoria). The concerts were added this fall only after a scheduled Hawaiian concert was cancelled.
Hawaii’s loss, but a blessing for Vancouver. Will he pass through B.C. once more? He doesn’t know.
And maybe that’s too parochial a question, with Cohen moving into his latter years. As The Edge, lead guitarist of U2 had said, it’s actually the entire world that may never again see the likes of another Leonard Cohen.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
For one more night in Vancouver, Leonard Cohen is our man
The Globe and Mail
- December 3, 2010 by Marsha Lederman
It’s a fact of life that high expectations can lead to disappointment, but for Leonard Cohen fans in Vancouver on Thursday night, they did not. Neither age nor an epic tour – now, finally, nearing its end – seem to have taken their toll on the 76-year-old Montreal-born poet/singer-songwriter/legend.
Maybe it’s all that enlightenment.
Cohen bounded onto the stage at Rogers Arena shortly after 8 p.m. to an immediate standing ovation (see: legend, above), tipped his hat to the, um, seasoned audience, and launched into Dance Me To The End of Love. Three-and-a-half hours later (including a 25-minute intermission, but still), he wrapped things up with Closing Time.
“I don’t know when we’ll pass this way again,” he said during the first set, “but I promise you that tonight we’ll give you everything we got.”
He did.
In his trademark fedora, dark suit and bolo tie, Cohen offered his lyrical take on the facts of life: holy doves moving, events at the Chelsea Hotel on an unmade bed. Often on his knees, eyes closed, hand held up to his face, Cohen filled the arena with gravelly strains of aural sex. If he ached in the places where he used to play, he had the audience fooled.
He’s been touring for more than 2½ years now and much of the set – even some of the stage banter – may be familiar to anyone who has caught an earlier show (he played Vancouver last year), has been surfing YouTube, or has heard his Live in London album.
But never did Cohen appear to be mailing it in. The guy put the “pro” in “profound,” performing songs he has sung hundreds – thousands – of times with a vigour so genuine that they never felt tired. So that, even though the audience knew what was coming, they couldn’t help but laugh at lines such as: “You told me again you preferred handsome men, but for me you would make an exception.” Or cheer when he crooned “I was born with the gift of a golden voice.”
That baritone of his still stirs, but it also cracks (we’ve always forgiven him his rough voice for his velvety poetry). And the credit for much of the night’s musical magic has to go to Cohen’s impeccable band (Javier Mas performed an extended and extraordinary 12-string acoustic solo leading into Who By Fire, his shadow huge against the curtained backdrop) and excellent back-up singers: Sharon Robinson, who co-wrote Everybody Knows and My Secret Life, among others, and sisters Charley and Hattie Webb. Cohen repeatedly acknowledged their work with a tip of his fedora.
He also tipped his hat to Canada – “my home and native land,” he called it – recounting a long-ago review from London. “One of the reviewers said ‘Leonard Cohen is a boring old drone and should go ... back to Canada where he belongs.’ That’s okay. I am a boring old drone. But is Canada the home of all boring old drones?” he asked before invoking names of other Canadian legends, including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot. “Are they boring old drones?”
In his 70s, Cohen is still pondering the mysteries with lyrics that awe. In The Darkness, not yet recorded (he’s going into the studio in the new year), he sings: “I caught the darkness from your little cup. I said is this contagious? You said just drink it up.” And when he hit the line “I’ve got no future; I know my days are few,” it was hard not to notice how ghostly he looked in the harsh lighting on the big screen.
We tend to think of Cohen as ageless – 76 and still dancing through 3-hour concerts – but of course he’s not. Will he pass through this way again? It’s hard to know. So the show – steeped in nostalgia, yet still very much alive – was kind of like one last night with an old flame, knowing you might never meet again. He kept calling the audience “friends,” but it felt like more than that. On Thursday night, he was our man.
Oakland, CA
Set List - December 5, 2010
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
First We Take Manhattan
The Darkness
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Avalanche
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
Take This Waltz
Encores
So Long, Marianne
Democracy
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
Oakland, CA
Set List - December 6, 2010
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
The Darkness
Born In Chains
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Avalanche
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
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
Oakland, CA
Review: Leonard Cohen delivers magical marathon in Oakland
Mercury News
- December 7, 2010 by Jim Harrington
It was billed as "An Evening with Leonard Cohen." And that's exactly what it was on Monday night at Oakland's Paramount Theatre.
