She & Him  | |
 | Leonard Cohen |
| Gary Louris | |
| STARS & MIRACLE FORTRESS | |
| Josh Rouse | |
| Born Ruffians & Caribou | |
| Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band | |
| The Bicycles | |
| The Police | |
| Edwin McCain & Low Stars |
Leonard Cohen June 7, 2008 Reviewed by Adam D. Miller Canadian poet-singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s first tour in 15 years has taken him through his native country and parts of Europe. With no new album to promote, and a talented and versatile group of musicians on board, Cohen has been free to construct a setlist featuring early favorites like “Bird on the Wire,” 80s-era hits like “First We Take Manhattan” and newer material like “In My Secret Life” for his three hour performance. Cohen’s popularity in Canada forced two sold-out Toronto performances to become three, and eventually when that performance sold out, four. The enthusiastic audience was thrilled to have the chance to see a legend in action, as the bard and his band kicked things off right away with inspired renditions of “Dance Me To The End of Love” and “The Future.” Other highlights of Cohen’s early set included “Everybody Knows,” featuring upright bass and pedal steel in place of the synthesizers prevalent on the I’m Your Man version, and “Who By Fire,” one of a handful of songs on which Cohen played guitar. Much credit is owed to Cohen’s remarkable band, which featured longtime Cohen collaborator Roscoe Beck on bass (also serving as musical director), Neil Larsen on keyboards, Bob Metzger on guitar, Javier Mas on bandurria, Rafael Gayol on drums and Dino Soldo on keyboard and woodwinds. These talented musicians brought these often-complex songs to life, and Cohen was the first to acknowledge their brilliance, introducing each member to the audience no less than four or five times over the course of the evening. After a short break, Cohen returned to the stage, where a keyboard was waiting for him. Comically, Cohen pressed a single button to launch the familiar synthesizer intro to “Tower of Song.” Another great performance that showcased Cohen’s distinctive baritone, some audience members clearly weren’t as familiar with the song as others, responding to lines like “I said to Hank Williams, how lonely does it get? Hank Williams hasn’t answered me yet” with eruptions of laughter. Everyone was familiar with Cohen’s next song, “Suzanne,” responding with a lot of enthusiasm. Along with “Bird On The Wire,” “Suzanne” was the only pre-1970 song to feature during the evening’s performance. It was a stunning rendition of a true classic. Some of the biggest cheers of the night came during “Hallelujah,” which, thanks to popular renditions by Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, John Cale and k.d. lang (among others), has become one of Cohen’s most popular songs. Choruses were met with huge explosions of applause on more than a couple occasions. They were well-deserved, as the song proved to be one of the biggest highlights of the night. Cohen closed off the remainder of his main set with a bang, delivering “I’m Your Man” and “Take This Waltz,” with a spoken-word recitation of “A Thousand Kisses Deep” sandwiched in between. Most in the audience would have been content to hear Cohen read aloud the phonebook in his raw emotional tone; the fact that he was performing some of his most loved songs was a wonderful bonus. For his encore, Cohen re-emerged for “Waiting For The Miracle” and the fantastic “First We Take Manhattan,” featuring a trio of female backing vocalists, including Cohen’s longtime collaborator Sharon Robinson and the extremely talented Webb Sisters, who had earlier shined on “Ain’t No Cure For Love” and other vocal-heavy songs. The Webb Sisters were featured again later, on a beautiful version of “If It Be Your Will,” that just about brought the house down. With tickets ranging between $90 and $250, Cohen’s Toronto concerts were hardly a bargain. But the shared feeling among the entire audience as they walked out of this concert (and undoubtedly the other concerts on this tour) was priceless. Even though Cohen has been performing music for forty years, he still genuinely seems to enjoy it. And boy, did he deliver. |  |
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