Three years after his breakthrough with the single Suzanne, Canadian singer / songwriter Leonard Cohen was scheduled to perform at the third Isle Of Wight festival, where he performed in front of 600,000 people at four in the morning. The audience had already gone through five hectic festival days and was tired, dirty and above all rebellious towards the failing organization. Violence was in the
… air. In addition, Cohen had the thankless task of having to take office after Jimi Hendrix. Yet he managed to play with the unhinged crowds with ease. The repertoire included all of his early classics, such as Famous Blue Raincoat, The Partisan and Bird On The Wire. Some announcements now seem a bit fuzzy but did exactly what was needed at that moment. Cohen radiated charisma, tranquility and wisdom in an extremely explosive situation. Seen in this way, the comparisons with Jesus frequently made on this CD / DVD are not that terribly out of place. There are interviews with Kris Kristofferson, Judy Collins and Joan Baez. (MS)more
