Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Too bad Burque doesn't have a venue that would accomodate this show

I just got my ass kicked by a 75-year old man. Well, he had something like a black belt in haiku and 9 helpers. Three of them were women. One of the cats was packing a B-3.

I just got back from seeing Leonard Cohen in Phoenix (didn’t see any of you Burque foo’s there!) . . . I may never be the same again. From Javiér Mas (guitar, bandurría, laúd) to Sharon Robinson (vocals, songwriting collaboration), to Roscoe Beck (bass) to Rafael Gayol (drums/percussion) to Niel Larsen (B-3 with Leslie), they worked me (and a couple thousand other people) over for about three hours, with something like eight encores . . . we kept coming back for more, and getting gloriously pummelled. Oh, and there were also Bob Metzger (guitar, vocals), Dino Soldo (woodwinds), and the Webb Sisters (on vocals and cartwheels). These cats cooked mostly with an understated clarity that provided the swooping backdrop for the words that are Cohen’s deadly weapon of choice.

This is the voice—and by that I mean the words as well as the instrument--that has famously inspired many a femme to his bed or to her knees. It is the voice that can barely write a song without including the word "naked."

Cohen, dapper and dancing in a suit and fedora, has probably never been in better voice . . . he sounds like silk and whiskey with just the right mix of finely grated bone and a drop of blood to thicken the sauce. The Voice comes from monks in deep meditation, from nicotine and alcohol, from the primal scream of withdrawal, from three quarters of a century punctuated by nights that slipped on a phrase and fell into the darkness that sometimes not even dawn can penetrate.

The Man brought it from 40 years ago and made it real . . . in freaking Phoenix . . . maybe something to do with those lines from I Can’t Forget:
“I'm burning up the road
I'm heading down to Phoenix
I got this old address
Of someone that I knew . . .”

And maybe that was connected with Everybody Knows, because when he sang the line “Everybody wants a box of chocolates and a long stem rose,” someone from the front row handed him a long stem rose and a box of chocolates. So somebody knew something.

Always the devotee to a worthy master, Cohen returned again and again to his knees in front of the fiery Javier Mas, who spurted sparks from his fingers as he invoked gypsy players in smoky camps, with breathtaking bandurría runs that seemed to echo from a distant time across misty water.

With maybe two and a half dozen tunes delivered at Cohen’s signature poetic pace, he paused once to recite a spoken-word version of A Thousand Kisses Deep that seemed to depart quite a bit from the recorded song, and he stepped aside once to sing in the back seat for Sharon Robinson’s soulful ride down Boogie Street.

After some years on a mountaintop, and getting burned into bankruptcy by someone he trusted, the Godfather of Gloom has emerged with a spring in his step and a roadmap that has taken him across Europe, Canada, and the U.S. over the past year. He’s still singing—and still smiling.

Tags: leonardcohen

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Comment by Richard Malcolm on April 7, 2009 at 10:27am: Thanks for the tip . . . that video link brought it right back, except he seemed extra alive somehow in Phoenix. In general, he seems genuinely amazed and touched by the reception he's getting from the crowds, as if he can't quite believe it's true.

Comment by once banned twice shy on April 7, 2009 at 10:32am: Damn. I didn't realize he was playing in Phoenix...

Comment by cathyray on April 7, 2009 at 10:47am: I can't believe he was this close & I missed it. I have been on such a Leonard kick lately. There is a really good show on Sundance once in awhile about Leonard & his music. Oh man . . . . .

Comment by ayax on April 7, 2009 at 10:51am: You can still get tickets for the show at Red Rocks, CO, June 2nd. 100 dollar, plus Ticketmaster.

Comment by ayax on April 7, 2009 at 2:42pm: RM: Kiva seats 2300. (looking at your caption). Wonder if that wasn't enough...

Comment by Duane W Bargar on April 7, 2009 at 3:58pm: Must have been amazing!!!

Comment by roadrunner lady on April 7, 2009 at 4:48pm: i had no idea he was on the road! I love Leonard Cohen! Have you ever listened to Jennifer WArnes "Famous Blue Raincoat" of his songs?

Comment by cathyray on April 7, 2009 at 6:33pm: $100? sorry Leonard, I will have to worship you from afar.

Comment by Richard Malcolm on April 8, 2009 at 1:34am: Miscellaneous responses:

The Dodge (Phoenix) seats 5500, maybe 3500 with the balcony closed, as it was Sunday. Another factor is the acoustics and the crystal-clear sound system . . . ten people performing and I could hear probably better than if I had been onstage among them . . . sadly, I've never had an experience anywhere near that in 20 years of going to the Kiva.

He's been on the road for much of the past year, after not performing much for 14 or 15 years. It seems to suit him well, at least with this well-crafted show and awe-inspiring band. It must be a sort of realization of a dream for him, as I imagine him sitting with his stunning songs, which he polishes obsessively, then releasing them with cheesy synthesizer tracks and canned drums (as on most of his recordings) . . . now to hear them rendered by such masterful players who are clearly respectful of his work. (Hats off to Roscoe Beck as musical director.) For me, it was a jaw-dropping spectacle, far beyond my expectations.

Jennifer Warnes' covers of his work are among my favorites, especially that title song, the lesser-known Ballad of A Runaway Horse (with Rob Wasserman on bass and no electronic percussion), and Song of Bernadette. He sang Raincoat the other night as maybe the 5th or 6th encore. It was stupendous.

Most of my life, I'd never have considered a $100 concert ticket (until another Fixer changed my mind) . . . it's a rare luxury, but I gladly go without cable TV year-'round to make room for occasional wondrous live experiences. The ticket price covers a massive tour of ten master artists and an even larger production crew, which resulted in a near-flawless performance . . . a truly once-in-a-lifetime thang. I don't begrudge a penny, except for exorbitant service fees. I know many people will never have that experience, but most of us fritter away that many nickels and dimes on much less worthy things. (I'll let you consider your own vices and values.)

Carry on . . .

Comment by cathyray on April 8, 2009 at 1:50pm: I don't begrudge a person making a living & completely understand why the tickets are high as well as your logic for paying. I'd do the same thing if I could. It's just that I am missing my money these days. I don't know where it went but I miss it.

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