Leonard Cohen's live show at The 02, Greenwich, exceeds expectations (From News Shopper)

Leonard Cohen's live show at The 02, Greenwich, exceeds expectations

4:15pm Tuesday 18th November 2008

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In the late 1990s, singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen spent five years in seclusion as a Buddhist monk, striving for spiritual clarity unencumbered by material wealth.

In 2005, the material wealth ceased to be a distraction, when his long-time manager fleeced more than $5m from Cohen’s retirement fund and the publishing rights to his songs.

Cohen may have started the tour out of a need for money but he seems to be carrying on out of a need to perform.

Unable to get the money back, Cohen announced a tour to replenish his coffers. Fans were delighted — it was his first for 15 years and, with the great man now 74, something they feared they would never get to see.

The concerts have been a revelation. Cohen may have started the tour out of a need for money but he seems to be carrying on out of a need to perform.

Friday night at The O2 was part of his third visit to the UK this year and fans can’t get enough.

If you wanted me to single out the one having the most fun, I’d point at the dapper septuagenarian in the fedora and gangster-sharp suit centre stage.

The stadium is almost packed to capacity and everyone seems in rapture, but if you wanted me to single out the one having the most fun, I’d point at the dapper septuagenarian in the fedora and gangster-sharp suit centre stage.

He bounds on with the giddy energy of a child and for the next two-and-a-half hours holds the audience spellbound.

All his best known songs are aired and the versions are all immaculate, with Cohen in astoundingly good voice. Even the Canadian singer has mocked his rumbling baritone in the past, but age seems to have been kind to it.

It is incredible how he makes even such a large space as the Greenwich venue seem intimate.

It resounds around the cavernous venue.

It is incredible how he makes even such a large space as the Greenwich venue seem intimate.

Early songs such as Suzanne, Chelsea Hotel No 2 and So, Long Marianne have the feel of a smoky, after-hours French bar, but his superb band also build up a disco throb for later songs such as First We Take Manhattan.

Best of all is the stripped down version of Tower of Song.

Cohen plays keyboards and his triumvirate of backing singers, including long-time collaborator Sharon Robinson, provide a chorus so angelic, Cohen seems reluctant to have it end, requesting they forever follow him around as uplifting soundtrack to his “shabby life”.

The crowd were similarly reluctant to let him go, even after three encores. But, with a last doff of the hat, the 74-year-old leaves the stage, taking the distance in one leap. Incredible.

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