Tour Reviews and Other Memories from
LEONARD COHEN WORLD TOUR Winter 2009
Wellington, New Zealand
Set List - January 20, 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
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Anthem
Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street (Sharon Robinson)
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
Wellington, New Zealand
Cohen's concert the best gig ever
The Dominion Post
- January 21, 2009 by Simon Sweetman
Canadian poet and singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen takes the stage with his nine-piece band. There is a huge ovation; many people get up out of their seats (for the first of several times).
The opening song is Dance Me To The End Of Love. From there it is to The Future, Ain't No Cure For Love and Bird On A Wire. A living legend places his lyrical legacy at the feet of an adoring audience and the songs - poems, mantras, scriptures even - continue to fall in to place: Everybody Knows with its wry, subversive humour, In My Secret Life (acknowledging the 2001 "comeback" album Ten New Songs).
Cohen takes up an acoustic guitar for some delicate plucking (Who By Fire and Chelsea Hotel # 2). The audience sits hushed as immortal paeans, prayers and odes float from the stage - Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye - and Cohen's band provides the musical colour with a brushed drum kit, saxophones, flutes, mandolin, guitars and three perfectly pitched backing vocalists to assist his below sea-level growl. The sound is stunning in a venue that is so often awful for concerts; this time the right band is playing correctly and the audience is no longer suffering for the location of the musician's art.
A short interval, after Ring The Bells - with its line "there is a crack in everything/that's how the light gets in" - and Cohen returns with Tower Of Song, telling people they are too kind for applauding his one-finger keyboard solo. From there it is to Suzanne from the debut album, the start of the reverence and reverie, then to The Gypsy Wife, The Partisan and Hallelujah.
A Thousand Kisses Deep is stunning as poetic recital; the bard still possesses beguiling grace. And then it is to Take This Waltz, band introductions and a series of encores including So Long Marianne, First We Take Manhattan, If It Be Your Will (Cohen recites the first verse and then his version of Kate and Anna McGarrigle, the Webb sisters, deliver the body of the tune) Famous Blue Raincoat and Democracy. If you were at the concert and didn't like it then you had your information wrong.
It is hard work having to put this concert in to words so I'll just say something I have never said in a review before and will never say again: this was the best show I have ever seen.
22 Comment(s)
Fabulous fabulous fabulous. A once in a lifetime opportunity and never to be forgotten.
#1 Posted by BD — 09:20 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
My husband and I were at the concert last night and it was absolutely brilliant. Couldn't fault it at all. Really professional. Stadium was absolutely packed out and he had at least 4 standing ovations. His voice has never altered over the years. Fabulous band and singers.
We need more events like that in Wellington to make it come alive!!
Sam Hunt also gave a brilliant start to it all. Well done everyone
#2 Posted by June McGregor — 09:28 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
I'm with Simon. The best show I have ever seen - A 75 year old man performing for over three hours. Such an old rascal, but so humble and gentle about it you can't help but fall in love with him and his silky set of lungs. If you haven't seen it already, check out this doco about him "I'm your man" - it was in the film festival a couple of years ago, and apart from Bono's token appearance, it is amazing.
#3 Posted by Christine — 09:44 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
I have attended many concers over the decades but this one would top my list. Cohen and his band of accomplished musicicians delivered a spellbinding performance that would be hard to beat.
#4 Posted by Ruz — 09:44 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Agree with Simon and all above - best concert ever. The sound was immaculate and the musicians/singers uniformly excellent. Leonard's delivery was sublime, his banter clever and witty and there was just the right amount of it. Will take that one to my grave.
#5 Posted by Jacko — 10:03 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Spell binding! We were in the presence of a master whose humility, humour, and songs had us mesmerized. The talented support group were the perfect complement. The TSB arena has never felt more intimate or right- we could have been in a 50's jazz bar.
#6 Posted by Anishka — 10:14 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Words can't do it justice. He and his band made that cavernous barn feel like the most intimate club. From the moment he ran - ran! - on to stage it was love. Spine tingling. Emotional. And who'd have thought he'd be funny? Thanks Leonard. Enjoy the possum scarf.
#7 Posted by Steve Matthews — 10:37 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
I was fortunate to see Cohen in the Albert Hall in 1974. I said then I would be happy to see him again even if he played in a cow shed. Last night he played in that 'cow shed'. He was more personable than '74 but brought tears to my eyes with Chelsea Hotel and The Partisan. Now my two best concerts ever are both the Master; Leonard Cohen
#8 Posted by Tyles — 10:41 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Looks like everyone kicked a goal
#9 Posted by TimD — 10:46 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Great review, a wonderful portent of the evening to come in Auckland.
#10 Posted by Warren — 10:53 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Every song a gift, exquisitely crafted, packaged with sublime skill and delivered with wit, grace and friendship.
#11 Posted by maclir — 11:02 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
The BEST concert I have ever been to. Have been a fan of Leonard Cohen for over 30 years - he sounds the best he has ever sounded. The concrt was over 3 hours and far exceeded my expectations.
