Leonard Cohen Townsville Entertainment Centre Thursday, 28 November 2013

Leonard Cohen received a hearty roar of appreciation very early on the three hour proceedings when he announced tonight we're going to give it our very best shot (or words to that effect).

I suspect provincial audiences are inclined to suspect a name performer might be tempted to phone it in when playing a relative small and relatively isolated venue.

Interestingly, I seem to recall that best shot remark from the show we saw in Brisbane just over three years ago.

The setlist wasn't all that different either. A couple of songs from the new album, some notable exclusions from the extensive back catalogue, but most of the classics were there, delivered in almost exactly the same sequence as a couple of shows I looked at on this setlist site ).He didn't do Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye or The Gypsy Wife, but he does from time to time.

Knowing I'd be tapping this out the following morning, I'd done that little bit of pre-concert research. Trying to keep notes in the darkness of a concert venue can be a pain, so I thought I'd do a bit of forensic work on the most recent shows I could find.

The result was a list of thirty-three tracks in what looked to be about the regular sequence, and the only two that failed to make the cut last night were the aforementioned Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye and The Gypsy Wife.

But Cohen shows are like that. You pays your money, and you gets an immaculately rehearsed three hours with plenty of instrumental solo work from the members of a handpicked ensemble assembled around one of contemporary music's most esteemed wordsmiths. You might question one of, but leaving it out would drop other favourites like Messrs Costello, Newman, Thompson and Zevon a little too far back in the pecking order.

Regardless of how thoroughly you've rehearsed, there's always the possibility of a wild card, and it came in the form of a possibly indigenous female interjector. Leonard was doing his eighties basic synthesizer shtick on Tower of Song, and making wry remarks that fitted immaculately alongside the line about having no choice and being born with the gift of a golden voice when the interjections came.

The keyboard doodling and noodling continued, but Leonard was late back into the next verse. He seemed to be giggling.

It didn't, however, seem to throw the Webb sisters, who were on stage in the trimmed down Tower of Song ensemble straight after the resumption. They were magnificent throughout, and shone on If It Be Your Will. In combination with the wonderful Sharon Robinson, who had her own showcase on Alexandra Leaving they provided ethereal harmonies that provide a striking counterpoint to Cohen’s battered baritone.

On their own they mightn’t necessarily melt a heart of granite, but they’d go mighty close.

But the vocal trio is only one part of a lineup that’s as impressive in their own way as their boss, who displays his respect for the virtuosos gathered around him throughout proceedings.

Bassist (electric and upright) Roscoe Beck’s association with Cohen goes back to 1979, and you’d have to think he had a fair bit to do with assembling the rest of the band. According to Cohen’s official website he filled that role back in 1988, so you’d guess he’d have been called to do the same when financial double-dealing forced Leonard back onto the road.

Keyboard ace Neil Larsen arrives with an extensive list of session credits, including George Harrison, Rickie Lee Jones, the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Cliff and Richard and Linda Thompson (big tick in that department) and string and horn arrangements for, among others, Gregg Allman and B.B. King.

Cohen introduced him as Professor, and guitarist Mitch Watkins has spent some time teaching at the University of Texas at Austin, but like Roscoe Beck his association with Leonard runs back to 1979. In between he spent a lot of time working with Lyle Lovett as well as Jerry Jeff Walker, Joe Ely and Jennifer Warnes.

Watkins chipped in with some ringing Wes Montgomery styled guitar licks and Larsen got plenty of opportunities to work out on the Hammond B3 and other keys.

But the real stars on the instrumental front were Javier Mas, whose flamenco and gypsy-infused contributions on bandurria, laúd, archilaúd, and, occasionally acoustic guitar were once again stunning, and Moldovan violinist Alexandru Bublitchi, who regularly went close to stealing the show from the man who, last time I saw the ensemble, regularly threatened to steal the show from the front man.

All in all, a show that was at least as good as Brisbane three years ago, and possibly better. Leonard seemed relaxed. Our seats were much better (which, in terms of performance isn’t that important, but definitely enhances the enjoyment).

The only negative factor, in there was one, came in the absence of Dino Soldo, the keyboard, saxophone and assorted woodwind player who added tones of light and shade last time. Of course, if he had been there we wouldn’t have had the violinist, would we?

But when you’re looking for an assessment, it’s best to turn to some of my fellow attendees, two of whom find Hughesy’s predilection for multiple Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello concerts inexplicable. Both of them reported they’d have been happy to front up again the following night if that had been possible.

Me? Given the fact that you’d almost certainly get the same set, I don’t think so.

But if he’s back, by which time he’ll probably be into his eighties, I’m going again. After all, it might be the last time.

