Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Music news Leonard Cohen at the Fox
Posted by Besha Rodell @BeshaRodell on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 2:45 PM
When Leonard Cohen took the stage last night at the Fox Theater, beaming the most heartfelt and humble smile, hat in hand, I thought to myself, 'Can this really be the filthy bastard who wrote Beautiful Losers?' But by the second song, "The Future," it was clear as he sang in his low, soul-permeating voice, "It's lonely here, there's no one left to torture," that yes, this is the artist who's known for his ability to capture the sacred and the profane in the same, heart-stopping lyric.
Three hours later, the crowd rapturous and worn out from jumping to their feet after every song and in order to bring Cohen back to the stage for yet another encore (five in all?), it was impossible to leave wanting — rarely have I seen a show so broad in its sweep of an artist's material. Backed by a 9-piece band, Cohen gave an incredibly generous performance, singing almost every one of his greatest and best-known songs - "Suzanne," "Bird on a Wire," "Hallelujah," "Chelsea Hotel," "Anthem," "Everybody Knows," "I'm Your Man," "Sisters of Mercy," "First we Take Manhattan," "Ain't No Cure For Love," and on and on.
With his left hand raised to the side of his face in a gesture of bracing intensity, or on his knees and sometimes with his hand on his heart, it was striking how much the material still affects Cohen. This music obviously means as much to him as it does to us. And over the course of the evening, it became slightly overwhelming to realize how much of our poetic subconscious, spilled out throughout these songs, comes from this one man.
Early in the set, Cohen said that he didn't know when he might be passing though again, but that he promised to give us his best tonight. Dark, humble, irreverent, playful, and outrageously beautiful, he certainly delivered on that promise. He was our man.
Leonard Cohen at the Fox photo gallery.
(Photos by Perry Julien)
NOTE: We removed some comments from the thread below because they violate our comment policy, and others because they were direct responses to those.
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
Beautifully stated. Thank you, Besha Rodell and Perry Julian, for a heartfelt and precise representation of Leonard Cohen's Fox Theater performance. It was just like you said.
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Leonard is brilliant!!! Check out some of his poetry, he has published a number of books and is first and foremost a poet.
Sounds like someone has a personal agenda - which has nothing to do with a fabulous experience between a brilliant artist and his fans. Somehow, I don't think the packed house that called for five encores cares about an obscure music industry person's legal and financial gripes. That's silly.
FYI on Kelley Lynch: "Leonard Cohen is 'unlikely' to recover $9.5 million (£5.4 million) that a court ruled was stolen by his ex-manager, Kelley Lynch." -- NME March 2006 http://www.nme.com/news/leonard-cohen/22406 This was also reported in New York Times, Washington Post, Billboard,etc. Ms. Lynch is a known cyber-stalker, who posts similar comments widely across the Web. Very sad.
Without Kelly Lynch stealing his money, Leonard probably wouldn't be touring. So we actually have Ms. Lynch to thanks for making possible such an incredible night of music. Cheers to you, Kelly Lynch!
fromKelley Lynch todoronweinberg , Dennis , "*irs. commissioner" , ASKDOJ , Kelly.Sopko@tigta.treas.gov, rbyucaipa@yahoo.com, Robert MacMillan , "Lee K. Alpert" , Thaye Dorje , "YesheRimpoche@aol.com" , "m.j. smith" , moseszzz@mztv.com, susanne walsh Mr. Weinberg and Mr. Riordan, I have written Creative Loafing about the allegations Walsh made (below) and asked them to maintain the IP information on the slanderous posters. All the best, Kelley I personally believe I am being slandered on your site. It has been brought to my attention that my comments were removed from your site. I would like to ask you to maintain the IP information relating to this thread. I absolutely intend to subpoena this information and can assure you that I am the victim of cyber-terrorism. I have absolutely brought this to the attention of Phil Spector's legal team, the IRS Commissioner's Staff, the Department of Justice, and Agent Kelly Sopko - Treasury Department. People are clearly attempting to silence and undermine my credibility due to the fact that I reported Leonard Cohen's tax fraud that I was told is criminal to the IRS and refused to participate in his bogus lawsuit with fraudulent financials attached. The reason for that is due to the fact that I am convinced his "lawsuit" was nothing other than an attempt to cover up criminal tax fraud and criminal conduct. Please see my Blog for further details about how my situation relates to both the Leonard Cohen Tax Fraud Matter and the Phil Spector matter that appears to be a "set up." Kelley Lynch cyberterrorismwatch.blogspot.com P.S. The truth, as your lawyers should understand, is not slander. What is going on with respect to this thread is slander, libel, defamation, and - probably, "witness tampering."
Thank you for removing the comments from that whack job stalker lady. Please remove my second comment here, since it was a response to her crazy talk, which you kindly deleted. Your review and photos were great. It is unfortunate that there are angry loons out there who would start a ruckus over a simple thank you note. Maybe you should delete this whole thread. She seems like a dangerously unbalanced person.
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