***** (of *****)
Dance me to the end of, erm, the Greenwich Peninsula
Had X factor been years earlier in jump-starting the fortunes of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah - resulting in tidy royalties from three versions scaling the singles charts to varying heights - the song's writer might never have played this wonderful show at the O2 Arena. He's gone on record saying he was swindled out of close to $5 million and needed to beef up his pension fund, so the 73-year old staged his first tour for 15 years.
It's unthinkable now to entertain the notion of that tour not happening. Out of financial necessity came a truly stunning series of concerts, including this mesmerising performance from last July, one of the most talked-about in the capital in long time. The ease and power with which Cohen revisited 26 of his greatest songs over two-and-a-half spellbinding hours left all who saw it awe-struck.
He looks great for a septuagenarian, sharp-suited with dark fedora on greying temples, like a veteran spy in a John le Carre novel. The gravel voice caresses every number with tenderness, punctuated by a nifty line in comic patter, at one point listing the medications, philosophies and religions which failed him because "cheerfulness kept breaking through". Live DVD of the year. no contest.
Terry Staunton