#12 Posted by Catherine — 11:27 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
I had to wait 50 years to see Mr Cohen perform live - it was worth the wait !! WOW - what an amazing concert. Those who were lucky enough to be there last night will hold it in their hearts and minds for ever. Thank you Leonard for coming to New Zealand
#13 Posted by Barbara — 11:38 AM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
The most amazing show I have ever been to, bar none. Absolutely unbelievable. Uplifting, spiritual and mind-blowing. An absolutely incredible experience. Incredible!
The man himself was incomparable. And the musicians were all worthy of the great man, and he gave them each in turn the spotlight. His vocalists sent chills up my spine.
He played for about three hours. The experience was like a first-time junkie taking too big a hit... I feared my brain would explode.
#14 Posted by AdamR — 12:46 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Captivated from start to finish. An experience of a lifetime & certainly the finest concert I've ever attended. The man & his band are legends in our time & a was a whoppingly huge privilege!
#15 Posted by Chris Butler — 13:42 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
The show was the greatest, as was the man and the band...
#16 Posted by Denis — 13:58 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
I agree. The best concert ever and one that I thought I would never have a chance to see. That performance by all involved was a tribute to the poetry and songs that I have lived with and loved for nearly 4 decades.
#17 Posted by Doug — 16:50 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
I was there feeling humble. I have loved what he has said and sung since the late 60's.
Speechlessness is my praise. Leonard, 'THE RELUCTANT MESSIAH' Thank you for existing Leonard.
#18 Posted by tony smith — 18:28 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Stunning! One of the first albums I ever bought was Songs of Leonard Cohen: 40 years on, and he performs the songs perfectly - live!
His band and crew produced such wonderful, wonderful music in such an aweful venue, the whole evening bordered on the miraculous. His occasional, ironic, self-deprecating comments showed a humility that only served to help him soar so much higher than his reported "diminutive stature" A true poetic master and a giant in my books. Thank you so much, Mr Cohen.
#19 Posted by Ian Holland — 19:32 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Unbelievable amazing: the band, the humor, the songs and the man himself of curse, charming, honest, modest, sweet - it's an honer to keep your songs alive - Mr. Cohen
#20 Posted by LW — 20:42 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
What a moving performance. I have shared my life with Leonard Cohen, and to finally see him on stage last night was every bit as poignant as the many emotions I have experienced while listening to his music. He role-modelled genuine humbleness, in the many times he took off his hat, bowed head low and stepped into the shadows while exalting his band and support musicians. If it be your will, we shall forever ring your praises.
#21 Posted by Karla — 21:01 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Brilliant - best show I've been to in years - and the first one in the events centre I could hear! If that is old age - then bring it on!
#22 Posted by Jenny Williams — 21:28 PM | Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Wellington, New Zealand
Blogs and Other Fan Reports
Blog - Zackarate Island - "Planetary alignment "
The concert was profoundly beautiful. I laughed, I cried...
Blog - Talula the second - "Leonard Cohen Live - United Hearts tour"
...Nothing like seeing a legend perform better than you expected. I don’t think I can ever see a better concert...Coldplay better really pull out the stops is all I can say.
Blog - Small Town Stories - "Last night we saw Leonard Cohen"
And he was amazing...
Discuss the tour and read fan reviews on The Leonard Cohen Forum and in French on the Leonard Cohen Forum (French site).
Auckland, New Zealand
Set List - January 20, 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
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
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
Auckland, New Zealand
Review: Leonard Cohen at Vector Arena
The New Zealand Herald
- January 23, 2009 by Russell Baillie (Photos: Dean Purcell)
He might have a reputation as one of music's most depressing figures. But Leonard Cohen left an arena full of fans happy - and not in a sad kind of way - with this long-awaited memorable concert.
Seventy-four-year-old Cohen and his nine-piece band delivered a spirited wander through his extensive songbook to a reverent and largely grey-haired audience who welcomed him on stage with a standing ovation and were reluctant to let him leave it three hours and many, many eloquent verses later.
Somehow, Cohen's ensemble, a sort of gypsy-soul rock-noir cabaret outfit dressed, as was their fedora-ed double-breasted leader like particularly stylish members of the French Resistance, were able to shrink the vastness of the venue down to the intimate scale of the music.
They were also able to inject an acoustic warmth into much of Cohen's 80s and 90s material which, on record, veers towards antiseptic muzak.
Everything pivoted on Cohen's baritone voice, that still sexy sonorous rumble which has long made him the Barry White of the bookclub set. Yes, unlike many a rock elder statesman, Cohen isn't just a guy thing.
He cut a dapper, spry figure throughout, kneeling where the songs' entreaties or his musicians' solo turns demanded it, and skipping on and off stage as the encores mounted.
And he was given to some self-effacing - if you suspect much-rehearsed - between song humour.
"It's been 15 years since I was on stage - when I was 60, a young kid with a crazy dream then I took a lot of Prozac," he quipped before listing the other medications which got him through his darker days. "I studied all the religions of the world but cheerfulness kept breaking through," he added.
And so it was with his set, which neatly wrapped up the key songs of his 40-plus years as the songwriter's songwriter, ladies' man and ribald wit.
"Give me crack and careless sex," he rumbled on the early The Future, before, a few songs later taking us to that scene in Chelsea Hotel #2 with the unmade bed and an obliging Janis Joplin.
