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I’m still reminiscing about the Leonard Cohen concert I took in last night here in Vancouver.
So that’s what a ‘rock’ (nah, not rock music, for sure) concert looks like when the average age is somewhere between 55 and 60.
I have been an LC fan for a very long time. He did not disappoint. 3+ solid hours of prophetic and touching poetry, arranged by and with superlative musicians, every note and arpeggio crystal clear (something new to me .. a concert where you could hear everything perfectly without one single instance of thinking that the volume was too loud).
Leonard Cohen was the epitome of grace, elegance and humility, with a sprightly wink of tongue-in-cheek mischief.
I am so very glad I went.
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From the moment he ran onto the stage to open his show Sunday night in Vancouver, Leonard Cohen had everyone’s attention. He set the tone for the evening in his reverential attitude towards the spectacular six-piece band and trio of backing singers, often down on his knees, subjugating himself to their musicianship. The dapper 74-year-old was no less respectful to his audience, playing a generous set, speaking to them politely: “Thank you my friends,” he responded more than once to the enthusiastic crowd.
The unhurriedness of the two-part show and the clarity of Cohen’s lyrics, delivered with rapt conviction in that gravel-basin of a voice transcended the cavernous, impersonal surrounds of GM Place. Truly, it felt like Cohen was singing to each of us as individuals.
Like a preacher with a subversive message to deal, Cohen’s poise and sheer concentration mesmerized: “Follow me,” he might as well have said, because he held us in the palm of his hand.
Religion may be a serious business, but Cohen tempered it with his other passion: sex. There was nothing po-faced about this church. “If you want a lover, I’ll do anything you want me to,” he sang – the opening of I’m Your Man eliciting squeals of delight. “If you want a doctor, I’ll examine every inch of you,” he continued — and by the sounds of the audience reaction, he had more than a few willing bodies out there.
The aging troubadour was anything but precious about his advancing years, referring to his “old man’s mask” and, in A Thousand Kisses, to the pointlessness of starting to work out at his time of life. He couldn’t stifle a knowing giggle in the same piece when he opined: “You came to me this morning and handled me like meat/ You’d have to be a man to know how good that feels, how sweet.”
The humility in his bearing spoke volumes about the man and his sense of self: he gave over Boogie Nights entirely to long-time collaborator and sultry singer, Sharon Robinson; and when he introduced and thanked his band, the sincerity was palpable. Each time there was an instrumental solo, Cohen stepped back from the spotlight and listened intently, his trademark Trilby held to his chest.
And the band was terrific, from the exquisite guitars of Barcelona’s Javier Mas and Bob Metzger to the multi-talented Dino Soldo on a variety of woodwind.
“It’s been a long time,” Cohen said on playing Vancouver. “Maybe 15 years. I was 60 years old then: just a kid with a crazy dream. Since then, I’ve taken a lot of Prozac, Effexor, Ritalin, Wellbutrin … I also plunged into a rigorous study of religion and philosophy … but cheerfulness kept breaking through.”
When he bounded back on stage for his final encore, some three hours after the first notes of the night, Cohen looked like he just might be able to carry it off for years yet.
“Thank you for such a memorable night,” he said to a standing ovation. ‘It’s so good to be back in Canada.”
And Canada, Mr. Cohen, is delighted to have you with us once more.
(via the Globe and Mail)
Wow. Great piece. Cohen is one of those people who just seems inherently graceful and classy. Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Buffy Sainte-Marie… where are the equivalents today — the young versions of those people?