Cohen performed all evening -- and nearly right on into the next day. He played a three-hour main set and then followed it up with a 40-plus-minute encore.
Not bad for a 76-year-old singer-songwriter, one that hadn't toured in the 15 years before launching his current trek. Now that he's back on the road -- and back onstage -- you simply can't get him to quit. Nor would you want to.
"We began this tour three years ago," Cohen remarked early in the performance. "I was just 73 -- a kid with a dream."
Cohen's two-night stand at the Paramount, which began on Sunday, was nothing less than a dream come true for local fans. Having stayed away for so long, he's been quite kind to the Bay Area over the past two years. These two nights marked the fifth and sixth dates he's performed here on this tour -- last year, he also played a three-night stand at the Paramount in April and then followed up with a gig in November at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
The result on Monday was predictable: Cohen wowed his loyal legion of admirers with a generous evening of some of the best-written songs in the pop/rock canon.
When the house lights dimmed at just after 8 p.m., the nine-piece band took the stage first and then Cohen literally jogged out to his microphone. He began with the smoldering beauty "Dance Me to the End of Love," which contains what has to be a nominee for pop music's most poetically romantic opening line: "Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin."
One could basically tape Cohen's lyrics to a wall and blindly toss a dart at them. Wherever it lands -- thunk! -- you're going to find a passage that is simply spellbinding. His lines are to be treasured, soaked up and mulled over, but it's hard to do that in concert when the brilliance comes in just steady succession. He'll utter one gem, in that deeply resonant voice, but to take the time to truly contemplate it means that you might miss the next beauty.
The first hour of the show was an absolute embarrassment of riches, as Cohen sung "The Future," "Ain't No Cure for Love," "Bird on a Wire" and many of his other greatest tunes. Cohen, dressed in a sharp dark suit and matching hat, carried each lyric -- indeed, each word -- with absolute dignity and class.
The Canadian superstar's stylish delivery was perfectly matched by his band members, who found ways to shine without ever upstaging their boss. Cohen seemed deeply appreciative of his cast, often removing his hat and placing on his heart while he closely watched the other musicians' performances.
There were so many great moments in the show -- a stunningly moving "Hallelujah," a gripping "I'm Your Man," a lively "Tower of Song" and a haunting "Who by Fire," to name just four.
He was still full of energy and good spirit during an encore that (thankfully) seemed like it might go on forever. This segment included some of the evening's best performances, including on the singalong "So Long Marianne," the anthemic "First We Take Manhattan" and the sober "Famous Blue Raincoat."
What an evening.
Oakland, CA
Review: Leonard Cohen @ the Paramount Theatre
San Francisco Chronicle
- December 6, 2010 by Chloe Roth (Photos: Dustin Rabin (1st) and Lorca Cohen (2nd))
As a rule, you won't find a lot of live reviews on here. But Leonard Cohen is a rule-breaker and this past weekend's shows at the Paramount Theatre call for a recap. The 76-year-old legend wowed audiences two nights in a row December 5 and 6. The Paramount Theatre was accurate when they named the event "An Evening with Leonard Cohen." For the audience members in the orchestra pit who shelled out $250 for their premium seats, the almost four-hour-long concert delivered an entire evening's worth of songs, lines, and laughs to remember.
A 15-year hiatus left no marks on the performer, except perhaps the deepening of his celebratedly deep voice. With an impossibly low note, Cohen's gravelly timbre hits the heart like a bass. His recent comeback tour, which started in 2008, has a practiced perfection to it. Every note (the band's bevy of virtuosos guarantee an unblemished performance), every lighting effect (so colorful it's a feast for the eyes as well as the ears), even every outfit (crisp suits for every person on stage), is choreographed down to the second. Complete with backup singer cartwheels and stunning solos from each of his talented bandmembers, you haven't seen a performance this professional in years. Cohen said Sunday night, "We started this tour three years ago. I was 73. Just a kid with a crazy dream." Indeed, his youthful presence is impossible to ignore. With two three-song encores, Cohen skipped on and off the stage like a spry youngster dressed in a grown man's tailored suit and fedora.