Along the way he reclaimed the much-covered likes of Bird on a Wire, delivered with a punchy blues guitar and Hallelujah got an inevitable standing ovation, with Cohen resisting the urge to make it a centrepiece or obvious encore.
The energy dipped occasionally along the way and those multiple encores sure made no effort in leaving us wanting more.
But the occasional sense of languor was just as frequently leavened with solo turns by Javier Mas on 12-string bandurria and near the end, a magic moment by backing singers the Webb sisters who, after Cohen's spoken early verses, took If it Be Your Will somewhere celestial with their intertwined voices, guitar and harp.
At the end Cohen thanked the faithful "for keeping these songs alive", an admirable sentiment.
But he had returned the compliment, and then some, in a show which brought all those verses to life in all their literate glory.
This wasn't an old Laughing Len looking back in some nostalgia exercise, but Cohen the performer revealing the depths of his glorious songs. And doing it quite brilliantly.
Auckland, New Zealand
Gig review: Leonard Cohen in Auckland
Stuff.co.nz
- January 23, 2009 by Michael Field (Photos: Ben Watson)
Can an ancient scribe hold an audience for two hours? Reviewer Michael Field says he sure can.
Leonard Cohen's Auckland performance was as close to perfection in live music - and poetry - as you will ever get.
He came onstage to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd; he left it just over two hours later to repeated stage calls.
That distinctive voice is unchanged and powerful.
"I was last here 15 years ago, I was 60-years-old, a kid with a dream," he says with a beguiling smile complementing his very droll sense of humour.
Most of the songs were there: Bird On A Wire, Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye, Suzanne and Hallelujah.
They sounded fresh and new and in the concrete pit that is Vector, they sounded clear.
Way up high, every word was there, every note from his nine-piece band.
Like solid classics, the basics have not been changed, yet they sound fresh and relevant.
Cohen is solidly political and yet strikingly naďve for a 75-year-old.
The lyrics are often very sexual, yet always sensual, subtle and, at times, simply sweet.
When he speaks to his audience there is a striking humility and humanity.
And always that droll humour, noting he had delved into philosophies and religions, yet "cheerfulness keeps breaking through".
Cohen comes across as an utter gentleman, caring of his marvellous band.
Lead backing singer Sharon Robinson could easily hold an audience in a smoke-filled-bar; in Vector her solo number had the audience wanting more. And Hattie and Charlotte Webb proved spellbinding.
The highlight though was Cohen's awesome political statement, Democracy Is Coming To The USA.
He flies out today to play his first USA show in 15 years next week and the song is set to be the new anthem of our times.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the USA
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
Cohen's Auckland concert would have been sublime perfection had one small oversight been corrected - he didn't do Sisters Of Mercy...
All the same, it was an honour to be there.
Auckland, New Zealand
Noelle McCarthy: Backward glance to simply joyous night
NZ Herald News
- January 31, 2009 by Noelle McCarthy
I said I'd be writing about Leonard Cohen this week, having run out of room last week to talk about the singularly uplifting show he played at the Vector arena. A week is a long time in column land I know, and Leonard's been and gone, but there are still things about that night I think are worth mentioning.
Not that I'm any good for a review, really, to be honest I've forgotten most of the set list since last Thursday. I didn't know the song he opened with and while I recall the last number was an elegant and thoughtful way of saying goodbye, I can't remember the name of it to save my life.
Truth to tell, I wasn't really as much of a long-time fan as the diehards who surrounded me in their beaming, swaying hundreds, tears streaming down their faces as they listened to the likes of If it be your will and of course, Hallelujah. I did have the obligatory Laughing Len epiphany, discovering his lyrics at the age of 17.
We'd sit at the back of Mrs Breen's English class, passing around the lyrics to Suzanne or Bird on a wire, marvelling at their sad, mysterious sensuality when we were supposed to be making sense of Milton, or Patrick Kavanagh.
In terms of the songwriters who made us yearn for life, lust and experience, Cohen was up there with Dylan and Billy Corgan. We grew up though, and Suzanne somehow got left behind, with the poetry textbooks and homework journals and pregnancy scares.
It's been years since I heard any of his songs. Which is probably what made it such a remarkable thing to be a part of a decorous and devout cast of thousands worshipping at the altar of Len at Vector last week. A rapt crowd who greeted their idol with a standing ovation and found it difficult to keep their seats throughout the night, such was their delight at being part of the audience who received him.
For me the highlights were the songs that came with memories. I can't hear the arch incantation of Everybody knows without thinking of the devastatingly sexy arch of Christian Slater's eyebrow in Pump up the Volume, back when he was being funny and adorable, before he got fat and strange and started brawling with women on the street.
Famous blue raincoat is a song from the days of swooning, back when I knew the value of a good swoon and there were a few fellas of my acquaintance who benefited from that. New to me was 10,000 kisses deep, which proved I still have a swoon or two in me somewhere.
In fairness though, Leonard Cohen is a performer possessed of enough charm to make a graven idol tremble. From the moment he bounded on stage in all his puckish glory he had us in the palm of his hand, and he proceeded to woo and caress us all in turn, men and women, old and young alike until he had stroked and sung us into a satisfied kind of reverie, delivering us into the night beaming and content, if just a little disoriented from the wonder of it.
