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Well guys, I was lucky enough to go and see LC himself last night at the Bournemouth International Centre. Arguably the greatest singer-songwriter of modern times, this tour is his first in the UK for over 15 years. The place was a sellout (well almost - I arrived a few minutes before the show and there were touts outside with handfuls of unsold tickets!  >) and there were a range of ages at the show, which was great to see.

I have only one word really 'impeccable'. I have never seen Leonard before and have grown to admire his work more and more, as I've grown older but have been a fan since the 'Songs of Leonard Cohen' album - my brother bought it and I just loved 'Suzanne' and 'So Long Marianne'

The whole show was the epitome of professionalism and the sound was something I have never experienced at a 'live' concert before, damn near perfection. The band he is touring with are exceptional, especially Spanish 12 string acoustic guitarist, Javier Mas - www.myspace.com/maodeoro

A very special night and I have never been in a crowd that gave so many standing ovations before. He performed from 8.00pm till 11.00pm, with a 20 minute break, a truly outstanding concert and I was totally mesmerised from about 9.00pm onwards.

I am not sure if the below is totally correct, as I nicked it from elsewhere, but it's near as damn it - 'Suzanne', 'Hallelujah' and 'Famous Blue Raincoat' were sublime.

Set List

      First Set
Dance Me To The End Of Love
The Future (edited lyrics from original song - now it's 'give me crack and careless sex'!)
Ain't No Cure For Love
Bird On The Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who By Fire
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Anthem
      Second Set
Tower Of Song
Suzanne
Gypsy Wife
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
Democracy (there was a huge roar and applause at the line 'democracy is coming to the USA', a very interesting response from white conservative Bournemouth)
I'm Your Man
Take This Waltz
      First Encore
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan
      Second Encore
Sisters Of Mercy
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time
      Final Encore
Famous Blue Raincoat
I Tried to Leave You

We are very proud of one of our greatest Canadian exports....Leonard Cohen

Thank you for an interesting review.
  I must admit that Ive never been over bothered by Leonard Cohen mainly because of his reputation for indulging in miserable and depressing songs. Well that was the case when I was in college all those years ago. Since then Ive given him little or no thought.
                That  did change a few weeks back though. He appeared on a TV show and I can remember thinking that he wasn't too bad......

You lucky man Tim. I thought about seeing him at the O2 earlier this year but tickets were quite expensive. Regretted not going because the reviews were excellent and I read an interview he did shortly after and regretted it even more. I have a few of his CDs and love his music. My ex introduced me to LC so I guess there was one good thing that came out of him. LC once said he never claimed to be a singer and that he's just a poet with a bad singing voice. I actually really like his voice.

Nice review, Tim. The man is a legend, his music and poetry stand out among the best work of the 20th century. It's great that he is still playing it live.

You need to give him another look Steve, I partly had that opinion as a youth (but Suzanne and So Long Marianne cannot be ignored IMO), but give the Songs of Leonard Cohen another listen, I reckon a more mature ear may find a lot there you missed as a lad? I've got pretty much all his major work now, a great DVD recommendation for you (I guarantee a bottle of Polish Vodka you will like it), is the 'I'm Your Man' one - www.amazon.co.uk/Leonard-Cohen-Im-Your-Man/dp/B000MGBPEC

I have both the DVD and CD, quite exceptional music from some very talented performers. This is where I discovered Teddy Thompson & Martha Wainwright, two of my recent favourites. I have my music Guru to thank for that!