Leonard Cohen – Live In London

It’s coming to America first
The cradle of the best of the worst

Ok, I will admit that this writeup is half of this spectacular new live album from the man with the gift of a golden voice, and half a writeup of the spectacular night of April 2nd, when I got to witness, possibly for the only time in my life, the wonder of a Leonard Cohen show. Both experiences, at least as far as the songs and structure go, are roughly the same, but there is a stark difference between hearing it and being there, but since it’s impossible that everyone who looks at this journal is going to be there, I will try and emphasize the higher points of the former. So, without a great deal more delay, the incomparable:

Neil (in a panic about an impending vampire attack): He’s gonna get us! He’s gonna turn us all into vampires, and then we’ll be dead and yet still alive! …like Leonard Cohen!

That joke is from one of my favorite British comedies… which existed in the early 80’s, and they liked to poke fun at Leonard Cohen in such a manner. Interestingly enough, it’s been almost 30 years since this joke was made, and nothing could be further from the truth about Cohen. Oh sure, his voice is about as low as the waking dead, and he’s getting on in years, but I could never accuse a 74 year old man who runs to his place on the stage and skips off stage like a little girl to be anything but “spritely”. Indeed, Cohen’s stage presence is awfully energetic, which is amazing not only because a man of his age should not be able to move like he does (James Brown was a notable exception that I got to see in concert shortly before he died), but also because his shows are 3 1/2 hours long.

Thus is the case with Live In London. I’m not sure on the exact length of it, but knocking out the intermission and time between his 4 encores, there are 26 especially long songs spread out across 2 discs. Not a bad deal, even for the $20 it costs in both retail stores and his tour’s imposingly large merch stand. Nearly every one of the 11-ish albums proper that Cohen has put out is referred to in some way or another. Some exceptions between the show I saw and the one I am gracing my large Sennheiser headphones with at this very moment are “Famous Blue Raincoat” from Songs Of Love And Hate (this omission means that Love And Hate is not referred to in the CD version of this concert), and “Chelsea Hotel #2″ from New Skin For The Old Ceremony, which is an album I hope to cover at some point. Interestingly enough, the only album I heard not a peep from in either show is his most recent, 2004’s Dear Heather. Quite strange, there are some great songs on that album.

Anyway, the stage is graced by a 9 piece band aside from Cohen that I don’t really need to talk about, because Cohen introduces every member of the band at a point or two, and introduces whatever musician is in the middle of a solo right after the solo. Leonard is certainly a humble showman, as much laud as he gives the musicians who are possibly beside themselves with joy to be playing for such a legend.

It’s Cohen’s showmanship, whether humble or grand, that really does a large part of making his modern shows such an experience. From his joke about his previous tour, “14 or 15 years ago, I was 60 years old. Just a kid with a crazy dream.” to a final farewell message that, I will admit as the manliest of men, choked me up a bit, there’s this undeniable feeling of warmth and safety that the elderly songwriter puts forth that is hard to deny. Whether you approved of his switch from acoustic folk to loungey synthesizers and then his settling on somewhere in between with the addition of jazz, it doesn’t matter. His band not only plays every note technically perfect, but the superior arrangements from Austin-based bassist/musical supervisor/crappy singer Roscoe Beck builds for Cohen’s amazing songs a fighting force of extraordinary magnitude. Anyone who can link together “So Long, Marianne” from Songs Of Leonard Cohen with “First We Take Manhattan” from I’m Your Man deserves some props. Just about every other song is a flourish of instrumental breaks that showcase an avalanche of talent that spills from the stage on to the tiny log cabins of our hearts in the orchestra pit.

I have heard every live Leonard Cohen album that has come out so far, and this is by far the best. Even Leonard’s own voice, at 73-74 years old, is pitch-perfect when it has to be, and gravelly and low all the other times. My personal favorite part of the show, however, is during those rare moments, usually while playing one of the older songs, when his voice kind of wanders away from the bass/baritone he’s adopted for so many years, and for a moment, you can almost see and hear the same man, half the age of the performer before you, breaking through to shine in youth and newness once again before settling again to the dapper old guy knelt down on one knee, two fists close to his face, singing passionately and lowly about subjects that, if we were to know the true meaning of them, would probably make us all blush.

Some other highlights include two of his backup singers, the most recent addition to “the angels” (as he calls them), the Webb Sisters. During one song, I think it’s “Dance Me To The End Of Love”, but could be a later song, they do a synchronized backflip, which is awesome. More importantly, they get their own moment in the spotlight singing the cathartic spiritual “If It Be Your Will”, unaccompanied except by their own acoustic guitar and harp and beautiful voices (and by the Hammon B-3). Long-time Cohen collaborator Sharon Robertson (the third angel) gets to sing a couple of songs as well, and they are pretty great too.

It’s kind of hard, even though I’ve been trying all day, to put into words exactly how I felt about getting to see one of my recent but greatest heroes on the stage performing such a wonderful show. It’s someting like a confirmation of life itself, and as much as any religious experience, a glimpse of just how good that life can be. Around my lonely seat, during the show, sat people three times my age who clearly had been fans longer than I, and all they really talked about before the show started was how good of a deal they got on their tickets, so I guess not everyone’s going to feel quite as strongly about the music as I do, but as the show progressed and my gaze was fixed to this amazing performance, I somehow felt as if I was bestowed with knowledge about life and the love therein as if I were three times the age of the people around me who smelled sharply of a hospital.

In that sense, I suppose the joke about Leonard Cohen being a vampire is the opposite of the truth, as one is more likely to feel like one has more life in his presence, and that, my dear friends, is worth a $90 admission and $20 for the album. You may not get a chance to purchase the former, but I at least strongly recommend the latter, which is also available on DVD.