Much has been made of his "eerie" charm, his power over women. Believe it all and more. It was certainly enough to captivate me - 74 or not, I'd have willingly followed him home. I'm more than a little ashamed to admit that actually, I was saving myself for when Ryan Adams hits town next week.
But the one moment that sealed the deal, that turned the night from singular and special to completely unforgettable, happened right at the end. When I say right at the end, I mean after one of the innumerable encores that Leonard was kind enough to give us that evening.
I don't like encores, usually. They seem like an unnecessary protraction, a self-indulgent little pantomime designed to whip up gratitude and heighten feeling. And they always make me nervous; I'm afraid that if I don't clap long enough, don't shout loud enough I'm not really doing my bit as a diligent member of the crowd.
That the artist won't feel loved enough and will decide to just feck off home instead of playing the one more song that everybody wants. It's a strain. And of course it's pointless, because they always do play the one more that everybody wants, whether I shout and roar or stand there mute as a stone. Encores are a bit of a have.
This one was different though, of course it was. After one of his approximately 36 encores, a woman in the front row reached under her seat and threw a bunch of flowers at Leonard Cohen (he got knickers as well I think; obviously I am not the only one who believes he's still Got It). Off he skipped away, off stage, carrying the lovely bouquet with him.
I was sitting in a spot where I could see into one of the wings, and I watched him there, on-side of stage, pause, and bury his nose in the flowers. Leonard Cohen literally stopped and smelled the roses. And then came back and did what seemed like another 10 encores, and sent us all home happy, feeling more like members of a particularly blessed, joyous, literate congregation than punters at a gig.
Watching him do that did more for my resolve to get what enjoyment I can out of life, while I can, than any self-help manual ever will.
The ticket to the concert was a gift, and I'm very grateful to the giver, because it's one that's kept on giving. Ryan Adams and I have been soul mates for years now (in my head if nowhere else), but he's going to have to pull it out of the hat when he plays here next week, if he's to stand any chance of living up to Len.
Yarra Valley, Australia
Set List - January 24, 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
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
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
Yarra Valley, Australia
Still plenty of life in this ladies' man
The Age
- January 25, 2009 by Michelle Griffin
LEONARD Cohen is like a horse whisperer, only for women. Even at 74, the dapper rogue could provoke sighs from women in the audience at Rochford Winery last night with his courtly songs of sex and regret. When he growled his sleazy 1988 classic I'm Your Man, women leapt from their picnic blankets to yell: "Yes, you are!"
At his first Australian concert in 24 years, Cohen seduced 7000 people — women and men — with an act polished by a year's touring and a lifetime perfecting his pitch: he charmed us, he moved us, and then he broke it to us gently. "I tried to leave you," he sang at his third and final encore.
Cohen is a funny man. The jokes may be bleak but he tells them with a rueful smile. "It's been a long time, about 15 years since I was on stage," he told the crowd. "When I was 60, a young kid with a crazy dream."
He may look frail, but Cohen put paid to his morose reputation with a vibrant set that lasted almost three hours. He certainly didn't perform like a man forced out of retirement to sing for his pension fund. Dressed like a preacher in three-piece suit, string tie and fedora, he literally skipped on and off stage between sets, swung tight-fisted like Sinatra during musical interludes, and performed a "white man dance" to whooping applause.
Cohen's baritone is, as he cheerfully admits, a rough diamond. His martini-dry vocals are complemented by a nine-piece band of accomplished musicians and singers, led by his long-time musical director, bassist Roscoe Beck. Folk classics Suzanne and Chelsea Hotel #2 were presented simply, but many highlights came from more recent songs, such as the witty Everybody Knows, soaring Anthem and wry calling card Tower of Song (featuring Cohen's one-handed synthesiser solo!)
Hallelujah came halfway through the second set. Cohen fell to his knees to wrest his best-known song back from all the artists who have covered it — Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, UK Idol's Alexandra Burke — and rediscovered its wild, black heart. Later, Cohen ceded control of lovely hymn If It Be Your Will to the angelic voices of the Webb sisters. Then he roared back into focus with the song of the night, a rocking and timely rendition of his 1992 number Democracy Is Coming to the USA.
Yarra Valley, Australia
Green Grass, Sunshine, Wine and Leonard Cohen
Melbourne Live
- January 24, 2009 by Lyn Geisel
The Prince of precision, Leonard Cohen, graced the Rochford winery in the Yarra Valley for A Day on the Green, a 74 year young man and a nearly sold out crowd. The sunshine was just enough and the punters were in their element. On stage Leonard brought a full band, all wearing black suits, consisting of Dean on sax who is the master of breath we’re told, Bob on electric guitar, Raphael on drums, Neil on keyboards and piano accordion, Russell on bass guitar and double bass, singer and co writer Sharon Robinson (who co wrote Everybody Knows) and Hattie and Charley, who are sisters, and they are the other two backing singers.
This is Leonard’s first tour of Australia in 24 years, so naturally the crowd are ready to hear his music. The crowd is a mixed lot, the older crowd is a-plenty and many young people flood through the gates. You may wonder if Leonard can still hold the crowd and he shows us that he defiantly can. With his beautiful Canadian accent he talks to the crowd and his singing voice takes us on a magical experience.
