Cardiff is fascinated by Cohen
Published September 4, 2013 by Reviews . No comment .
Leonard Cohen
Ciron Gruffudd who attended-- the Montreal poet sang for three hours last night ...
Only a month after I dragged my tolerant girlfriend to see a bunch of old men performing at the Eisteddfod, last night was the night I had to pay back a favor and take her to see one old man singing.
From now on I will refer to my girlfriend as Lady Midnight and those of you who are familiar with the work of Leonard Cohen will understand that reference correctly. I did not until last night.
Better for me to explain now that I was never brought up with the sound of "the poet of Montreal", chwadal Bryn Fon, and even though I was familiar with a few of his works - not just the Brigyn version of 'Hallelujah' - I've never fallen under his spell.
But, with an open mind and wearing a brown corduroy suit to get into the spirit of the evening (as that is what I used to imagine that fans of Leonard Cohen would be wearing) away we go to the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
Early Impression
After walking in the hall, the first thing struck me was the diversity of the audience. Yes, most of whom are older and look respectful, but there were also skinheads with their hair dyed, rockers in their leather jackets and one relatively young and foolish young man in his brown corduroy suit. Testament, I suppose, to the timeless appeal of Leonard Cohen.
As an aside, one of the many stalls that sold expensive rubbish, opened my mouth wide and I made some strange noise from the back of my throat. Lady Midnight turned to look in the same direction as me. She asked: "What are you looking at? Who you've seen? "Rudis nothing. Less than three feet away, and looking her in the eye was the famous DJ Drum and Bass, High Contrast. That was my night to do and that gives you a taste of my usual taste in music.
Pork pie hat
After, somehow, the woman behind the bar persuaded us to buy a bottle of wine instead of glass, and we found our seats, the man himself walked on stage in his black suit and pork pie hat.
To be honest, the first half whipped past because my attention has been fixed on the man who sat next to me and his headgear. The question I was pondering was why, given the choice of any wig hair style in the world, one would choose the same style as my father's pictures in school after his mother put a bowl on his head and cut around it with blunt scissors?
Anyway, the first half is slick. The show itself is a machine that has been greased and everyone on stage knows what they're doing. With decades of songs under his belt, Cohen is obviously trying to reconcile the show by creating different arrangements of the same songs but charming Spanish style guitar with Javier Mas carries the whole. Although this worked for some who know the songs, some variation in the sound would have been better for an amateur like me.
Highlight
Starting the second half was the highlight as Leonard Cohen stood alone on stage in front of keyboards and three women sang backing vocals to 'Tower of Song'. Then came all the hits in a row - 'Chelsea Hotel', 'Suzanne', 'So Long, Marianne "and, of course,' Hallelujah '.
It's hard not to be charmed by his songs, and even when I did not know the song, listening to the words gives me a thrill repeatedly
Leonard Cohen's voice has also become deeper as the years go on, and he hit a few notes of the bass section that the best Male Choirs of Wales struggle to reach, which adds to the performance.
Encore
At the end of the show, he came forward three times to sing more songs known as 'Dance Me To The End Of Love' and 'First We Take Manhattan'. By the end he has been performing for over three hours. Not bad for a man who is pushing 80.
Lady Midnight had been brought up with Leonard Cohen songs in the soundtrack to her life and so she shed some tears in the second half. She cried at an Edward H Dafis gig too, but for different reasons.
And that's what I remember more than anything else for the night. Leonard Cohen’s ability to captivate the audience--- young and old, fans or not. Little wonder that the man had had his fair share of women over the years if he could seduce lots of people in the Cardiff hall without even removing his hat.
I’m not saying that I have become a fan overnight, but two things are certain. First, I'll pay more attention and listen more to him from now on. And second, I will never wear a corduroy suit on a warm summer night again.
