It's good to have the grand old man of bedsit angst (©all media) back on tour for the first time in 15 years, even if he's taken to the road again out of necessity rather than desire, his pension fund having been rifled by a former manager and lover.
Reports and sporadic audio and video clips from the early Canadian shows indicate that the man is on top form, and as always, he is touring with musicians of the highest calibre, some new to his band, others old hands.
A show of two-and-a-half hours (minus intermission) for a guy in his eighth decade is very impressive. I'm a little disappointed that, with the exception of three songs from 2001's Ten New Songs, Leonard's concert repertoire is virtually unchanged from 1993. No songs from have been debuted from 2004's Dear Heather, nor has he attempted to sing any of the excellent songs he co-wrote with jazz chanteuse Anjani Thomas (reportedly his current romantic partner) for her 2006 album Blue Alert. Perhaps the setlists will be shaken up a bit when the tour reaches Europe next month.
There follows some links to some useful Leonard Cohen websites (do you know of any more? Please add them in a comment!). And as I am very unlikely to be able to get tickets even if I could afford them for his U.K. tour, I've embedded a few live videos from youtube.
All the Setlists are here.
The paged linked to about is part of the forum of the truly excellent Leonard Cohen Files. This is the best one-stop place for all information and discussion about Leonard.
A useful source for Leonard Cohen lyrics, especially alternative versions, extra verses, and prologues performed in concerts is Diamonds in the Lines.
And of course there is the official site, which doesn't seem to keep as up-to-date with Leonard's latest doings as the Leonard Cohen Files (see above).
Here's a few videos from the opening night in Fredericton (audio is good quality, picture is poor; there is a crack in everything!). First the opener Dance Me to the End of Love:
Here Leonard explains what he's been doing since he was last on tour (taking a lot of prozac, apparently!)
Hallelujah with French intro:
Everybody Knows:
And these youtube links are audio only:
In My Secret Life
Who By Fire
Do know of any Leonard Cohen sites or recent videos I should link to? Drop me a line!
3 comments:
Any idea where I could find a poster?
rwellsrwells@mac.com
RC- Nice to see you alive and well after the collapse of the "pool". Woot!
I am going to see L Cohen in Kitchener on June 2, a non-tour stop before the tour opens in Toronto. I'm happy to report my findings if you wish.
All the best.
a man named gray
I'm sure you'll have a great show, man in gray, and I hope you will tell me all about it. Thanks for the message and kind thoughts.
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