After almost every song the crowd erupts from their seats with applause, some punters are in tears over the music. Leonard seems a humble man who feels blessed at the crowd’s reaction to his music.
Sharon sings Boogie st and her voice is glorious, she could easily have her own sold out show throughout Australia. Such a fabulous voice that I’m jealous of!
Leonard sings songs which include Tower of Song, Everybody Knows, Suzanne (a song about a former wife of a friend and not his ex wife), Gypsy Wife, Hallelujah and So long Marianne. Leonard talks the song A Thousand Kisses which again brings people around me in tears and I can hear people talking the lyrics with Leonard. After the first set Leonard runs of stage whilst doing some small high kicks!
Whilst watching the show I see flocks of ducks fly overhead and cockatoos screeching above the crowd - are they too enjoying the beautiful music that fills the sky tonight?
Leonard tells us the complexities of life are ‘do da dum dum’ and this we take away with us! Leonard has suffered from depression throughout his life and his music often reflects this, but the songs often reflect war, politics, cultural and sexual themes. His live set wasn’t as depressing as I thought it could be, quite the opposite actually.
Leonard bows to his band members when introducing them and he looks at them all with passion when they performing their solo’s. Whilst watching him I cannot help but feel blessed at seeing such a humble and passionate man.
I enjoyed drinking some wine and listening to the magical voice of Leonard and I wondered if he was like a fine wine that gets better with age.
Yarra Valley, Australia
Hallelujah: Cohen rules
Star News
- January 27, 2009 by Kath Gannaway
LEONARD Cohen seduced 7000 people at Rochford Winery on Saturday night, the majority long-time fans of the now 74-year-old, but others newly annointed - teenagers, families and 30-somethings.
Some came for Australia’s own poet-songwriter Paul Kelly, others cited the Choir of Hard Knocks’ cover of Cohen’s Hallelujah as their introduction.
If Rochford were looking for support for its argument that its serves a cultural and economic purpose to the region, they found it in the Canadian. While the majority of the audience came from out of the valley, there were still a substantial number of local faces among the huge crowd.
Cohen skipped onto the stage to massive applause, and it didn’t stop all night.
In a dark suit, pencil tie and Fedora, he was on stage for three hours, including an eight-song encore.
With the parched hills and green vineyards as a backdrop, people simply couldn’t get enough of the music and words that can bring tears to many an eye – Suzanne, Everybody Knows, the seductive I’m Your Man, Bird on a Wire, his masterpiece Hallelujah, delivered with aching passion, and the spoken Thousand Kisses Deep ... among his best.
“It’s a great honour to play for you this afternoon,” he said, but clearly, the honour was with the audience likely appreciating that as it was Cohen’s first tour in 24 years, it was a life-time opportunity.
“It’s a privilege to gather in a place like this,” he continued “ ... in a peaceful country when so much of the world is lost in chaos and suffering.
“So ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
Cohen skipped off stage to a prolonged standing ovation ... and that was just interval.
His music reflects in profound terms on war, sex, politics and life in general at its most complex, but there were also lighter moments from the man who talks of his younger days - at 60 - when “I was just a kid with a crazy dream”.
Suzanne Halliday, founder of the Yarra Valley Regional Food Group and co-founder of Coldstream Hills Wines, was one who spoke out in support of the concert series after complaints last year from nearby residents about noise and disruption to traffic.
“We should all be really proud that Rochford can host such a world-class event,” Ms Halliday said. “Their concerts cater for people of all walks of life and they do it brilliantly. Anybody who came from anywhere in the world would be impressed. “I’m just so proud to be in the Yarra Valley and see this carried off so well.”
Yarra Valley, Australia
TONY PRYTZ: Hallelujah, Cohen's a marvel
IT seems funny to say that the best concert you have seen was by a 73-year-old man wearing a suit and hat in a paddock 50km north of Melbourne.
But that is what Leonard Cohen does to you.
While not the most assiduous concert-goer in Australia, in my younger day I did see The Stones in 1973 and Led Zeppelin in 1972 at Kooyong, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers at Festival Hall, also in 1973.
(That also being my VCE year could explain why my results were not as great as some of us might have hoped at the time.)
But it does mean that when I make the above statement I do have something to compare with.
While it was good to see Mick and Keef do Jumpin' Jack Flash and Robert and Jimmy do Stairway those performances pale in comparison to what about 7000 people saw at the Rochford Winery at Coldstream on Saturday.
The crowd was mesmerised from the moment he bounced on stage with the verve of a 17-year-old and started into his first song.
Like me, I think, most of the people there could not believe they were seeing in the flesh the man they had listened to for almost 40 years.
It was hard to believe that the man who wrote Suzanne, Bird on the Wire, Tower of Song, Hallelujah and Famous Blue Raincoat was just over there singing those songs for us ... and sounding so good.
A friend had come down from Darwin for the concert and when we met up at half time we both said the same thing _ that you got your money's worth as soon as he sang the first words of the first song.
The great thing was Cohen seemed to be really enjoying it also. He had a smile of delight on his face the whole night. He just seemed like a really nice man.
He said he was privileged to be playing in a peaceful setting in a peaceful country in a world where much was in chaos.
