Hallelujah for Leonard Cohen
By: Leslie Katz
Examiner Staff Writer
April 15, 2009
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| In fine form: Leonard Cohen is playing a long show filled with brilliant non-hits; his local engagement ends tonight in Oakland. (AP file photo) |
Rarely is an evening of pop music so sublime.
But Canadian songwriting great Leonard Cohen’s highly anticipated, three-hour-plus set at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on Monday night was a thoroughly satisfying experience for longtime fans as well as newcomers who simply wanted to find out why Cohen ranks with Bob Dylan and Lennon and McCartney — why so many musical greats revere him, and so many sing his songs.
In delightful spirit and backed by amazing musicians, the charming, spry 74-year-old decked out in a hat and suit showed exactly why in his first of three Bay Area concerts this week, the first here in some 15 years.
Cohen, a poet and novelist before becoming a musician when he was in his 30s, writes songs filled with nuggets of beauty, humor and wisdom that touch the soul, heart and brain.
From the opener “Dance Me to the End of Love” to the closing prayer “Whither Thou Goest,” Cohen’s lyrics enchanted in this four-encore appearance, which offered a set list similar to that on his most recent recording, “Leonard Cohen: Live in London.”
The sound was perfect. The audience could hear every word and rasp of his distinctive, deep, noncommercial vocals, as well as those of backup singers Sharon Robinson — Cohen’s songwriting partner — and sisters Charley and Hattie Webb, who did cartwheels during “The Future” when Cohen changed the line “white men dancing” to “white girls dancing.”
The poetry was nonstop, from lyrical gems such as “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” from “Anthem” to “We are ugly, but we have the music” from “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” to “Everybody wants a box of chocolates and a long stem rose” from “Everybody Knows.”
The top-notch band included Dino Soldo on wind instruments and saxophone, Rafael Gayol on drums, Javier Mas on strings, Bob Metzger on guitar, Neil Larsen on keyboards and musical director Roscoe Beck on bass, in an evening of styles touching on folk, blues, classical and jazz — all in a good way.
Sadly, Cohen didn’t talk much between tunes in the impeccably staged performance, but about a third of the way through the set, he did say, “Fifteen years ago, I was just a kid with a crazy dream; I plunged into the study of religion and philosophy, but cheerfulness kept breaking through.”
Yet that insight was enough from a master who thrillingly praises “Hallelujah” to the “Tower of Song.”
Concert Review
Leonard Cohen
Where: Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland
When: 8 p.m. today
Tickets: $69.50 to $251
Contact: www.ticketmaster.com
