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NEW YORK CITY - "It's been a long time since I stood on a stage in New York," Leonard Cohen said Thursday night at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre. "I was 60 years old -- just a kid with a crazy dream."
It just goes to show: Dreams really do come true. At least, they did for the 2,800 or so fans who forked over up to $750 a pop -- assuming the scalpers outside were getting their asking price -- to see the 74-year-old poet-laureate of folk-rock perform his first U.S. concert in nearly 15 years.
Judging by the response, we're gonna go out on a limb -- like a bird on a wire, say -- and presume that everybody got their money's worth.
While an icy wind blustered up and down Broadway out front, the Montreal-born poet and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee warmed the hearts and souls of a wildly enthusiastic sold-out crowd with his romantic balladry, well-deep vocals and tinder-dry wit. Looking dapper as ever in his usual black gangster suit and fedora -- accessorized for the occasion with a powder-blue shirt and black string tie -- Cohen held court for nearly three hours in the stately Greco-Roman grandeur of the newly renovated Beacon, playfully and graciously directing his supple sextet and trio of honey-dripping backup vocalists through two lengthy sets, three encores and umpteen standing ovations.
Not bad for a senior citizen -- and one who only came out of retirement a few years back because he was allegedly fleeced out of millions by his former manager. But if Cohen was bitter or tired, he didn't show it. His renewed passion for performance, however, was evident from the start. As was his slightly refurbished sound.
Opening with a gently bouncy version of Dance Me to the End of Love, the singer-songwriter soon unveiled his secret weapon: Spanish guitarist Javier Mas, whose fluid Flamenco fingerpicking cast gypsy overtones onto Cohen's older coffeehouse folk and his more recent synth-based jazz-pop.
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Fans got plenty of both flavours. The set list (see below) reached all the way back to Suzanne, the first song on his first album, and moved through decades of hits. Bird on a Wire was given a hushed gospel treatment. Everybody Knows bobbed to a low-impact disco bassline. I'm Your Man was converted into a slow-burning shuffle. On Famous Blue Raincoat, Sisters of Mercy, Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye and several other cuts, Cohen acquitted himself capably on guitar. Throughout, his most important instrument -- that rumbling, god-like thunder cloud of a voice -- seemed all but unchanged, perhaps only the slightest bit raspier after all these years (though that could have been the slightly underworked PA system; heaven knows you'd need to rock subwoofers the size of submarines to recreate all the brown notes Cohen can hit).
From that pin-drop sound mix and the band's lightfingered touch to the monochromatic washes of light and Cohen's courtly manner -- he grandly introduced everyone in the band not once but twice and continually doffed his hat in gentlemanly salutes to all and sundry -- the whole evening was an exercise in taste, style, subtlety and understatement. Which might also be the one strike against it. For a guy whose lyrics are often so grim and powerful, Cohen's music tends to be watery and even cheesey at times -- and while these performances were far more dynamic than much of his studio fare (give credit to gifted horn and keyboard player Dino Soldo, Mark Knopfleresque guitarist Bob Metzger and stylish drummer Rafael Gayol), a little more energy and oomph would have worked wonders. That approach paid off handsomely on one of the undisputed highlights of the night: When Cohen reclaimed his oft-covered Hallelujah, showing the acolytes and Idols how it's done with a passionate rendition that ebbed and flowed from delicate verses to swelling gospel choruses and brought the man to his knees (albeit somewhat gingerly).
Truth be told, Cohen was actually pretty spry for an old dude. Granted, the spotlight operator had an easy night -- mostly Leonard stood in one spot, clutching the mic in both hands like an old blues harpist. But every now and then he'd bust a little move, be it a sly shuffle, a knock-kneed wobble, some bob-and-weave boxing, a gentle foot stamp, a prayerful kneel or a goofy "white man dance." By the end of the show, he was even skipping -- skipping! -- on and offstage like a schoolgirl.
The fun didn't stop there. He cracked wise about his years in a Buddhist monastery: "I turned to a study of religion and philosophies -- but cheerfulness kept breaking through." He joked about the economic climate: "Some people say it's worse than Y2K." He got a few hometown cheers with First We Take Manhattan (natch). He got laughs with some of the black lyrics to Chelsea Hotel and Tower of Song -- and milked the latter for more yuks by inserting a hamfisted keyboard solo and some playful antics with backup singers Sharon Robinson and the Webb sisters. At the end of his third encore, he even closed with the oh-so-apt I Tried to Leave You, putting a little extra zing into the line, "I hope you're satisfied."
No fear. They were -- beyond their wildest dreams, we'd wager.
First Set:
Dance Me to the End of Love
The Future
Ain't No Cure For Love
Bird On a Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who by Fire?
Chelsea Hotel No. 2
Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
Sisters of Mercy
Anthem
Second Set:
Tower of Song
Suzanne
The Gypsy's Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep
Take This Waltz
First Encore:
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
Second Encore:
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Democracy
Third Encore:
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest
CANADIAN TOUR DATES
First he took Manhattan. Then Leonard Cohen will take London, Ottawa and the rest of the country.
Dates for the legendary singer-songwriter's first full North American tour in 15 years were announced just before his triumphant Beacon Theatre performance, and several Canadian cities are on the itinerary. Ticket info wasn't released, but here are the dates in chronological order:
April 19 -- Vancouver, GM Place
April 21 -- Victoria, Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
April 25 -- Edmonton, Rexall Place
April 26 -- Calgary, Jack Singer Hall
April 28 -- Saskatoon, Credit Union Centre
April 30 -- Winnipeg, MTS Centre
May 19 -- Hamilton, Copps Coliseum
May 21 -- Quebec City, Pavillon de la Jeunesse
May 22 -- Kingston, K-Rock Centre
May 24 -- London, John Labatt Centre
May 25 -- Ottawa, National Arts Centre
On March 31, Cohen will also release his first new CD/DVD in years: Live in London, recorded last July at O2 Arena in the U.K.