Leonard Cohen
Manchester Opera House
Manchester
UK
19 June 2008

Recorded using Sony PCM-M1 DAT with AT 800 Series Microphones
through a Low-Z to Hi-Z Input Transformer.

Mastered from DAT to Pioneer PDR-609 Stand alone CDR > CD Wave >
FLACfrontend > flac

Disc One

Set One:
1. Dance Me To The End Of Love
2. The Future
3. Ain't No Cure For Love
4. Bird On The Wire
5. Everybody Knows
6. In My Secret Life
7. Who By Fire
8. Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye
9. Anthem

Disc Two

Set Two:
1.Tower Of Song
2.Suzanne
3.Gypsy Wife
4.Boogie Street
5.Hallelujah
6.Democracy
7.I'm Your Man
8.A Thousand Kisses Deep (spoken)
9.Take This Waltz

Disc 3

Encores:
1. So Long, Marianne
2. First We Take Manhattan
3. Sisters Of Mercy
4. If It Be Your Will
5. Closing Time
6. I Tried To Leave You
7. Whither Thou Goest?


What can I say in a few short lines to even begin to describe the
sheer good fortune it was to witness Leonard's residency at
Manchester Opera House last week.

I have been a fan of Leonard's for a relatively short time
(only about 22 years). My route into him was through the
sublime Jennifer Warnes album , Famous Blue Raincoat.

I missed out on seeing him in both 1988 amd 1993 and thought I had
missed my chance to see him perform forever.

Then in July 2007 I was so fortunate to get to meet him at the
opening of his exhibition at the Richard Goodall Gallery in Manchester.
This is I believe a major reason why, almost one year on, Leonard
chose to spend the best part of a week here on his tour.

My expectations were high and I went to Night 1 almost fearing
he could not live up to them. Foolish me. By In MY Secret Life
I was both in rapture and in tears. He had not only matched but
exceeded my expectations with consumate ease.

This brings us to the night of this recording.

This was Night 3 and I was sat about 8th Row Stalls dead centre.

The performances each night were simply stunnnig. The setlists got
slightly longer with the addition of three songs.

What changed most was Leonard's demeanour. Night 1 he was mesmerising.

By Night 3 Night 1 seemed staid and reserved.

Leonard was so relaxed by Night 3 and the whole night became a joyous
experience enhoyed by no-one in the house more than Leonard.

These gig have to my mind simply rejunvenated him. He performed
with the joy and intensity of a man half his age. Before the tour
we wondered if he would do 90 minutes of even at the most 2 one
hour sets. By Thursday night I was taking a spare DAT tape as I feared
the three hour one I was using might not be enough!!

I have been going to gigs for the thick end of 30 years and what I
witnessed at Manchester Opera House last week are contenders for
the greatest gigs I have ever seen.

Gigs of the year by a country mile.
Gigs of the decade sure.
Gigs of my life, quite possibly.

Three days on from Night 4 I am still in a state of sheer disbelief
at what I have seen and mastering this recording up has brought it
vividly back to me.

I hope that it does the same for those of you who were at any of
these gigs and, if you were not, that it gives you at least a taste
of what these shows were and are going to be like through to August.

Thanks to my friends Barry, Len, Myles, Shirlie, Geoff, Dave, Tim and
our newest Cohen convert my girlfriend Deb, for allowing me to share
these nights with you all.

Thank you to the band who appeared to make the sublime seem effortless.

But above all my thanks goes to Leonard for making a dream come true.

We love you even more now (if that is possible) after your amazing
performances in Manchester.

Enjoy.