Gig and misc

Leonard Cohen gave a great performance on his second night on Thursday here in Glasgow. Famous for his songs Hallelujah, Suzanne and Famous Blue Raincoat, I felt like a young 'un amongst the liberal hippies allowed out for the night. The sound quality at gigs is truly rotten to use a genuinely true generalisation; bucking the trend though a blind man would have queried if it was a CD player he had come to hear. I think it was a copy of a copy of a copy of The Songs Of Leonard Cohen on a 'normal' tape that was my introduction to him and it remains my favourite album of all time easily overcoming that hissy start (ironically it may even have helped). That debut album of his has tones of real misery around it and I find it hard to reconcile it with the audience. I suppose he mellowed a lot with his later output. The band of ten were a fine collection too; the Hammond organ player giving that edgy mellowness that maple syrup would if it were to sing, and the backing singers giving a simmering compliment to Cohen's deep 'golden voice'. His songs passed so quickly and despite his years he went on for about 3 hours minus his tea-break in the middle (or whatever Canadians use to whet their tonsils). Like Tom McRae he has a sense of humour that is needed for songs that to many people sound depressing (I don't hear them that way though) He dedicated a song to what he heard was a hard drinking city including the line 'I fought against the bottle, but I had to do it drunk'. You had to be there! Overall a quite memorable night and a one-off that just about justified the hefty ticket cost.

I wonder who is the most bemused? A Brit in the USA or an American in Britain. Like how many Americans have heard of Pinky and Perky. But watching one of the numerous exports from the land of Uncle Sam one learns to guesstimate ones way over these references.

I noticed this banger season how the recession had even bit into that bit of fun for the young urchins of Glasgow. One of the good aspects of the recession. Could it be that people are ready to be more frugal and realise that the spend spend spend lifestyle isn't hitting the spot. Back to the streets of Glasgow it is quite amazing how little of the big rubbish is left for the large item uplift on Thursday mornings. Because Partick is a first-time buyers area I suspect old sofas end up here for their final sojourn because every week there would amazingly be at least one if not two or three left out for landfill. Its one of those fascinating statistics that will never be known sadly.

I heard a great song this morning on the Rock Radio - the new James Bond Theme it turned out on looking up the set list on the Internet. I was quite surprised as it sounded a bit like an obscure singer-songwriter (with a rocky edge) getting his CD dusted off. Aside from my recent ascent to one of the sets of 007 my first single was For Your Eyes Only by Sheena Easton, still a song I have plenty time for a listen and one of the more under-rated artists and deserving of an Abba like revival. Well maybe not but worth taking a bit more seriously. Oh well sometimes I am a bit bemused at my own self!