ADAM COHEN - LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

I first heard about Adam Cohen on the Leonard Cohen forum and was morbidly curious and hoped he would at least sing the same type of music as his father even if I knew nothing was ever likely to compare to the great man.

My first impression of Adam was through his You Tube confessional that he had all but given up singing after a failed career but was giving it one more go with a new album called Like A Man. The preview clip sounded promising and my wife Karen assured me he looked good

Apart from that I found a few quite sexy sounding French songs but frankly anything in French sounds sexy and anything sexy sounds good.

I am so desperate for anything “Cohenesque” that I have seen the Webb Sisters and the Keith James tribute show but I am totally convinced that I would not have bought tickets to see Adam if I did not like his music. So based on one track, the title track to Like A Man, I became the excited holder of 2 tickets to see Adam live at the band on the Wall in Manchester.

When I finally got the whole new CD I realised I had not made a mistake but at the same time I could not disassociate Adam from his father. Having see Cohen senior on every one of his tours since 1985 (all 3 of them) and 6 concerts in all including 4 shows during his recent 3 year long tour Adam was going to have to be good to make an impact on me. The last time I saw Leonard I got right up in front of the great man for the encores so was determined to be up close to his son and Karen certainly was not complaining.

The show opened with Mia Bloomfield warming up the stage with half a dozen songs and she was really good so I was not disappointed when she announced that she would be back to play in Adam’s band.

Finally Adam appeared with Mia and Michael his drummer, guitarist, pianist, backup vocalist etc. Ten songs and lots of chatting later it was all over but I hope that this is just the start of something that will last many years. Adam is talented, writes great songs and has bucket loads of charisma.

It must be difficult having a father who is so famous, successful and who is simply better than you will ever be but if Adam did not have a talented father he would not have had the chance of inheriting the talent he has so it’s a catch 22.

I am confused because on the one hand Adam wants to break free from living in his father’s shadow but yet the show was so totally overshadowed by his father and Adam was equally to blame for constantly referring to him and even led a sing along to So Long Marianne.

Adam could have come on, sang 20 songs and gone back to his hotel but he did not. Instead he engaged the audience in conversation about himself, his father and how he tried and failed to force himself to not only be a success but to do it by way of a genre of music he neither liked nor was competent at. Instead he has finally accepted that he is part of a dynasty of music that deserves to be honored by him and this realisation has freed him to express himself with a collection of truly beautiful songs.

Ok so Adam’s songs do not quite have the breadth of musicalilty or depth of poetic imagery of his fathers and he does not even have a back catalogue. Furthermore Adam is not yet able to afford to be accompanied by a band, like his father’s, who could provide a great evening of entertainment without either Cohen at their helm but he really is a great singer in his own right. He recounted how Paul Mcartney recently attended one of his concerts and assumed even he was morbidly curious but was much boosted when Paul admitted that he wished he had written “over rated himself”


Adam cannot help it but if you closed your eyes and just listened to the voice singing or talking you really could be forgiven if you thought it was Leonard himself on the stage. 

Adam invited references to his father when he asked the audience why we had come to hear shouts of “Leonard” in response and when he asked if we wanted to hear a Leonard Cohen song to hear cries of “yes” in reply. I think this tour brings with it a sense of closure. Adam gives the audience chance to once again express their feelings about Leonard and Adam has the opportunity to hold his hand up and say "yeh my dad is Leonard Cohen and there is nothing I can do about that". 

There is a saying “if you cannot beat ‘em, join ‘em” and I say good luck to Adam and make the most of it. However I feel that Adam just wanted to get this monkey off his back or chip off his shoulder and I believe that Adam will go on to make many more great albums and to carve out a great career for himself. I am sure that Adam will stay true to himself and by that he will be staying faithful to the Cohen brand of music and he will through his albums and shows perpetuate what his father started but also fulfill his own potential.

When I saw Leonard Cohen the last time and probably for the last time in Lille in 2010 I was lucky enough to get the great man’s set list (well Karen got it actually). It was a lot easier to get hold of Adam’s set list and even to get it signed but it’s a nice double to have achieved and Karen even got a kiss on both cheeks (from Adam if you were wondering).


I told him that I am also a Cohen and we spontaneously gave each other the secret hand single of the Cohens used from ancient biblical times to the present day and that is worth more than a kiss to me.