WHEN I told my taxi driver he was taking me to see Leonard Cohen, he came out with the familiar criticism of: "That's music to slash your wrists to."
As a smiling 74-year-old Cohen skipped on to the Echo Arena Liverpool stage to explode into a version of Dance Me to the End of Love, he was far from depressing.
Wearing a smart black suit, buttoned-up grey shirt and his iconic hat, Cohen often kneeled, singing with his face down and eyes closed. Cradling his microphone between two frail hands he seemed to be more a man worshipping than simply singing hits.
Perhaps the most religious moment came during his performance of Hallelujah. The care with which he shaped, uttered and offered each word gave the song a sacred, prayer-like quality which softly wrenched it far above its X-factor pop cover.
Cohen shook with passion, wringing out, "Love is not a victory march" and never broke out of his trance as he jokingly altered a famous line to, "I didn't come to Liverpool to fool you."
During I'm Your Man, he sniggered before lifting his hat to reveal his face and changing "I'll wear a mask for you" to "I'll wear an old man's mask for you." He may ache in the places where he used to play but as he flirts with the audience, there are echoes of the young charmer he was famous for being.
Although my favourite Cohen song, Chelsea Hotel # 2, was missing, classics including Famous Blue Raincoat, Suzanne, Marianne and First We Take Manhattan found their way on to the playlist.
Collaborator Sharon Robinson took centre stage for Boogie Street as did the Webb Sisters for a haunting rendition of If It Be Your Will, which Cohen started by speaking the first lines without music.
He shared his spotlight with the musicians on stage, often slinking into the darkness, hat in hand, while they crafted solos on a myriad of instruments from guitars to bandurrias and keyboards to the chromatic harmonica.
Song after song flowed until we thought Closing Time had brought the night to an end only for him to jokingly follow it up with I Tried to Leave You.
As he brought the song to its final words, "And here's a man still working for your smile", I remembered my taxi driver's criticism. Cohen humbly works for the audience's smile and seems almost relieved when he completely achieves it.
DEMONSTRATORS campaigned outside the Echo Arena Liverpool calling for Cohen to cancel his forthcoming gig in Israel.
As the crooner performed at the venue, up to 35 Palestine solidarity activists spoke out against the 74-year-old’s Tel Aviv concert in September.
Cohen has responded to the criticism by scheduling a performance for a Palestinian audience, in Ramallah.
