Author List | All Tags
Recent Tags
Popular Tags
SXSW (41)
Audio (23)
SXSW 09 (19)
Benefits (14)
Video (13)
ACL 2008 (11)
Cute Band Alert (11)
teen bands (11)
Fun Fun Fun Fest (10)
Misc. (9)
Girls Rock Camp Austin (8)
ACL Fest 2009 (8)
Church of the Friendly Ghost (8)
ACL Fest 2007 (7)
U18 (6)
Reissues (5)
Crew54 (5)
Experimental music (5)
Bun B (5)
Jon Dee Graham (5)
Audio (23)
SXSW 09 (19)
Benefits (14)
Video (13)
ACL 2008 (11)
Cute Band Alert (11)
teen bands (11)
Fun Fun Fun Fest (10)
Misc. (9)
Girls Rock Camp Austin (8)
ACL Fest 2009 (8)
Church of the Friendly Ghost (8)
ACL Fest 2007 (7)
U18 (6)
Reissues (5)
Crew54 (5)
Experimental music (5)
Bun B (5)
Jon Dee Graham (5)
All Chronicle blogs, all the time
Politics, opinion, and other news staples
The scene turned inside art
Getting in bed with books
Come on in the kitchen
Sizing up screens big and small
Your base on balls
Elements of style
Steer here, queers
Check back here for Chronicle alerts!
on ChronCast: free audio news and streams from the Chronicle
Songs of Love and Hate
Audra Schroeder
Fri Apr 3, 11:37am
Watching Leonard Cohen's 1989 Austin City Limits episode before his second show at the Long Center last night, it's amazing the difference two decades makes. On the studio stage, Cohen is sweating, his voice strong but slightly slurred, no doubt from the tequila he mentions drinking. It's a hit or miss hour from Cohen in his more "experimental" period after 1988's I'm Your Man.
The hints of synthy, New Age schmaltz were gone for the most part Wednesday and Thursday. The impeccably-suited, graceful, and surprisingly limber 74-year-old skipped onstage both nights and delivered two three-hour tours of his oeuvre, including "Famous Blue Raincoat," "So Long, Marianne," and "Tower of Song." The crowd was reverent, tearful, grateful. I'd liken the shows to a religious ceremony, but Cohen might take exception.
Check out next week's paper for a full review by yours truly.
