Leonard Cohen, who is back on the road after a long sabbatical from the stage, collapsed while performing in Valencia, Spain Friday night. According to the BBC, Cohen fainted during “Bird On Wire” forcing his band to stop playing in order to tend to him, a member telling the audience that the poet/singer was suffering from vomiting fits and stomach cramps. After a short stay in a hospital, Cohen was discharged and is expected to perform this evening, his 75th birthday, in Barcelona.

After covering The Velvet Underground & Nico with a group of musical collaborators including Devendra Banhart and members of MGMT for the first iteration of his Record Club, Beck has opted to focus his second effort on Songs of Leonard Cohen and has posted his cover of “Suzanne” on his Record Club’s website. Collaborators include Devendra and MGMT again, along with members of Wolfmother and Little Joy.

The website describes the Record Club project as “an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day.” Relying on spontaneity (nothing is rehearsed or arranged beforehand), the group selects an album “to be reinterpreted and used as a framework.” A track is posted to the Record Club website once every week, and the recordings tend to be rough renditions, especially since they are frequently the first takes of the day. “There is no intention to ‘add to’ the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens,” the site claims.

Check out the cover of “Suzanne” here, and be sure to check the Record Club’s website over the next few weeks for more covers from Songs of Leonard Cohen.

With Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Franz Ferdinand, Morrissey and Buraka Som Sistema.


[Leonard Cohen]

[Conor Oberst]

[Franz Ferdinand]

[Morrissey]

[Buraka Som Sistema]

Are you ready for some excitement? This spring/summer is bound to be a musically fulfilling time, as Mogwai, Leonard Cohen, Depeche Mode and Late of the Pier have all announced tour dates for the upcoming months.

Mogwai are the first to set sail, starting off their tour in Athens, Greece tomorrow night. The band will be touring throughout Europe, the U.S., and Australia, ending their three month tour at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Recently the Scottish band asked fans to sign a petition to protest laws that limited the volume at UK concerts, according to Pitchfork, so if you’re out at a Mogwai concert in the U.S. or Austrailia, be ready to have your eardrums rattled.

Leonard Cohen will be touring throughout April and May, making his first stop in Austin, Texas, after which the tour will continue throughout the U.S., ending on June 2 in Morrison Colorado. Cohen just recently played his first U.S. show in 15 years at NYC’s Beacon Theatre. The 74-year-old performer said, “It’s been a long time since I stood up on this stage in New York City. I was 60 years-old, just a kid with a crazy dream. Since then I’ve taken a lot of Prozac.”

In support of their soon-to-be released album, Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode will also be touring starting in July. The electro legend’s “Tour Of The Universe” will start off in Toronto on July 24, and will continue on for 21 more dates throughout North America.

Late of the Pier, the eclectic quartet from Nottingham, England, is playing a month of tour dates in the U.S. starting on March SXSW. The band will then be making their way throughout the greater U.S. regions, ending their tour on April 19, in Indio, California, where they will be performing at the Coachella Music Festival.

Mogwai tour dates
02.20.09 – Athens, Greece (Gagarin 205)
02.21.09 – Thessaloniki, Greece (Mylos)
03.03.09 – Brisband, Australia (The Tivoli)
03.04.09 – Sydney, Australia (Enmore Theatre)
03.05.09 – Melbourned, Australia (Golden Plains Festival)
03.07.09 – Meredith, Australia (Golden Plains Festival)
03.08.09 – Perth, Australia (Beck’s Music Box)
03.20.09 – Dublin, Ireland (Dublin Academy)
03.21.09 – Dublin, Ireland (Dublin Academy)
03.22.09 – Dublin, Ireland (Dublin Academy)
04.20.09 – Houston, TX (Numbers)
04.21.09 – New Orleans, LA (Republic
04.22.09 – Birmingham, AL (Workplay Theatre)
04.23.09 – Asheville, NC (Orange Peel)
04.24.09 – Carrboro, NC (Cats Cradle)
04.25.09 – Philadelphia, PA (Trocadero)
04.27.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
04.28.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
04.29.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
05.01.09 – Boston, MA (Wilbur Theatre)
05.02.09 – Northampton, MA (Pearl Street)
05.03.09 – Montreal, Quebec (Metropolis)
05.04.09 – Toronto, Ontario (Pheonix)
05.05.09 – Buffalo, NY (Tralf Music Hall)
05.06.09 – Pontiac, MI (Crofoot Ballroom)
05.08.09 – Chicago, IL (Congress Theatre)
05.09.09 – Milwaukee, WI (Turner Hall)
05.10.09 – Minneapolis, MN (First Avenue)
05.11.09 – Omaha, NE (The Slowdown)
05.12.09 – Denver, CO (Bluebird Theatre)
05.13.09 – Salt Lake City, UT (In The Venue)
05.15.09 – San Diego, CA (Belly Up Tavern)
05.16.09 – Los Angeles, CA (Orpheum Theatre)

