Leonard Cohen with Clare Bowditch in support - Brisbane Entertainment Center 06-11-10

I know this is an Australian music blog but for Leonard
I shall make an exception.
I'm a little bit after the fact too, oh well better late than never
What a great concert, Clare was great as support sporting her
new hair do and stripped back sound. A short but enjoyable set.
Last time Leonard came to town Paul Kelly did this spot,
so she had big shoes to fill.

Leonard was fabulous, its hard to explain how good a show this
man puts on, a fantastic band, amazing songs and 3 hours long.
He did all the favs plus a few that weren't done last time.
If you ever get the chance to see him don't knock it back!
I managed a few shots, I was about 9 rows back so not to bad.

Leonard Cohen Plays Brisbane

I've been to a few concerts in my time and quite a lot recently
as you all know. Sometimes something comes along that I
instantly place in that place in my memories where all the
truely great experiences go, this is one of those things.
As far as a concert goes it is one of the greatest I have
seen, it up there with my other greats and for a few different
reasons. I mean the musicianship was incredible, the band
fantastic, the backing singers unreal, the songs some of the
greatest written, but Leonard connected with
me on an emotional level almost exclusively by his songs.
There was a little talking in between songs, but nothing
like say Michelle Shocked who bears her soul and draws
you in. I heard audible grasps from people around me
when he spoke the chorus to Anthem
and that was all he had to do

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

You can see a recent video of that song at the end of this post.
All the favorites were there, Tower of song, Chelsea Hotel #2,
Suzanne, Everybody Knows, The Future, Bird on the wire,
So long Marianne, The Future, I'm your Man, 1000 Kisses Deep
Boogie Street, First We Take Manhattan, In My Secret Life
and of course Hallelujah.
So many songs over 20 I'm sure, at 74 perhaps Leonard
wants this tour to be how he is remembered and he couldn't have
given more. Two separate hour long sets and 3 encores, he played
for some 3 plus hours. Even Paul Kelly who put on a fine set
himself as support, declared it a privilege to be on this tour.
26 years since he last played here in Brisbane, a show I
missed and 15 years since gracing a stage he gave us this
insight into where he'd been.

“It’s been 15 years since I was on stage
I was 60 then, just a young kid with a crazy dream.
Then I took a lot of Prozac. And Zoloft.
And Wellbutrin, Ritalin, Effexor…
I studied all the religions and philosophies of the world too
but somehow, cheerfulness just kept breaking through.”

It might be the most expensive gig I've ever been to,
but well worth it, I find it incredible that you can
even buy something like that.
If hes coming to a town near you make sure you don't
miss it.

The band was
Leonard Cohen - vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboard.
Roscoe Beck - bass, double bass, background vocals
Neil Larsen - keyboards, Hammond B3, accordion
Bob Metzger - guitar, steel guitar, background vocals
Javier Mas - bandurria, laud, archilaud
Rafael Bernardo Gayol - drums, percussion
Dino Soldo - keyboard, saxophone, wind instruments, dobro, background vocals
Sharon Robinson - vocals, shaker
Hattie Webb - vocals, harp
Charley Webb - vocals, guitar