Set 1:
Dance Me To The End Of Love
The Future
Bird On The Wire
Everybody Knows
Who By Fire
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
The Gypsy Wife
The Darkness
Amen
Come Healing
Lover, Lover, Lover
Anthem

Set 2:
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Chelsea Hotel #2
Waiting For The Miracle
Anyhow
The Partisan
In My Secret Life
Alexandra Leaving
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep
Hallelujah
Take This Waltz

First Encore:
So Long Marianne
Going Home
First We Take Manhattan

Second Encore:
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time

Third Encore:
I Tried To Leave You
I've Got A Little Secret
Save The Last Dance For Me

Band
Leonard Cohen - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards
Roscoe Beck - Acoustic and Electric Bass
Mitch Watkins - Guitar
Neil Larsen - Keyboards, Hammond B3
Javier Mas - Bandurria, Laud, Archilaud, Guitar
Alexandru Bublitchi - Violin
Rafael Bernardo Gayol - Drums
Sharon Robinson - Vocals
Hattie Webb - Vocals, Harp
Charley Webb - Vocals, Guitar

Leonard Cohen "Songs from the Road" (4* for the Cohen fan, 3.5 otherwise)

Having already shelled out for the Live in London DVD I wasn't that keen on repeating the exercise when this compilation from Leonard's recent world tour appeared. After all, with the whole of a show that didn't seem to have varied much over the three year span you probably don't need too much more.

So I thought. That copy is on DVD, and I've been ethical about copying files to the hard drive and importing the audio into iTunes, so when Old Ideas appeared on the scene and I wanted to check how Going Home would line up with the material that was being used in the stage act I was handing over the dosh for this twelve track compilation of live performances from the 2008 and 2009 legs of the tour.

While you could interpret this as another exercise in padding out Leonard's retirement funds, those who have seen the show will know what to expect, and the listener might be inclined to question how you could reduce two and a half years of extensive touring (from Canada in May 2008 through to Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in December 2010) to a round dozen tracks on this CD/DVD combo.

The easiest shot would, of course, probably have lobbed into the fan’s collection via Live in London, so you’re not going to be looking for a repeat of a setlist that doesn’t seem to have varied much.

Don’t believe me? Here’s the first show, from the Capitol Theater in Moncton, New Brunswick on 23 May 2008:

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, Anthem, Tower Of Song, Suzanne, Gypsy Wife, Boogie Street, Hallelujah, Democracy, I'm Your Man, A Thousand Kisses Deep, Take This Waltz
Encores: Heart With No Companion, So Long, Marianne, First We Take Manhattan, That Don't Make It Junk, Closing Time, I Tried to Leave You

And the last, from Caesar’s Palace on 11 December 2010:
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, Darkness, Born In Chains, Democracy, 
Chelsea Hotel #2, Waiting For The Miracle, Anthem, Passin' Through, Tower Of Song, Suzanne, A Singer Must Die, Sisters Of Mercy, The Gypsy Wife, The Partisan, Boogie Street, Hallelujah, I'm Your Man, A Thousand Kisses Deep, 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

Not a whole lot of difference, is there?

Actually, given a show that had been thoroughly rehearsed and buffed before the opening gig you wouldn’t expect there’d be a whole lot different about the performances either.

So how the heck do you do it?

The answer lies in Cohen’s post-concert routine. Within about ninety seconds of the end of I Tried To Leave You (with a bit of variation according to the actual venue’s backstage configuration) Cohen, accompanied by his tour manager and producer Ed Sanders will be in the limo heading back to the hotel. As a rule he won’t even mention the show (and, on the basis of what appears above, why would he?)

But along the way there’s going to be the occasional night when something out of the ordinary happens.

According to the story, the twelve tracks here represent nights when something out of the ordinary did, as it turned out, happen. Without the video footage, of course, it’s hard to define what made these dozen performances special, but research indicates Lover, Lover, Lover was played in front of a fifty-thousand-strong Tel Aviv crowd in September 2009, while Hallelujah (from the Coachella Festival in California in April 2009) was performed in front of the entire crowd at a festival where multiple stages are the go and had been in operation until just before Leonard hit the stage. There’s an indication of the crowd size towards the end of the audio, and one presumes there’d be more evidence on the DVD version.

The London O2 Arena show on 13 November 2008 that provides That Don’t Make It Junk and Famous Blue Raincoat would, I guess, be another big crowd spectacular.

In the end, really, it doesn’t matter. If you’re a fan you’ll more than likely be happy to have these tracks packed away along with everything else in your Leonard Cohen playlist (or whatever) and what’s on offer here differs from the studio versions (well, after forty years you’re not going to be reprising the 1969 Songs From a Room version of Bird on the Wire are you?)

One for the fans and completists? Definitely. There are plenty of fans out there, many with completist tendencies and an artist who doesn’t have a huge back catalogue.

And for everyone else? Worth a listen. At least...

Leonard Cohen "Old Ideas" (4.5*)

I suspect if you took the most cloth-eared occasional listener and presented him or her with Leonard Cohen's Dear Heather and Old Ideas in quick succession and asked if there was a discernable difference the response would be an unequivocal yes. They mightn't be able to explain the how and the why, being cloth-eared and occasional rather than deeply immersed and music freak, but the difference comes down to the fact that for the last couple of years Cohen has been, to all intents and purposes, a working musician.

Back when Dear Heather was released in 2004 Cohen was coming off the disconcerting discovery his manager had frittered away around ten million dollars that amounted to Leonard's personal superannuation. He'd sold off his publishing and royalties to Sony Music in 1996 and 2001, in a move that was supposed to fund his retirement. Three years later he was down to his last $150,000 and was, virtually, broke.