The show offered a mix of old and new, full-band and acoustic, chilling renditions and hilarious onstage banter. Of course, audiences responded most excitedly to classics like "So Long, Marianne," "Chelsea Hotel, No. 2" and, of course, possibly Cohen's most famous song, "Hallelujah." Cohen received repeated standing ovations, awing the crowd with larger-than-life performances and poetic recitations. As seductive as ever in his quintessential fedora, a simple strum of the guitar with his still-nimble fingers made the audience go wild. In fact, the audience's reactions were almost as thrilling as the epic performance taking place on stage.
Most striking perhaps was Cohen's humility. He took his hat off and bowed to each musician after every single solo. With the most laudatory adjectives possible, each band member's introduction was a poem in its own right. The bassist was introduced as a "pilgrim of perfection," the electric guitarist's prowess was praised as "stunning geographies of loveliness" and the drummer was dubbed a "sculptor of silence."
Seasoned. Flawless. Epic. Perhaps not as poetic as Cohen's word choice, but true nonetheless. If you have the opportunity to catch Cohen on this current North American tour, take it. And bring binoculars. There's nothing like looking at his face as he kneels in almost prayerful revery during the old favorites. At several points throughout the show Cohen declared that it was "a great honor," a "privilege" and a "pleasure to play for you here." I feel confidant that I can speak for the entire audience when I say that the pleasure was all ours.
Oakland, CA
Leonard Cohen Is 'Just a Kid With a Dream' in Oakland
Spinner
- December 6, 2010 by Benjy Eisen
When Leonard Cohen brought his tower of song to Oakland, Calif. for the opening night of a two-night stand on Sunday, it represented the beginning of an end. After just two more tour stops, the production will go dark and Cohen will retreat back to his much-protected private life.
"Thank you for the honor of letting us play for you," Cohen told the captivated audience at the sold-out Paramount. "When we started this tour three years ago, I was 73. I was just a kid with a dream," he joked. "I don't know when we'll be back through here but, even though it's a school day tomorrow, we're going to give it all we've got tonight."
He meant it, too: Cohen filled three and a half hours with gems from his entire catalog, running down the classics -- such as 'Hallelujah,' 'Suzanne' and 'Bird on a Wire' -- while weaving in healthy doses from his newer releases as well. And while fans may argue that there's a divide between the two eras, Cohen effectively closed that gap on Sunday, as he offered a spoken word reinterpretation of 'A Thousand Kisses Deep,' as well as an emotional rendering of 'In My Secret Life' -- tunes from his 2001 release, 'Ten New Songs.' They fit seamlessly alongside nuggets like 1971's 'Famous Blue Raincoat' and 1988's 'I'm Your Man.'
Cohen used each song as a meditation, infused with all the cathartic passion of their original intent, while using their legacy as a vehicle to give the crowd a night of solid entertainment.
"It is a real pleasure to gather in places like this and play music when there's so much trouble going on in the world," he said, gravely. "Let us ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything -- that's how the light gets in."
He borrowed some of those words from the song 'Anthem,' which the band then launched into, as Cohen leaned into the music, fell on bended knee, and seduced the audience yet again. Every move he made was with dignity and grace. Every bow he took was sincere and genuine -- all the way through the fourth encore.
We hope, of course, that this is goodbye but not farewell. Because the next time he feels like singing... we're all ears.
Portland, Oregon
Set List - December 8, 2010
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
The Darkness
Democracy
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Sisters Of Mercy
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
Portland, Oregon
Concert review: Leonard Cohen lets the light in at the Rose Garden
The Oregonian
- December 9, 2010 by Jeff Baker (Photo: BETH NAKAMURA/THE OREGONIAN)
Thank you, friends.
Leonard Cohen probably said those words five or six times in his spellbinding concert Wednesday at the Rose Garden. Cohen's every word and gesture radiated gratitude and humility -- toward his brilliant band, toward the audience that came to see him, and toward the circumstances that brought everyone together. His calm presence, and the clarity that he brought to his performance, was inspirational. He was onstage in the service of art and invested every moment with meaning.
Cohen is 76, and there was a feeling of changing seasons, of autumn passing into winter, all evening. The sound and lighting, possibly the best ever in the Rose Garden's Theater in the Clouds set-up, heightened the mood of every song, starting when Cohen jogged onstage, dropped to one knee, and sang "Dance Me to the End of Love." He was a sharp-dressed man in a tailored suit and wore a fedora that he held over his heart when one of the other musicians played a solo. "I'm not sure when we'll pass this way again, but we're going to give you everything we've got tonight," he said.
