Live Review: Leonard Cohen

“I've got no future/I know my days are few,” Leonard Cohen spruiks almost triumphantly in The Darkness from his latest LP, Old Ideas. But, even as he stands before us at 79 years of age, it's hard to believe. Given it's his third visit to Australia in a relatively short time, it's heartening that Cohen has still commanded a more than sizeable audience in this arena setting and this is well deserved.
Cohen jogs (yes, jogs) onstage and drops to his knees for first verse of Dance Me To The End Of Love, the scorching lead violin of Alexandru Bublitchi, the first member of his incredible band, showcased. After he praises the AirportLink tunnel (apparently it has therapeutic qualities), The Future picks up the pace, though the anal sex references remain censored, before the first knowing cheer comes with the first line of Bird On A Wire. Cohen's control over his mighty band is clear; after blistering solos from guitarist Mitch Watkins and keyboardist Neil Larsen the band drops to nothing, the crowd is silent and we all wait for Cohen to resume at his leisure.
The passionate, pulsating Everybody Knows is followed by an immense Archilaud solo from Javier Mas, which brings in Who By Fire, finishing with some double bass mastery from Roscoe Beck. Lover Lover Lover is lively and features incredible harmonies between Mas and Bublitchi before the uplifting How The Light Gets In closes out the first part of this evening's show.
Cohen kicks off set number two powerfully; the playful Tower Of Song, the iconic Suzanne and Chelsea Hotel No. 2 and the gripping The Partisan evidence of his deep catalogue. Vocalist Sharon Robinson takes on the achingly beautiful Alexandra Leaving, which leads into the braggy I'm Your Man and somehow it's not jarring. After a recitation of A Thousand Kisses Deep comes Hallelujah, but it doesn't get the huge reaction expected. It's a brilliant song, but with such an abundance of brilliance on show, it's tough to single out songs for extra adulation.
Take This Waltz closes the set, but an encore is a foregone conclusion; So Long, Marianne is rapturous and First We Take Manhattan is pummelling. A second encore kicks off with the brilliant Famous Blue Raincoat, the Webb Sisters sing the delicate If It Be Your Will and Closing Time seems to signal the evening's end.
But it's not. I Tried To Leave You is a showcase of the brilliant musicians and, after all these brilliant songs, Cohen ends on a cover of The Drifters' Save The Last Dance For Me. If we ever get the opportunity again, you simply must spend an evening with Leonard Cohen.