Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen!

Beacon Theatre, NYC, February 19, 2009. Photo taken by Jeremy Root. We were there. Leonard Cohen is 74 years old and put on one of the most incredible shows I've ever seen. Nearly 3 hours he played, covering everything from his breakthrough "Suzanne" to "Halljelujah" to more recent material like "The Future" and "A Thousand Kisses Deep". This being New York, all of Cohen's hymns to the city were included. "First We Take Manhattan" drew the biggest cheers, but my favorite was "Famous Blue Raincoat", which was saved until the second encore. (There were three!) To solidify our Cohen pilgrimage, we stayed at the Chelsea Hotel, made famous by Leonard in his song of the same name, as well as Sid Vicious, Bob Dylan and other rock royalty. We stayed in room 318, deluxe for the Chelsea in that it had two beds and a private bath. Leonard Cohen has, among other things, written two novels, published multiple volumes of poetry, lived with Zen Buddhist monks on Mt. Baldy in Southern California, dated Rebecca DeMornay, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has also spent the last 4 decades releasing hugely influential albums full of pathos and passion. He is 74 years old, which means, in all likelihood, that this will be his last substantial tour. His show hits the Nokia Theatre in LA on April 10th. Presale tickets go on sale March 7th, and presale passwords are available by registering for the forums on leonardcohen.com. They will be expensive, and worth every penny. The complete set list of the Beacon Theatre show is below:

New York, February 19, 2009 - Beacon Theatre Show

First Set:

Dance Me to the End of Love
The Future
Ain't No Cure For Love
Bird On a Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who by Fire?
Chelsea Hotel No. 2
Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
Sisters of Mercy
Anthem

Second Set:

Tower of Song
Suzanne
The Gypsy's Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I'm Your Man
A Thousand Kisses Deep
Take This Waltz

First Encore:

So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan

Second Encore:

Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Democracy

Third Encore:
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest