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   Review: Keith James : The Songs of Leonard Cohen – The Lowry, Salford
Reviewer: Jo Beggs
The Public Reviews Rating: Two and a half out of Five. In the 1980s, amidst all the Adam & the Ants, Soft Cell and Culture Club, my best friend from school introduced me to Leonard Cohen. She had an older brother whose musical taste had influenced her, and in turn influenced me. Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young…and Leonard. As a literature obsessed teenager I thought these were the greatest poets who ever lived. I still think they are. Cohen remains one of my all time favourites, Famous Blue Raincoat would be one of my Desert Island Discs. So a tribute act is a gamble. This could go either way…Surprisingly it goes neither way. James is a talented musician with a genuine love of Cohen’s songwriting. The songs (as expected) are amazing and he plays them all beautifully. But there’s a disappointing lack of passion in the whole thing. James’ reverence is far too earnest, his opening introduction alludes to the evening being a homage to “the serious business of Leonard Cohen” and turns out to be less tongue in cheek than it seems, as he goes on to deliver two hours which feel a bit like an academic lecture on the great man’s songs and their musical merit. James doesn’t try to be a sound-alike. His own take on Cohen’s songs strips them back, laying the melodies and inspired lyrics bare. He’s clearly not keen on the synths Cohen layered I’m Your Man with in the 80s or even what he describes as the “girly backing vocal” in So Long Marianne (although in this one case he does allow – indeed encourages – the audience a bit of a sing-along on the chorus – a bit incongruous – but fun!). The problem is that James has Cohen’s lyrical beauty nailed (Famous Blue Raincoat, which he describes as “possibly the best song (of it’s kind [?]) ever written” doesn’t disappoint) but fails to demonstrate any of the essential grit. It’s all just too nice. All the favourites are here, though. The evening kicks off with Hey, That’s No way To Say Goodbye, and takes in Sisters of Mercy, If It Be Your Will, Bird on a Wire, Everybody Knows, and not one, but two versions of Hallelujah. James also throws in a bit of Neil Young (After The Goldrush) and Joni Mitchell (Woodstock) in a bit of a plug for another show he does – the Great Canadian Songbook, which, it seems, includes all my Canadian musical heroes. Again, these are solid, accomplished covers. The evening really fails to hit the mark, though, when James performs a couple of songs he’s written based on poems by Lorca. The Spanish poet is one of Cohen’s greatest influences and his own Take this Waltz is inspired by a poem in Lorca’s Poeta en Nueva York, his collection from the late 1920s. James infuses the songs with flamenco guitar and a smattering of Spanish lyrics which fail to capture anything of Lorca’s original text. James is better when creating his own work from scratch. He over-apologetically introduces one of his own songs The Circle Song, which is pleasant enough, with a rather Joni Mitchell-like lyric and melody. The man wears his influences on his sleeve. James and his musical partner Louise Spencer have performed this show over 100 times and it’s now back on the road for another tour. The Lowry’s studio space is perhaps too clinical to really make it work. It’s desperately in need of a cabaret space, a bar and a little less solemnity. I think Leonard would agree.
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