We had a fabulous time last night at a Leonard Cohen concert in the Opera House concert hall. He was fantastic for an old guy (79) and his band was really, really good. We had about three hours of music, old stuff and new, and wandered home at 11.15 pm.
Before the concert we spotted famed music critic Bernard Zuel, a former colleague from the Sydney Morning Herald, outside on the terrace with another friend and former colleague of Jan, Katherine Brandon.
Bernard and I had a chat about old times at the Herald and he was bemoaning his fate. With fewer staff and constant demands to file instant stories for the website, Herald writers are feeling the pressure.
Bernard was not working last night – he’d reviewed Cohen earlier at his Entertainment Centre concert, saying:
Despite this being the third time we’ve seen him in four years, with not huge differences in the setlist, Leonard Cohen still found ways to renew our connection to these songs, to him and to our imagined (dreamt for?) alternative life as sensualists and intellects.
I was very impressed also with the musical talent of the band and his backing singers. Great music, great night. His latest album, Old Ideas has some great songs/poems. Check up on the band lineup here.
