AsiaLIFE

With due respect to the likes of Dengue Fever and Ronan Keating never before has a musician of the stature of Leonard Cohen announced that he will perform in Phnom Penh. Mark Bibby Jackson talks to the men who have made the groundbreaking concert take place.

Legendary musician and songwriter Leonard Cohen will play the Olympic Stadium on Nov. 27. In what promoters AEG Live calls a “landmark concert” Cohen has agreed to perform the only Southeast Asian concert on his current world tour in the Cambodian capital.

Chris Minko, founder of The Mekong Sessions Concert Series, claims the concert heralds the renaissance of the Cambodia of the 60s, where Phnom Penh was seen as the Pearl of Southeast Asia.

“This concert demonstrates that Cambodia has successfully emerged from the tragic events of civil conflict and re-ignites its well-established tradition of cultural excellence,” he says.

Cohen’s concert is the first in a series of Mekong Sessions that will, says Minko, bring more rock greats to Phnom Penh. He claims the Sessions will play a large part in stimulating Cambodia’s tourism industry, which has suffered in recent years from the global recession and unrest just across the border in Thailand.

“Mekong Sessions is long term,” says Minko. “It has the biggest tourism potential that the country has ever seen in decades.”

With the 15 million regional expats targeted for the 5,000-seater stadium, many of whom will combine the concert with a visit to Angkor Wat, the knock-on social-economic benefits for the country are clear.

AEG Live’s president Rob Hallett is keen to emphasise the significance of Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen and his wife Lok Chumteav Bun Rany, president of the Cambodian Red Cross in supporting the concert. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Cambodian Red Cross and Cambodian landmine survivors.

At first the choice of Cohen may seem a strange one to start the renaissance of Phnom Penh. Dubbed the "the poet laureate of pessimism" and "the godfather of gloom", Cohen’s style is more often associated with sombre reflection than rebirth. However, the career of the poet, songwriter and performer who was born shortly before Elvis Presley in 1934 has intriguing parallels with Cambodia’s own rock industry.

Already a successful poet in his native Canada, Cohen was a late starter as a musician. His first album ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen’ was only released in 1967. This was the year the 19-year-old Ros Sereysothea released her first song ‘Stung Khieu’ in Phnom Penh. Together with Sinn Sisamouth the "Golden Voice of the Royal Capital" was to lead the Cambodian rock scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s, creating a distinctive psychedelic rock sound. Like Sinn Sinamouth, Ros Sereysothea was to disappear during the Khmer Rouge period, which destroyed the country’s nascent music scene.

Despite attaining cult rock status in the 1980s Cohen went into voluntary exile in the 1990s. Ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1996, he spent five years in Mount Baldy Zen Centre near Los Angeles. The low-point of his 40-year career was surely the civil case he took out against his former manager, Kelley Lynch, in 2005. Lynch misappropriated over US$5 million from Cohen's retirement fund reportedly leaving the artist with only US$150,000. Cohen won the case but has yet to see the money.

What was Cohen’s loss has been his fans’ gain.

In 2008 Cohen started his first tour in 15 years with a concert in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The tour has included acclaimed performances at festivals around the world, including: The Big Chill, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Pyramid Stage at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival. His Glastonbury performance was hailed by many as the highlight of the festival. The performance of his anthemic ‘Hallelujah’ received a rapturous reception.

The Dominion Post’s Simon Sweetman described Cohen’s Wellington concert as “the best show I have ever seen".

His Dublin concert sold out in a matter of minutes after being put on the website. And sources close to the management group say that the Phnom Penh concert will also be a sell-out with many advance sales.

So why has the musician, who is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and will on Jun. 17 be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, decided to perform in Phnom Penh.

Despite the problems with his former manager, it most certainly is not for the money. Minko confirms that Cohen has dropped his normal fee significantly in order to make this concert happen.

You sense that the management team is genuine when they state that “this is not just another concert, this is a historic cultural event.” Minko even stresses the cultural significance of the venue.

“In keeping with the groundbreaking nature of this event, the concert will be held indoors at the Olympic Stadium, a rare example of the work of famous Khmer architect Vann Molyvann,” he says. "His buildings are a living reminder of the days of Phnom Penh’s former cultural stature.”

The artist who once said: “I really do feel the enormous luck I've had in being able to make a living, and to never have had to have written one word that I didn't want to write,” will now be bringing his words to Phnom Penh.

When asked by Clash Music in March this year what was his most major achievement in a career in music which started with launching Duran Duran in the early 80s, Hallett said: “There have been so many proud moments,… but most of all bringing Leonard Cohen back to the stage in order that a whole new generation can truly understand the meaning of sublime.”

Minko, who as secretary general of CNVLD has brought two volleyball world cups to the capital, sees the concert as the crowning achievement for all the hard work done by the organisation.

“Fifteen years of work leads to Leonard Cohen,” he says.

Whether a crowning achievement or a renaissance only history will tell. But one thing is for sure, it will be a damned good gig.

Details of how tickets can be bought will be released on Jul. 1. AsiaLIFE will be giving away two tickets for the concert – details of how to apply will be released next month.