Heck Of A Guy

Attention Magazine Publishers:
Don’t Forget That December Is Leonard Cohen Month¹

Excerpted from Introduction to December 2008 Uncut magazine:

… how, you have to wonder, does Leonard Cohen feel at 74? As he prepares for a second leg of sold-out UK dates on what has become one of the most triumphant comebacks ever, you would have to say he seems in rude health and wit. … the legendary singer-songwriter talks about going back on the road for the first time in nearly 20 years and why for him, it was ‘now or never’, while key members of his touring entourage tell us how the tour came together and share their memories of some of its highlights so far.

Five of the seven Uncut interviews with Cohen’s Tour Team are now online. Links to those along with a sample excerpt from each are listed below. (Those who have seen the photos of the Dublin Concert along with my comments previously featured at Waltzing To Leonard Cohen At The Dublin Concert, The Leonard Cohen Dublin Concert – Photos and (Gasp) Complaints, and The Leonard Cohen Dublin Photo Session With Michael Foley may find the observations of Leif Bodnarchuk and the Webb Sisters about those performances especially interesting.)

Sharon Robinson

Leonard on tour: what other memories come to mind?
He’s a devoted workhorse. He works harder than any of the rest of us, and has reserves of energy that no one can quite tell where they come from. And he is moved by the response of the audience, and the overall sense of an almost spiritual connection that is going on between him, his work and his audience. The whole thing is a real phenomenon, and Leonard is very moved by that.

How different is he than when you toured with him before?
He’s a little older. He’s been through a number of personal changes. He’s quite a bit happier than when I knew him 30 years ago. His voice is lower, but he’s singing great. He’s doing very well. As he’s said, the unexpected lifting of a certain dark cloud, that depression that has been well-documented, is a big change.

Javier Mas

Has he said why he wants the concerts to be so long?
He really wants to play for the audience. He’s so happy to come back, for the response he finds from the audience. Sometimes, the audience stand up and clap even before we start. He wants to give them everything, so that makes for a long concert. In Athens, people were clapping and screaming for one song, so we had to play it too. When you are up there, you forget about your age!

What have been the best moments of the tour so far?
It was great that we started in Canada. We had four nights in a great big beautiful theatre in Toronto, and the second was maybe the best concert we’ve had. Manchester. Athens was very good, they like Leonard there – “Sisters of Mercy” and “So Long, Marianne” were inspired by there. And in Lisbon [going to re-check, Spanish pronunciation] it was amazing. The people were singing the songs outside the concert, and sometimes they sang better than we played! Those were very emotional nights. I think this music is made to be played in theatres, like our four nights in Manchester, not in festivals. But people want so much to seem him – we don’t even have tickets for family.

Leif Bodnarchuk2

What have the highlights been for you?
The first show, Fredericton was a mind blower – the initial audience reaction to Leonard’s presence on stage was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a genuinely enthusiastic reception. I’ve see kids go wild, but this older audience was incredible. Over on stage left, we were stunned! I don’t think I’ve seen a stage entrance reception that rivals it. The Dublin crowd are my personal running favourite; they sang the loudest and had the most fun of that leg. And the crowd in Glastonbury was overwhelming. It was a surreal experience. Call me crazy, but even I got a little emotional!

Charley and Hattie Webb

CHARLEY: Back then, [at Fredericton], Hattie and I weren’t plugged into what to expect. We’d never seen Leonard live before. A religious experience is an appropriate phrase, for how people see his shows. We would walk on – and it took a while to harden to being affected by grown men and women crying and sobbing and screaming directly in front of you. But Leonard seems to be warmed by that. It’s almost like he could part the Red Sea. He lifts up his microphone, and everything settles.

HATTIE: In Fredericton, it was quite overwhelming. Everybody felt it was going to be quite an electric atmosphere. But it was beyond anything that we’d imagined. And so intimate. That was a very small theatre. I think it was a very smart way of Leonard to start the tour. Instead of being in an enormous arena with less personal connection, you could really see the faces of the first twenty rows. It was so tiny, it was like one of those old London theatres. You could almost picture people in Victorian dress. Leonard immediately connected with people, and his own nerves dissipated within a couple of songs.

CHARLEY: We all knew what a weighty night that was.

And Dublin? The first gig in Europe…
CHARLEY: Dublin was raucous, high-energy. We were freezing to death on-stage. It was the coldest I’ve ever been, all of our kneecaps were going up and down, trying not to completely shudder. It was outdoors at night, and the hardy Irish were swinging and dancing in the rain to “So Long, Marianne”, knowing all the words. The outside atmosphere and the weather added to a completely different energy.

