Leonard Cohen to tour

I thought seeing Lou Reed play ‘Berlin’ was excitement enough for June. Now comes news that Leonard Cohen is to tour for the first time in nearly thirty years. Regular readers will remember that I visited his home on Hydra last September. I saw him play Birmingham on the last tour, in ’79, and briefly met him in Liverpool in ’75, after his show at the Empire (I’ll save that story for another time). If his performance with U2 in the recent film is anything to go by, Leonard hasn’t got much voice left, but if he just recites his lyrics (many of which started as poems) as he does in the video below, I’ll be happy. That is, if I can get a ticket for his Manchester Opera House residency. In the meantime, here’s a 10 minute clip of his induction at the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame last night. There’s a brief biog, then you get to see Uncle Lou induct Laughing Lenny. No joke, that nickname – far from being a prophet of doom, he’s one of the funniest performers I’ve seen. The drag about the tour is that, in his 70’s, Leonard only needs to tour because his accountant stole all of his money (several million dollars) while LC was on Mount Baldi being a buddhist monk. No joke that.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7IuCKfA0PM]