I never understood the people who said they found his music depressing. To me his words have always been inspiring and uplifting.
He also is an artist and he was performing his works and was happy to do so.
He did not do the modern thing of "No, I am not going to play any of that old stuff. Here is something I wrote on the bus on the way out here''.
He sang classic after classic for three hours and his voice and his superb supporting musicians were faultless all night.
He thanked us for coming out to hear a "few shabby songs'' he had written and he thanked us for keeping his music alive.
No worries, Leonard, it's been a pleasure.
Yarra Valley, Australia
Leonard Cohen spreads a handsome sermon of hope
The Courier-Mail
- January 30, 2009 by Kathleen Noonan
IT WAS Chateau Latour, a beautiful and expensive wine vintners had worked on for 1000 years, that proved the downfall of Leonard Cohen when he last toured 15 years ago.
Then, he was drinking three bottles a day before every concert, to drown nerves and bring to heel, temporarily, the black dog of depression.
"I only drank professionally," was how he described the habit. Problem was, it was a long tour, 60 to 70 concerts. It wrecked his health.
So, there's a strange irony to be sitting in the Rochford Winery in Victoria's Yarra Valley last Saturday, waiting for Cohen to come on stage for his first concert on Australian soil in more than 20 years. Surrounded by grape vines, we sit drinking pinot noir, and let the sun warm our backs – all 7000 of us – and wait.
Cohen skips on stage. "Goddamn, he looks good!"' This from one of the 20-something women sitting behind me, when the legendary Montreal-born poet, songwriter and performer appears. They know all the words to his songs.
The 74-year-old is a chick magnet. That long face, dark eyes, those wonderful wicked words. No wonder Bono called him our Lord Byron. For three hours with a brief break, he produced a precisely honed performance that comes from a year of touring.
Cat in a hat
There's no denying Cohen, in an elegant dark-three-piece suit and his silvery hair under his signature dark fedora, has aged well. His handsome Easter Island statue profile suits a hat like no man I know. His father was an engineer who ended up in the clothing trade, thus the sharp Armani suits.
On stage, this ladies man is gracious and humble, flirts with courtly dignity. He gets away with lines like this, from A Thousands Kisses Deep: You came to me this morning/And you handled me like meat./You'd have to be a man to know how good that feels, how sweet. And women still think he's a gentleman.
Last Saturday, as dusk falls on the vineyard, after a strangely subdued performance by Paul Kelly, fingers of light creep westward and the cool wind of evening comes in. Yet the moon doesn't rise. The stars stay hidden. It is as if they know not to bother.
There is only one source of light. Cohen shines, on stage and on two big screens, eyes shut, on one knee, long preacher hands grasping at the microphone.
It is a joyful Cohen on stage with Dance Me To The End of Love, even breaking into a "white man's dance". When he swings like Sinatra, someone yells: "The cat in the hat is back."
Witty
For a man long dubbed morose, his chat is ruefully funny. "It's been a long time, about 15 years since I was on stage – when I was 60, a young kid with a crazy dream."
Even the most ordinary of sentences are phrased like poetry. After each song, it's a modest, smiling Cohen who acknowledges the wild applause, hat humbly on heart.
He introduces with great passion his nine-piece band, led by long-time musical director Roscoe Beck.
English sisters Charley and Hattie Webb pull off some neat acrobatics and If It Be Your Will and long-time musical collaborator, Sharon Robinson delivers a mesmerising Boogie Street.
Javier Mas of Barcelona, who learnt rock 'n roll from records of The Kinks and The Who, captures new fans on a 12-string bandurria and guitar. Cohen cleverly slips Hallelujah halfway through, stopping anyone calling for it as the night went on. On his knees, he proves, despite covers by Jeff Buckley to Rufus Wainwright, it belongs to his rough baritone, that's become deeper with the years.
I could write about the many encores and the nine standing ovations. But I won't tell you any more of what's in store if you're planning the drive to the Entertainment Centre on February 3 for his Brisbane concert.
Church of Cohen
As the departing crowd walks from the vineyard into the cold navy dark, someone breaks the silence, says it felt like being part of a spiritual experience. It did. We were worshipping at the Church of Cohen. No, the Church of Life. He represents hope.
His songs tell us that no matter how much regret, and stuffed relationships, and failed finances, and wrestling with alcohol and depression, no matter how many failings and weaknesses we have, we can find redemption or at least, peace.
In a recent interview, he said even he has somehow righted the shipwreck.
Elsewhere in the vineyard that night are three brothers, Don, Keith and Bill, who have been trying like madmen to right a shipwreck too.
Don, a big Cohen fan, was diagnosed with lung cancer last year during a low ebb after his wife left. He wasn't close to his family. He was alone, floundering, clutching handfuls of darkness.
Finally, he tells Bill and Keith. And the Brisbane brothers, surprising him and themselves, swing into action, taking over his care, home, finances and recovery.
"They even, when needed, wiped my arse," says Don, laughing with a youngest child's delight. And they organised his Cohen tickets.
Boy's Own
I wrote about this Boy's Own Adventure back in November. Bill rang Don and said: "There are three tickets. We're not going without you, come hell or high water. Even if we have to carry you, holding you aloft like some prince."