Was that raucous energy consistent through the Dublin shows, though?
HATTIE: It was. There were three nights in Dublin, but the second was the first to be booked and officially sold. The first night was energetic, but the second, with all the die-hards, was absolutely mental.

CHARLEY: The security people got completely squashed and swept out of the way by the tides of people coming towards the front, insisting on polkaing and waltzing. Cameramen even zoomed in and captured some couples on their knees – one person was proposing with a ring during “I’m Your Man”. It was crazy.

How did the songs stand up to that atmosphere?
HATTIE: Something like “Take This Waltz” is very uplifting. Everybody was singing along to that, and “So Long, Marianne” is quite a chanty, beer-swilling song.

Bruce Rodgers3

Is there a theme that you were working with, design-wise?
Not necessarily a theme but I took the approach to design the set as an extension of who Leonard is to me, Leonard is a very elegant gentleman and dresses that way. His music is from the heart and he’s also a great artist. He allows us to see into his heart when he sings and I wanted the feel of the set to be like him, subtle and silvery grey and translucent, mysterious and full of light at times, dark and moody at others. My setting this not only gave me the feelings I was after but also gives Anne the ability to tone the space thru out the evening.

The Final Two Uncut Interviews
I’ll post links to the final two interviews when they are available.

Roscoe Beck4

And new songs forthcoming?
Well, he’s writing. He’s already got some things written. He’s played me two of the songs. And there are more new songs. I saw him writing on the plane yesterday, in his notebooks. And he’s talked to me about wanting to do a new record. But it will probably be when the touring’s done. Just because we still have dates – we’re in Europe until December 1, we’ll break for Christmas, then I think we’re going to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia and the Far East, after that will be the US and Western Canada, so there’s at least that much touring before we can start on a record. That will probably take us to at least October 2009 before we can even think about recording.

New songs.?
Well, you know, these things are always subject to change, and I do know a couple of titles but I wouldn’t want to give them away in case somebody took them…

Wilfred Langmaid5

The subject of the final interview proves a surprising choice. Wilfred Langmaid is described by Uncut thusly:

He’s been a critic for New Brunswick’s English-language newspaper The Daily Gleaner for over 25 years, and written often about Cohen during that period, including coverage of the first night of the “comeback” tour in Langmaid’s hometown of Fredericton. He also happens to be an Anglican chaplain.

And, indeed, the interview deals exclusively with the first concert of the tour, which was held in Fredericton. An excerpt follows:

What was the response when he arrived on stage?
when he appeared on the stage, there was a two-minute standing ovation. Not a note was playing. Just the fact that he was there. We just rose to our feet. He looked out with that nervous, shy smile, and kept bowing and nodding his head; a sheepish grin, but certainly loving every moment of it. He knew that we were thrilled to have him there. And we certainly knew, based on what he said, but more importantly what he did musically and artistically, that he was really thrilled to be with us. There must have been some misgivings, some second thoughts: “Oh, my heaven! I’m really doing this!” But the band were in the pocket right from the get-go. Leonard did well from the outset, but he seemed a little jittery, for the first couple of songs; he made reference to it. But by the fourth song, “Bird on the Wire” – that was in the four-spot. The nervousness was gone. He was fully engaged, and just sailing along. He was at his best. The voice was far stronger than I expected. The energy was strong. He was playful throughout the evening. He was gracious, he was thinking on his feet. It became clear in hindsight, having read accounts of other shows, that some “ad-libbed” lines were well-rehearsed – being a “60-year-old kid with a crazy dream…” But other moments were clearly off the cuff. People would say things, respectfully, between songs, and he would banter back and forth, and it was all very playful. At the start of set two, when he was getting the keyboard programmed for “Tower of Song”, he pressed a wrong button, and laughed and had to put his glasses on. He was literally feeling his way. “So Long Marianne” was completely transformed – a totally different cadence, 4/4, not 3/3. He defined it in a different way, as Dylan would. For those of us who were fanatics, we’d hear those early licks and go: “Oh, yeah!” We’re going to get “Who by Fire…” “Oh, it’s this. It’s that…” It was a feeling I have not had since Grateful Dead concerts. Just joy. Having written about music since the late ’70s, this was way up there at the top. We never thought we’d see him again, let alone in our hometown.

1. See MOJO Is Getting Its Leonard Cohen On and Get Your Leonard Cohen MOJO↩
2. Guitar technician↩
3. Set designer↩
4. Added 19 November 2008↩
5. Added 25 November 2008↩