From our archives:
Canadian poet-troubadour Leonard Cohen’s most recent album, issued earlier this year, was entitled Popular Problems, but one of Cohen’s problems is not a lack of available material for his fans. Following that LP as well as the Mastered-for-iTunes release of his studio album catalogue, Cohen has announced the December 2 release ofLive in Dublin via Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings.
His first full-length high definition concert film, Live in Dublin will be available in 3-CD/1-DVD and 3-CD/1-BD configurations as well as from digital service providers. The concert was filmed last year at Dublin’s O2 arena on September 12, 2013, part of the artist’s critically-acclaimed, sold-out world tour. At the O2 as on other stops, he incorporated music from 2012’s Old Ideas into a career-spanning retrospective set list of Cohen standards. The three-hour program includes an 11-song first set including “Dance Me to the End of Love” and early classic “Bird on the Wire,” a second set with “Suzanne,” “Chelsea Hotel # 2,” “I’m Your Man,” “Tower of Song” and the inevitable “Hallelujah,” and an encore featuring “So Long, Marianne,” “First We Take Manhattan,” “Famous Blue Raincoat,” and a poignant cover of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman’s Brill Building staple “Save the Last Dance for Me.”
The DVD only adds three bonus performances recorded in Canada in 2013: “Show Me the Place,” “Anyhow” and “Different Sides.”
Live in Dublin will continue the Cohen renaissance in his 80th year. Popular Problems reached the summit of the iTunes chart in 31 countries and scored on the U.S. Billboard 200 at No. 15. Reflecting Cohen’s international fame, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Austrian, Canadian, Dutch, New Zealand and Swiss album charts, reaching the Top 5 in Belgium (No. 2), Finland (No. 2), Germany (No. 4), Italy (No. 5) and Sweden (No. 5).