There were no half-gestures or perfunctory performances of standards. Cohen's gravelly voice was passionate on "Bird On the Wire" and "Suzanne," songs he's done thousands of times, and part of the autumnal intensity came from hearing the young man inside the old, wiser and still hungry for intimacy. "Chelsea Hotel #2" gets attention for its sexual frankness about Janis Joplin, but it's the sad refrain -- "I need you, I don't need you" -- that lingers.
Everyone in the band got a special moment. Javier Mas, the Spanish guitarist Cohen called "the shepherd of the strings," played a long, beautiful introduction to "Who By Fire' that was a highlight of the first set. A rousing "Democracy" ended with a harmonica solo by Dino Soldo and a standing ovation. Midway through a concert that approached four hours and never dragged, Cohen talked about nearing the end of a three-year tour. When it started, he joked, "I was 73, just a kid with a crazy dream." It's a privilege to be able to play music in such difficult times, Cohen said, and then recited what amounts to his artistic philosophy, the chorus of "Anthem" that concludes "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
The band rolled into the song, then slowed it down while Cohen did some of the funniest, most heartfelt band introductions ever and announced an intermission. He'd already played 12 songs in 90 minutes, an entire concert for bands half his age, and was just getting warmed up. The best was yet to come.
The second half began with "Tower of Song" and "Suzanne." The band came back for a beautiful "Sisters of Mercy" and Mas shined again on "The Gypsy Wife" and "The Partisan." Sharon Robinson, Cohen's longtime collaborator, sang "Boogie Street," a gorgeous prelude to "Hallelujah." Its power is undeniable, and it was cathartic to hear the man who wrote it sing about the secret chord and the holy dove and the lord of song. People were crying, and there was a standing ovation when he finished.
When Cohen's songs are arranged and performed so exquisitely, it's easy to glide along with the melody and not focus on the lyrics. That wasn't a problem when Cohen recited "A Thousand Kisses Deep," reclaiming the music as poetry. He did it again on the first verse of "If It Be Your Will" before turning it over to Hattie and Charley Webb during one of the encores. Cohen put together this wonderful band and toured the world in the autumn of his life, a gift to everyone who has listened to his songs and taken meaning from the poetry in his words.
Thank you, friends, he said before waltzing offstage one last time. No, Leonard: Thank you.
Portland, Oregon
Leonard Cohen - Rose Garden (Portland, OR; Dec. 8, 2010)
Melophobe
- December 8, 2010 by Theodora Karatzas (Photo: Colin McLaughlin)
"Are you excited?" said an old lady to me in the bathroom at the Rose Garden. "Yes," I answered. "I never thought I'd get the chance to see him." Her eyes lit up. "Oh really?" she asked. "Is this your first time?" When I replied with a vigorous nod, she gave me a gleeful smile. "You're going to love it."
I was being very honest when I told this unknown older woman that I never thought I'd see Leonard Cohen perform live. Up until 2008, he hadn't toured in 15 years and Portland sometimes gets skipped on many larger tours. Couple this kind of anticipation with my fervent love for his music and you have one very excited little music junky on your hands. Despite this excitement though, I am always slightly apprehensive at the thought of a three-hour concert with any artist, no matter how great they are. In retrospect, it feels foolish to even question the greatness of his performances, as Cohen proved that he is and will always be one of the few artists who can pull off such a thing. It takes a rare character to be able to carry a show of that proportion on his own, and Cohen did a sublime job.
Cohen's band took the stage to what looked to be a sold out crowd, running out in dapper black suits. Cohen himself came jogging out not far behind, waving at the crowd before launching into "Dance Me To the End of Love." Crouching down on the stage, Cohen crooned out to the audience before stepping over to guitarist Javier Mas and crouching down next to him as Mas played. Cohen's voice has aged beautifully, retaining every bit of its deep, warm huskiness and marinating in the juices of old age. The stunning thing about him is that even at 76, he's seems as spry as ever. He frequently rocked his hips back and forth as he tip-toed and swayed to the music. His voice also hasn't suffered in the same way that other older singers' (cough, Bob Dylan, cough) voices have.
To top it all off, Cohen is one of the most kind and gracious performers I've had the chance to see. "I don't know when we're going to pass this way again," he said after the first song, "but I assure you that tonight we're going to give you everything we've got." Throughout the concert, he frequently thanked the audience, referring to us all as his "friends."
