Irish tribute gig 'convinced Cohen to tour again'

Leonard Cohen was coaxed back on to the stage by a tribute gig in Ireland, his impresario has revealed.

Rob Hallett, the concert promoter who persuaded the singer and poet out of retirement, said he used a show in Dublin six years ago to win his argument.

The president of international touring at AEG Live, who also worked with Prince and on Michael Jackson's ill-fated comeback, first met his childhood hero Cohen in February 2007.

The singer, then retired in Los Angeles, was under financial pressures and the pair sat down and talked about touring.

"He had several concerns - the main one was that no-one would want to see him," Hallett recalls.

"He thought no one was interested, it had been a long time. 'No-one wants to see me now'."

Despite worries about about embarrassing himself, the promoter and life-long fan persuaded Cohen there was a massive audience waiting to see him mainly on the back of a two-night tribute concert in Dublin, called 'Came So Far for Beauty', the year before.

"I said: 'Leonard, if a bunch of people who are not that well-known can sell out two nights at The Point in Dublin just singing your songs, imagine how many nights you could sell,'" he said.

"That was a major feature of my argument."

The bill for the tribute concerts included Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Beth Orton and Jarvis Cocker.

After agreeing to rehearsals, Cohen did small gigs in obscure parts of Canada before his celebrated 2008 comeback concerts in Dublin's Museum of Modern Art Ireland (IMMA), in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

Hallett said it was the first time he had played to 10,000 people since the 1970s.

"Dublin affected the whole flavour, size and shape of the tour," he said.

The promoter remembers how Cohen turned down VIP guest Bono's request to meet up for a drink afterwards because he was too tired.

"Then Bono said how about lunch tomorrow, and Leonard said tell him thank you very much, he's a lovely man, but I'm tired and I have another show to do," Hallett recalls.

"That became the flavour of the whole tour, from Bono, to Joni Mitchell, Elton John to presidents of countries."

On the shows itself, he said: "They really moved Leonard, to see that many people that emotional. He was genuinely moved and shocked."

Last week, a fourth and final concert was announced for Cohen's run of shows this September at the IMMA.