The obvious move was to cut a new album, and Dear Heather mightn't have been the greatest thing he's ever done, but there are many Leonard Cohen fans out there, and Hughesy's one of them, so there I was, cheerfully handing over my contribution to Leonard's new retirement fund.

Dear Heather definitely sounded like it had had been pushed together in relative haste, which is understandable given the circumstances, but didn't produce an overwhelming listening experience.

You might hesitate to use terms like lightweight to describe a Leonard Cohen album, but Dear Heather was lighter than 2001's Ten New Songs, and you'd have to suspect the change in mood was the result of a change in personal circumstances, even if that change was a shift in personal relationships and a lifting of depression induced by exposure to Zen Buddhism rather than a discovery of managerial betrayal.

You'd expect, after all, that you'd be able to get the money back, wouldn't you?

But it's not that simple. A 2006 law suit awarded Cohen $9 million, but he wasn't able to collect the money and he was sued in turn by former business associates. There were also, one gathers, certain issues with the Internal Revenue Service, and the obvious way out was to resume touring, which resulted in a two-and-a-half year world tour through 2008-2010, the Live in London DVD and album and last year's Songs from the Road.

Having caught the tour in Brisbane in November 2010, from the first notes of Going Home on the new album it's obvious that we're looking at the result of collaborations shaped on the road rather than in retreat at Mount Baldy. There’s a richness and warmth that reflects lengthy exposure to a touring band working in a live environment rather than the studio minimalism that characterised his previous couple of studio efforts.

That’s not to suggest a change of direction. The words are, as ever, finely wrought, not a syllable out of place, and delivered in that familiar world-weary murmur. Instrumentally, while we’re into acoustic rather than electronic territory (violin, slide guitar, trumpet, lightly brushed drums) and familiar slow-motion rhythms invoke the blues, hymns and waltzes, delivered low key with those gorgeous semi-whispered phantom female choirs above.

There are, however, unexpected collaborations. Patrick Leonard, better known as Madonna’s producer was involved in recording Cohen’s son Adam’s recent album, spotted the potential in one of Dad’s poems, and the result is the opening track, Going Home, sung by an unnamed narrator who uses Leonard as a mouthpiece in a wry piece of self-analysis.

From the earliest notes it’s something that would have slotted seamlessly into his recent live shows, with the choir joining in as the lyrics turn to the final journey we’re all eventually going to face. It’s a track that sets the tone for the remainder of an album that addresses the past and growing older.

Amen, seven and a half minutes of slow shuffle with clear echoes of I’m Your Man, filters the older song’s wry sensualism through a haze of alcoholic horror seeking reassurance from a lover who’s aware of where he’s been and presumably unsure whether his current cleanliness and sobriety can be maintained amid the self-doubt and the horror. Great understated trumpet solo as well.

In much the same way as the previous track echoes I’m Your Man, Show Me the Place (another Cohen-Patrick Leonard collaboration) revisits If It Be Your Will as the singer requests directions to the place where you want your slave to go, with harmonies from Jennifer Warnes’ soaring above the main vocal line.

Darkness was a regular inclusion in the live set, a slightly jauntier blues driven by guitar and organ that provides a little up-tempo light and shade after three tracks of brooding before the pleas for forgiveness return with Anyhow (I know you can’t forgive me/But forgive me anyhow), rhythm tapped on a fedora, moody minimalist piano, sighing vocal line from Sharon Robinson and the Webb Sisters, a statement of lust married to a request for redemption.

Crazy to Love You, co-written with current partner Anjani Thomas, works the same territory  with a whispered vocal over soft-focus acoustic guitar, while those gorgeous harmonies lead into Come Healing a penitential hymn (his words, not mine) while Banjo, Lullaby and the closing Different Sides continue the autumnal tone, musing on memories and pondering the same subjects Cohen has pondered since Songs of Leonard Cohen back in 1968 with a wry wit that wasn’t always obvious back then.

That’s forty-four years working the same seam of faith and doubt, love and desire, betrayal and redemption evoking ancient traditions and eternal themes that might be Old Ideas but aren’t going to become extinct any time soon.

Assuming he can get himself into the studio it won’t be the last examination of these matters. He already has enough songs for another album, and you can be sure that he won’t be changing his subject matter, will he?

No, the next record, assuming he’s not taken from us in the interim will be another exploration of mortality, spirituality and the human condition, delivered with a self-deprecating gravity over a bleakly minimal accompaniment that delivers light and shade with the female harmonies soaring and sighing through the mixture.

After all this time the listener knows what’s coming on a Leonard Cohen album. Your mileage, of course, is going to vary. While some of us will see a new album as a welcome addition to a body of work that fits like a comfortable overcoat there’ll be others who’ll regard it as sackcloth. Fair enough, with Cohen once you’ve sampled what’s on offer you know what you’re getting and while Old Ideas won’t convert the disbeliever it might just add a few converts from the uninitiated.

After all, from where I’m sitting it’s some of his very best work.