They didn't have to carry him. Chemo finished, he's still got, in Cohen's words, a second-hand physique, but he's shaken off the yellow sheen of cancer.
Late in the vineyard, when the cold takes grip, they give up their upfront seats to throw down a picnic blanket up the back, so Don can stretch out and Keith and Bill can huddle close to keep him warm.
After the show, the bloke nearby says: "Now I've seen Cohen I can die happy."
Don says: "Bugger that. Cohen sang 'I ache in the places where I used to play'. So do I, but I'm planning on doing a lot more playing yet."
Yarra Valley, Australia
Blogs, Photos and Other Fan Reports
 An photo stream of Leonard in concert by fille_gentille.
Blog - The Rachel Papers - "A night with Leonard Cohen in Australia"
Rarely do you have the privilege of being at a gig where the music means so much to the people watching...
 An photo array of rare photos by Fauxmantic backstage before the concert and during soundcheck.
Discuss the tour and read fan reviews on The Leonard Cohen Forum and in French on the Leonard Cohen Forum (French site).
Adelaide, Australia
Set List - January 26, 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
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
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
Adelaide, Australia
Cohen in a comeback hallelujah
AdelaideNow
- January 27, 2009 by Tim Lloyd
ABOUT 7000 people spent a warm Australia Day with one of America's great songwriters, Leonard Cohen, helped out by singer songwriter Paul Kelly and band Augie March.
Five decades of Cohen's songs are weaved into the fabric of popular music, whether it be Joe Cocker singing Bird on a Wire, or Nick Cave with Hallelujah.
Cohen himself, now 74, has not been to Australia, or other stages, since 1994-95 and has seemed increasingly reclusive.
"It's been a long time since I stood on stage," he told the crowd at Leconfield Winery in McLaren Vale last night. "It was 15 years ago. I was 60 years old: Just a crazy dream.
"Since then I have taken a lot of Prozac, Zoloft . . . I also entered into a deep study of religion and philosophy, but cheerfulness kept breaking through."
He instantly revived a connection with his audience through Dance Me to the End of Love, surrounded by the sea of vines of McLaren Vale and with the Willunga Hills behind him brilliantly lit in the sunset.
Cohen, Kelly and other songwriters who sing seem to find particular spaces between their words that give authenticity to shades of meaning. To hear the great songs like Suzanne, So Long Marianne, First We Take Manhattan, Hallelujah and Bird on a Wire brought to definition one more time is an experience most will cherish.
Somehow, the fedora hat perched on his head, together with the chemistry of the songs deeply felt, gives the singer the appearance of a kind of shaman. In any case, there was a kind of reverence in the audience for the experience.
His six-piece band is led by Javier Mas who produces several beautiful solos on exotic guitars, works of art in themselves but still poised for Cohen's rejoinders in song.
Adelaide, Australia
Leonard Cohen exudes charisma
AdelaideNow
- January 31, 2009 by Paul Nassari
MASTER songsmith Leonard Cohen's appearance at A Day On The Green with his nine-piece band was a stunner, burned into the memory of all present.
LEONARD COHEN Leconfield Winery, Monday January 26
***1/2
Well into his seventies, Cohen exudes massive amounts of charisma. His deep baritone rumbled across the vineyards of McLaren Vale, sweeping up the hearts and imaginations of all present. Support acts Augie March and Paul Kelly deserve a special mention as both performed admirably as they baked visibly under the hot Australia Day sun. However, the day belonged to Cohen. With a twinkle in his eye throughout, the playful Cohen and co put on a show to die for. His impeccable band were inspired performers drawing on traditional, Latino, jazz and many other influences, never over playing or detracting from their focal point. His trio of pitch perfect backing vocalists deserve individual mention. They included the esteemed Sharon Robinson (a long-time Cohen collaborator and co-writer. She took soulful lead vocals for Boogie Street) and the Webb Sisters playing harp and acoustic guitar, taking the lead for the gorgeous If It Be Your Will after the boss performed the first verse as a poem and performing smiling, synchronised cartwheels in time as Cohen altered his own lyrics from The Future to "and the white girls dancing").Though he delved into some of his more darkly humorous (such as the blackly funny Everybody Knows), religious (Who By Fire) and even political work (The Future and set closer Democracy), the lion's share of the material showcased Cohen's extraordinary observations on love. Old favourites (Bird On A Wire, Chelsea Hotel No.2, Suzanne, Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye, and a majestic Hallelujah) stood side-by-side with sumptuous treatments of newer works such as A Thousand Kisses Deep, and In My Secret Life from 2001's Ten New Songs. Nature provided an extra treat as the two and a half hour show was divided into two sets (the first in daylight and drawing to a close just on sunset with the video screens projecting up a glorious burning orange slice of sun as Cohen sang "there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in" from Anthem). The rest came in the dark night with stars shining overhead and the effect was sublime. The only gripe that I and most in general admission had - was in the inability to get close enough to the stage to truly soak up the mastery. Fortune favoured the financially viable meaning there was no way eager punters in the cheaper seats could get any closer than the mixing desk. However this was a small complaint considering the excellence of the performance. There could be little doubt that for me (and, judging by the loud applause, I was not alone) this was one of the finest shows I have had the privilege to witness.
