Leonard Cohen delivers in Tel Aviv

My first introduction to the music of Leonard Cohen was in 1991. I was a DJ at my high school radio station which sat comfortably at the left of the dial. Big props to WPOB 88.5! I came across I’m Your Fan in 1991, a compilation of Cohen covers by the likes of R.E.M., The Pixies, James, Nick Cave and The House of Love. I was taken by both The Pixies cover of “I Can’t Forget” and James cover of “So Long, Marianne” and immediately sought out Leonard Cohen’s music. To be honest, it wasn’t for me. Simply not loud enough. I loved the melody, but I don’t think I was mature enough for the lyrics. It was only years later during my dark years of college while listening in the lonely, cold hours of the night did I truly learn to appreciate the poetry of Leonard Cohen.

Hallelujah. Now that’s a song I’ve heard hundreds and hundreds of times. Whether it be the original Cohen version or one of the numerous covers by Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Rufus Wainwright and even American Idol participant Jason Castro (horrid IMHO). Let’s just say that the emotional resonance of the song has long warn off. While it is arguably once of the greatest song of the past 30 years, for a long time now, it’s just been another song to me. However last night during Cohen’s performance as 50,000 Israelis sang along with him and he took his hat to chest and closed his eyes to take in the moment I couldn’t help but get enveloped by the strong emotions that clearly everyone in the stadium was feeling. I’ve seen hundreds of concerts in my day and it’s hard to say that I have experienced such a powerful moment during a musical performance. Cohen’s performance of Hallelujah completely transcended what I anticipated to be the pinnacle of cheese. He managed to achieve an intimacy in his performance that I didn’t think was possible in a stadium of 50,000 people.

I’m not sure what Mr. Cohen is like when he is not performing, but on stage he was full of class. During his 3 hour plus performance, Cohen often removed his signature fedora during solos by his band and granted them his full attention as a signature of both respect and awe. Clearly enamored by the incredible backing band he introduced them more than once and even brought his crew on the stage at the end to thank them and all involved with the tour.

As he was just about to step off the stage after his third encore Cohen recited Birkat Cohanim (the priestly blessing) which clearly moved the audience.

“They shall place My name upon the children of Israel, and I Myself shall bless them.”

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Come shit on us Ian Brown! We love it!

In the great tradition of artists such as Roger Waters and Erykah Badu, once again Israeli producers will be inviting a musician who will come perform in Israel, take our money and then ignorantly criticize our policies (granted, some of our policies suck, but we don’t need no education from performers who know close to [...]

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How to make a good friend extremely jealous in one small step.

Appear in the video for Supernatural Superserious, the new R.E.M. single from their upcoming album, Accelerate. That’s my friend Jamye with her fist in the air at the 1:42 mark.

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“The Yes We Can Song”

Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, along with many collaborators have put together a motivational song that was inspired by Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech following the New Hampshire primary. It features, among others, Common, John Legend, Scarlett Johannson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and even Ed Kowalczyk of +Live+ (Obama epitomizes “The Beauty of Grey”, [...]

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Badu comes over for dinner, procedes to shit on table

Neo-Soul, Tyrone-hating singer Erykah Badu has arrived in Israel for a concert on Saturday night. This evening, at a press conference with journalists and fans, she declared her support for the Palestinian cause and defended Louis Farrakhan. I come from across the water bringing light and hope,” said Badu in her deep, languid voice. She [...]

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My Favorite Things: Siobhan Donaghy

If you are not American, you might remember Siobhan Donaghy as the very serious looking redhead in the first line-up of the much better than average British girl vocal group, Sugababes. Slightly darker, tougher, and edgier than your average pop vocal group the UK’s Sugababes’ shelf life have far surpassed that of the numerous disposable [...]

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Find the River on LSD

Last month Stereogum released a tribute to R.E.M.’s album, Automatic for the People, featuring a myriad of indie musicians covering the classic album track by track. I found most of the covers underwhelming, some boring and a few quite dismal. Granted, its difficult to live up to expectations on such an album but some of [...]

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Nostalgic Music Monday!

The Innocence Mission on Letterman! The Blake Babies’ Temptation Eyes! Material Issue’s Valerie Loves Me!

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More children’s music that does not suck…

One of the things I’ve been most looking forward to as a father is introducing my daughter to music. There are few things I love more than rocking out. My life is dominated by song these days. We are really into transitioning Tzofie with music. There is a good morning song (very loosely based on [...]

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Stuff only I care about….

Green tea may work as an anti-inflammatory for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis. How to make a plastic bag keeper. R.E.M.’s music catalog dissected once song at a time. “Now That The Day Is Over“, The Innocence Mission’s beautiful collection of lullabies, will make you want to burn your Baby Einstein collection. Buy it for your [...]

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