Counter Culture

Right from the get go I knew I was going to love this show. Stewart D’Arrietta and band started with two of my favourite Cohen songs – Everybody Knows and In My Secret Life. For me Leonard Cohen was a poet, a philosopher and a modern day prophet. A compassionate, exceptional and inspiring man.

Outside in the queue one of the staff had said two things – that the band were all Scottish and that Stewart sounded like Leonard Cohen. If he meant that the band were all Scottish and excluded Stewart (who is Australian) he was right on that score. As to Stewart sounding like Leonard, well he doesn’t. He has his own unique and very good voice. The whole show is a celebration of the life and work of Leonard Cohen but it isn’t an attempt to duplicate how he did things.

That’s true of the music too as there were some impressive rearrangements. It made you listen with a fresh perspective and it’s a tribute to the music that it can be reinterprated in such different ways and yet still stay true to the core.

Phil Alexander on piano-accordion probably had a lot to do with that. Incredibly talented as was the lead guitarist. In fact all the band brought something to the table – very much an ensemble effort.

Some reviews are mixed because those who expected a slavish copy of the music will be disappointed. If you go along knowing that some exceptional musicians are bringing their energy and style to a body of work then you will be delighted. I was thinking of the criticism of Bob Dylan when he was asked why he covered some many folk songs and why he didn’t do more of his own. His response was: “I like to think I make them my own”. Stewart and the rest of the band are, I think, adopting this approach!

As people left the hall they were still clapping and calling out congratulations to the band. I was among them.

Reviewed by Patrick Harrington