Adelaide, Australia
Leonard Cohen - A Day on the Green @ Leconfield Winery, Adelaide (26/01/09)
FasterLouder.com.au
- February 2, 2009 by DJ Ian Maiden (Photos: rodismdotcom)
As Leonard Cohen recites A Thousand Kisses Deep way into the second hour of his show, the audience is hushed, hanging on every breathy word, completely enraptured. Out in a field with thousands of true believers, it’s like the Sermon on the Mount, but with better poetry (and a smarter suit).
These Day on the Green shows are different to most gigs. Sure there is still a stage and a PA, but the audience is a lot older, cashed up and generally a little upmarket. This is only a problem with this tiered seating system (Gold, Silver and GA) – it means if you haven’t got the bucks to sit down front, you are quite a long way from the stage and you see much of the show as if on a big TV. It also means that if you do have the bucks for the gold or silver seats, you have to deal with people who feel like they can eat chicken and talk about their holidays while the bands are on (and I am specifically looking at you, Silver section B2, row A). That said, the staging and organisation was exemplary. An excellent shuttle service from the town to the gig deserves noting, as do the reasonable food and drink prices and helpful staff.
The start of the day was uncomfortable, with the sun pounding down on the thousands of people as they make their way to the site. But soon Augie March takes to the stage and despite baking in the sun’s glare (aimed straight at the stage) their semi-acoustic set (aided by Dan Kelly) was enthusiastically met by the early crowd.
Paul Kelly turned in his usual sterling set and was the perfect choice for this gig. His songs are perhaps a little less maudlin than Mr Cohen’s, but they pluck the heart strings in a similarly deep place. When I First Met Your Ma in particular is just plain glorious this afternoon.
At 7.30, the sun setting yet still fierce, Leonard Cohen (75 years old) runs onto the stage in a suit and snappy hat, joins his sharply dressed nine-piece band and starts singing Dance Me to the End of Love. From the first line it is breath-taking and goose-bump inspiring. His voice is magnificent and the band immaculate. It is quite possibly the best live sound at an outdoor venue I have ever heard. For the next two and a half hours, this concert was a dream. Unlike some legends of his age and standing, Cohen delivers pretty much a ‘hits’ package, in their original arrangements, feeling no need to change tempos, arrangements or genres to keep himself amused (hey, we’ve all seen Dylan) – just all those classic songs performed precisely the way this audience wanted them performed. The first set included Bird on a Wire, an exhilarating Everybody Knows, Who by Fire and incredibly moving renditions of In my Secret Life and Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye. But the first set highlight was Chelsea Hotel #2. When he delivers the line “Giving me head, on the unmade bed, while the limousines wait in the street” there are squeals of delight from all over the valley. Leonard Cohen is still pretty sexy, with a glint in his eye and suggestive curl on his lip, it is clear that the powerful lust and longing that were such a part of his appeal are still intact. “You told me again you preferred handsome men, but for me you would make an exception” and the squeals turn to screams as it would seem many in the audience would make the same exception. And, as the band vamps, Leonard skips off the stage.
After a short break, the sun has gone down and the dusk is warm but more comfortable. Mr Cohen again runs onto the stage and they launch into Tower Of Song and the level of awe reaches new heights. The rest of the set is pure genius. Suzanne, The Partisan, I’m Your Man (more screams at the line “I’ll examine every precious little inch of you”). Hallelujah is almost biblical – people are crying, singing along, swelling with emotion at seeing this great man, this legend, this artist, performing this masterwork of modern song. Many are overwhelmed. At various points when members of his band are taking solos, Leonard can be seen to be completely enraptured by their grace
and talent, as enamoured of his fellow musicians as the audience was with him. Whilst reciting A Thousand Kisses Deep, we are reminded why this talented man is so loved by this audience. The power, the velocity and pinpoint precision of his words to their emotional target is unparalleled. The entire vineyard is in complete silence, as his breathy baritone drawls:
“The autumn slipped across your skin
Got something in my eye
A Light that doesn’t need to live
And doesn’t need to die
A riddle in the book of love
Obscure and obsolete
‘Til witnessed here in time and blood
A thousand kisses deep”
When he finishes the entire vineyard erupts with one of many standing ovations (I counted fourteen) and the band vamps into the set closer Take This Waltz. After again skipping from the stage, Leonard soon returns for three encores. So Long Marianne and First We Take Manhattan were staggering and seemingly unbeatable until the second round of Famous Blue Raincoat, If It Be Your Will and the more recent Democracy. This third song from his 1992 album The Future has quite some new resonance with Obama in the White House :
“I’m sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can’t stand the scene.
And I’m neither left or right
I’m just staying home tonight,
Getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I’m stubborn as those garbage bags that Time cannot decay
I’m junk but I’m still holding up this little wild bouquet
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
The finale encore is an amusing choice I Tried to Leave You, which is met with thunderous applause and a final lingering standing ovation. He removes his hat, takes a humble bow and thanks us for coming. As we trudge out of this vineyard, back to the shuttle buses, then back to our cars, and back to our lives people are breaking out in song, spontaneous communal sing along from people who have waited all their lives for a chance to experience Leonard Cohen in the flesh.
This night will be remembered by one and all as one of the truly great performances of our lives.
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