Leonard Cohen was a master of his craft at his Red Rocks show on Thursday night.
The most important ingredient in any given song is the lyrics. The Canadian singer-songwriter is best known for his unparalleled way with words, and so it was incredibly fitting that the lyrics took center stage at Cohen’s sprawling set Thursday night.
Not only is Cohen a master of the sly yet audible delivery, but the cheery weather also agreed with the songwriter, his six-piece band and three backup singers. After postponing the show Tuesday because of rain and cold, Thursday’s weather couldn’t have been more agreeable to Cohen’s canyon-deep bass and the subtleties of his mood-defying music.
Cohen front-loaded the night with some of his most familiar, celebrated songs — from a “The Future” that was breezy instead of sinister and a “Bird on the Wire” that had fans tearing up before the sun had set.
Before hanging his fedora up for a mid-set intermission — he is 74, mind you — Cohen threw down a revelatory take on the dark epic “Waiting for the Miracle” and a surprisingly powerful, yet expectedly relevant, “Anthem.”
Cohen often started songs bent down on one or both knees, getting a little Bono-weird on the audience. But his minimalist-rooted theatricality worked — a tip of the hat for accentuation, a muted old-man shuffle, an unsettling sway to a carnival beat. The charm of a song like “Take This Waltz,” which won over the crowd in the middle of the second set, defines Cohen’s presence on a stage: He’s classic, refined and ageless.
And that God-like bass-growl? Forget about it. It was 10 times more rewarding watching and listening to Cohen in 2009 than seeing Bob Dylan verbally stumble his way through another concert.
Cohen, who introduced each band member twice over the course of the night played for more than three hours. The singer’s signature song, “Hallelujah,” was classically placed toward the end of the first set, evoking a near-riotous, well-deserved standing ovation from the audience. Whereas the localization of most songs sounds trite and cheap, Cohen’s inclusion of the lyric du jour, “I have not come all the way to these Red Rocks to fool you,” was poetry.
Cohen’s first encore began with a gorgeous “So Long, Marianne.” And with that, he began another long goodbye — a goodbye that included multiple encores that were capped off with a couple upbeat-for-Cohen jams. Of those closers, “Democracy” was quite memorable — what with Cohen leading the singalong on the chorus and his incredibly talented band backing him up proudly and ably.
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Ricardo Baca is the founder and co-editor of and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post. He is also the executive director of the , Colorado’s premier festival of local music. Follow his whimsies at , his live music habit at and his iTunes addictions at .
