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dce wrote:... there was even a moment late in the second set when an enthusiastic fan in the front row tossed a small gift for Leonard up onto the stage. Nice.

dce wrote:The big happening in this song, however, was towards the very end of the song when a small soft-toy kangaroo sailed from the front row in a majestic arc to end up on the stage next to Leonard. He picked it up, acknowledged it and put it down on an amp behind him. Sharon looked on with a big smile on her face. Dean (from Adelaide)

In the presence of greatness
Joshua Hoey
November 7, 2010 - 5:02PM


Leonard Cohen in Brisbane.

It is redundant to use superlatives in a review of Leonard Cohen, yet it is also unavoidable.

Simply put, Cohen is the greatest singer-songwriter of the last century: Bob Dylan would be the only other artist who could also be considered deserving of this title.

Since 1967, Cohen has recorded eleven studio albums, five live albums, four compilation albums, and has been the subject of five tribute albums. He has also published two novels and 10 collections of poetry, prose, songs, drawings and psalms.

Cohen has received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, is a Companion of the Order of Canada, and was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010.

To be perfectly honest, I don't even know why I got a review ticket to his show at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last night. I'm just thankful that I did. The man is mesmerising.

Cohen turned 76 this year, and many critics now talk about his frailty and old age. Just last year he collapsed in Valencia, Spain, during a performance of Bird on the Wire.

Yet, the only hint of ageing last night was Cohen's greying hair under his iconic Stetson fedora. He ran on stage at the opening of his performance, skipped off again for the interval, performed 24 songs, recited one poem, and gave two encores.

Cohen tours with six musicians, back-up singers the Webb Sisters, his collaborator Sharon Robinson and, as a group, they produce a show that stands alone lyrically and musically.

Javier Mas is, as Cohen repeatedly declared last night, a master virtuoso on the archilaud and twelve-string guitar. Mas's solo introduction to Who By Fire was one of the highlights of the show.

Dino Soldo is charismatic on saxophone and wind instruments; Cohen repeatedly doffed his fedora in recognition of Soldo's improvisations.

Cohen's keyboardist, Neil Larsen, has received a Grammy nomination and the tour's music director, Roscoe Bec, designed a signature five-string bass guitar for Fender.

Yet for all the musicians' talent, the pinnacle of last night's show was a set of three tracks performed by Cohen, alone, after the interval: Tower of Song, Suzanne and Avalanche.

There was no multimedia show, no flamboyant lighting, no rock star histrionics, just Cohen, his guitar, a microphone and minimal lighting, and the audience was captivated.

It is increasingly rare to witness a performance of such simplicity and intimacy and it is a credit to Cohen that he still puts on such a show and is able to completely transfix an audience in a venue as bleak and charmless as the BEC.

Cohen performed all of his well-known and well-loved tracks, including Everybody Knows, Chelsea Hotel, Anthem, Suzanne, Hallelujah, I'm Your Man, So Long, Marianne and Famous Blue Raincoat.

Musically, the songs are classics but it is Cohen's gravel voice and lyrics that hook into you and don't let you go. His collections of poetry and his novels have received a number of awards and this literary background is evident in Cohen's lyrics.

In Take this Waltz, for example, Cohen plays on lines from Federico García Lorca's poem Little Viennese Waltz. Biblical and religious themes are also a regular feature of Cohen's lyrics, as in The Darkness, Born in Chains, and Hallelujah.

Yet for all his prodigious talent, charisma and charm, Cohen appears humble and grounded. Performers of Cohen's stature regularly name and thank their band members and back-up singers but Cohen went further last night, thanking sound technicians, lighting technicians and stage directors by their full names.

Later this month, on the 20th, Cohen will be performing at Hanging Rock, Victoria. The show is sure to be one of the Cohen's most memorable and if you have the chance, get there anyway you can.

B4real wrote:I have just arrived home and starting to sort out things,

Last night I was given this set list by an unnamed extremely kind and generous UHTC member

Brisbane-Set-List-6.11.2010.jpg

It appears similar to the NZ one but the following is what happened in Brisbane.

