"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Saturday, February 21, 2009

LEONARD COHEN: 74; BROKE; AND BACK ON TOUR

NYTIMES: Pop Music’s Perpetual Old Man, Now 74, Is Back on the Road
Leonard Cohen kept returning to the stance of a supplicant at the Beacon Theater on Thursday night, dropping to one knee, or both, to intone his wry and ruminative songs. At the same time, he basked in the rapture of the crowd, artfully courting adulation. His mix of humility and sovereignty felt effortless, entirely true to form. And it girded the concert, his first in the United States in 15 years, with a vibrant and effective tension.

Mr. Cohen, 74, left little room for disappointment in a show that lasted just over three hours (with an intermission) and featured more than two dozen songs. The evening doubled as a preview, coming with the eagerly anticipated announcement of a North American tour this spring. (The tour includes a stop at Radio City Music Hall on May 16.) Mr. Cohen began his return to the road last year, with a slew of dates in Europe and his native Canada; one of them yielded “Live in London,” an album and DVD due out next month from Columbia.
COHEN MAKES GOOD MUSIC. CHECK IT OUT. BUY HIS STUFF. IT AIN'T HIS FAULT HE'S BROKE.




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