The next three and a half hours (intermission included) played out like a "Best of" album. Cohen played a range of his hits, spanning many different periods of his career. The result was a set that could please anyone. I've always been more partial to albums like New Skin For The Old Ceremony, and there were a few songs therefrom peppered into the set amongst more of his well known songs like "I'm Your Man" and "Anthem."
Going into the second half of his show after a brief intermission, Cohen handed off the ropes for a minute to one of his back-up singers and a frequent and long-time collaborator Sharon Robinson. Robinson skillfully took lead on "Boogie Nights," channeling every ounce of smooth, sexy Nina-Simone style jazz vocals that she could muster. The results were surprising, beautiful, and a nice (though unnecessary) break from Cohen's vocals. Throughout the song, and many other times during the concert at instrumental solos, Cohen politely stepped back and removed his hat, listening intently and occasionally chiming in with his own vocal support.
Another spot where Cohen took a break from singing was during his second encore (there were three), when he recited a the first few stanzas of "If It Be Your Will," before having his other two back-up singers, Charley and Hattie Webb of the Webb Sisters take over. I've always loved this song and the version that Antony Hagerty did as a tribute to Cohen, but the Webb Sisters certainly didn't disappoint. Where Hagerty's cover has a deep melancholy and fragility to it, the Webb Sisters manage to keep the song delicate with the introduction of a harp while weaving otherworldly vocal harmonies for a truly heavenly sounding interpretation.
I could try to go through and pick apart Cohen's set list song-by-song, but after awhile even the songs didn't seem to matter anymore. I'll be the first to admit that his stuff is a little cheesy from time to time and it certainly has taken me a little longer to get into a few songs than it has with some of his other material. Everything he played live, however, was simply perfection. The cheesiness that he does pull off in his recordings was gone for the most part and replaced by honest, heartfelt music. I've always thought that Cohen was the kind of man who could pull off kitsch without being kitschy, but this concert sealed the deal for me. Watching him skip off stage after the final encore, I was mixed with feeling of sadness and complete bliss. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to see Cohen again, but I'm glad it happened once and it's a memory I will never forget.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Set List - December 10, 2010
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
The Darkness
Democracy
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
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 Tak Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Las Vegas, Nevada
Set List - December 11, 2010
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
The Darkness
Born In Chains
Democracy
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting For The Miracle
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
A Singer Must Die
Sisters Of Mercy
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 Tak Manhattan
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
I Tried to Leave You
Las Vegas, Nevada
Leonard Cohen's return to Vegas proves he's got miles left if he wants 'em
Las Vegas Weekly
- December 15, 2010 by Spencer Patterson (Photo: Bill Hughes)
The Wall Street Journal recently dared pose the question: Is it time for Bob Dylan to retire from the road? The same might reasonably be asked of 76-year-old Leonard Cohen, who wrapped what could be his final tour with two nights in Vegas last weekend. But where Dylan's voice and song alterations inspire debate over his continued abilities whenever he plays, Cohen's Caesars Palace crowd seemed unified in thought as the three-hour event let out: This was a show for the ages, not an appreciation of the aged.
Though the folk icon's setlist and song arrangements essentially mirrored those from 2009's fantastic Colosseum performance, this second stopover felt sharper still. Every number was surely a life highlight for someone in attendance--from sparse late-'60s material like "Suzanne" and "Sisters of Mercy" that best showed off Cohen's forlorn vocals to late-'80s fare such as "Everybody Knows" and "First We Take Manhattan" that demonstrated the collective prowess of his nine-piece backing group. For me, the moment proved to be "The Partisan," a spine-tingling reworking of Cohen's 1969 cover, featuring the exquisite bandurria work of Javier Mas.
Cohen balanced out the night's intensity with some lightheartedness, particularly his introduction of drummer Rafael Gayol: "Laying it [the beat] down, bringing it home, smothering it with a pillow, going to prison. He's recruited by the Aryan Brotherhood. Disillusioned with the quality of their tattoos, he converts to Judaism, but gets excommunicated for lighting the Hanukkah candles in the wrong direction. Spends many years in a halfway house for disgruntled vegetarians, and then joins the softest rock 'n' roll band in the world." Forget retirement. The man's got a second career as a stand-up comic waiting if he wants it.
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