That Don't Make It Junk (not performed)

The Darkness and Born In Chains (both sung)

Avalanche (was sung)

Poem ( actually A Thousand Kisses Deep recitation)

Closing Time (last song sung)

B4real wrote: I had procrastinated all week about doing this and finally got up enough dutch courage to do it. I lobbed, on a strategically placed path, an Australian Kangaroo singing Waltzing Matilda as it flew through the air towards it's alloted position on the stage. Before Leonard picked it up there was a fleeting look on his face of "what is that?" but when he realised it was in fact harmless, he cupped his hands and bowed generously in acknowledgment and acceptance.

wombat writer wrote:Great review Dean. It was a pleasure to meet you and thanks so much for the lanyard. I've posted my own small review also at http://karenleethompson.wordpress.com and have linked to your blog.
Are you going to the Hobart concert? My mother is going and I would love for her to have a lanyard.

Staring down the years and masterfully in control
Sean Sennett From: The Australian November 08, 2010 12:00AM


Leonard Cohen is back in Australia for the second time in two years.
Source: AFP

Leonard Cohen
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, November 6
AFTER a hiatus of two decades, Leonard Cohen's return visits to Australia come in quick succession.
On tour in early 2009, he earned rave reviews. Cohen performed a three-hour concert, which was, to an extent, a summation of the artist's work as a singer and songwriter.

There's still a spring in the septuagenarian's step. Impossible to top the first time seeing Cohen, the return engagement is like revisiting a classic film.

Cohen's six-piece band can cruise like an eighteen-wheeler. There's muscle in the engines and dexterity in the playing. Cohen's shows are about shared experience, building an atmosphere, revisiting the past and somehow drawing the audience into the now.

Beginning with Dance Me To The End Of Love, Cohen, resplendent in a dark suit and felt hat, is soon on one knee before the virtuosity of Javier Mas's 12-string archilaud.

Cohen's baritone voice sounds almost below sea level as the ensemble rolls into The Future. As Cohen sings the line "white girls dancin", two of his backing singers, the Webb Sisters, shed their jackets and perform a perfectly synchronised cartwheel.

Bird On A Wire was an early highlight, followed by the lyrical feast of Everybody Knows. Cohen was moving with the agility of a shadow boxer: hitting his mark and somehow making a large room feel small.

As Mas began a long introduction to Who By Fire, Cohen took up an acoustic guitar. Bandleader Roscoe Beck then swapped to double bass and vocalist Sharon Robinson took a verse, as did Hattie Webb, on what's been a song in progress for Cohen over 2010, Born In Chains.

Revisiting more familiar terrain was the paean to Janis Joplin, Chelsea Hotel #2 and the relatively slinky groove of Waiting For The Miracle.

A short intermission was followed by Cohen back on stage in front of an ancient keyboard. As the rhythm kicked in Cohen delivered Tower Of Song replete with the perfect irony of "I was born like this /I had no choice/I was born with the gift of a golden voice".

Suzanne, Sisters Of Mercy and a stirring reading of The Partisan were next. Hallelujah, almost his signature now, was well received and followed by the swaggering I'm Your Man. With the recital of the poem A Thousand Kisses Deep you could have heard a proverbial pin drop. The second set closed with Take This Waltz before Cohen returned for his first encore, So Long, Marianne, Famous Blue Raincoat and First We Take Manhattan. It was a perfect trilogy, and Cohen came back for more.

While it was generous of the performer and well deserved, another two encores followed. Much has been made of Cohen's vigour, the wit and the depth to his writing: it's the songs that will you bring you back. Masterful.

Acer Arena Sydney tonight and tomorrow; Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Friday and Saturday; Derwent Entertainment Centre Hobart November 15; Adelaide Entertainment Centre November 18; Hanging Rock Reserve at Woodend November 20; and Perth NIR Stadium November 24.