Leonard Cohen tour dates
04.02.09 – Austin, Texas (Long Center)
04.03.09 – Grand Prairie, Texas (Nokia Theatre)
04.05.09 – Phoenix, AZ (Dodge Theatre)
04.07.09 – San Diego, CA (Copley Hall)
04.10.09 – Los Angeles (Nokia Theatre)
04.13.09 – Oakland, CA (Paramount Theatre)
04.17.09 – Indio, CA (Coachella Festical)
04.19.09 – Vancouver (GM Place)
04.21.09 – Victoria, B.C. (Save-On Foods Memorial Centre)
04.23.09 – Seattle, WA (WaMu Theatre)
04.25.09 – Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Place)
04.26.09 – Calgary, Alberta (Jack Singer Hall)
04.28.09 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Credit Union Centre)
04.30.09 – Winnipeg, Manitoba (MTS Centre)
05.03.09 – Minneapolis (Orpheum Theatre)
05.05.09 – Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre)
05.09.09 – Detroit, MI (Fox Theatre)
05.11.09 – Columbia, MD (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
05.12.09 – Philadelphia, PA (Academy of Music)
05.14.09 – Waterbury, CN (Palace Theatre)
05.16.09 – New York, NY (Radio City Music Hall)
05.19.09 – Hamilton, Ontario (Copps Coliseum)
05.21.09 – Quebec City, Quebec (Pavilion de la Jeunesse)
05.22.09 – Kingston, Ontario (K-Rock Centre)
05.24.09 – London, Ontario (Labatt Centre)
05.25.09 – Ottawa, Ontario (National Arts Centre)
05.29.09 – Boston, MA (Wang Theatre)
06.02.09 – Morrison, CO (Red Rocks)

Depeche Mode tour dates
07.24.09 – Toronto
07.25.09 – Montreal
07.28.09 – Washington, DC
07.31.09 – Boston, MA
08.01.09 – Atlantic City, NJ
08.03.09 – New York, NY
08.10.09 – Seattle, WA
08.12.09 – San Fransisco, CA
08.14.09 – San Diego, CA
08.16.09 – Los Angeles, CA
08.17.09 – Los Angeles, CA
08.20.09 – Santa Barbara, CA
08.22.09 – Las Vegas, NV
08.23.09 – Phoenix, AZ
08.25.09 – Salt Lake City, UT
08.27.09 – Denver, CO
08.29.09 – Dallas, TX
08.30.09 – Houston, TX
09.01.09 – Atlanta, GA
09.04.09 – Tampa, FL
09.05.09 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Late of The Pier tour dates
03.18.09 – Austin, TX (SXSW)
03.19.09 – Austin, TX (SXSW)
03.20.09 – Austin, TX (SXSW)
03.21.09 – Austin, TX (SXSW)
03.24.09 – Jacksonville, FL (Jack Rabbits)
03.26.09 – Miami, FL (Gansevoort Hotel)
03.27.09 – Miami, FL (Vagabond Hotel)
03.28.09 – Miami, FL (Bicentennial Park)
03.30.09 – Atlanta, GA (The Earl)
04.01.09 – New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)
04.02.09 – New Haven, CT (Yale)
04.03.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Studio B)
04.04.09 – Philadelphia, PA (TLA)
04.07.09 – Washington, DC (930 Club)
04.08.09 – Boston, MA (Paradise)
04.09.09 – Montreal, QC (Les Saintes)
04.10.09 – Toronto, ON (Kool Haus)
04.11.09 – Chicago, IL (Congress)
04.14.09 – Seattle, WA (Chop Suey)
04.15.09 – Portland, OR (Holocene)
04.16.09 – San Fransisco, CA (Popscene)
04.19.09 – Indio, CA (Epmpire Polo Grounds)

Veteran folk singer Leonard Cohen — and favorite among indie rockers looking for an emotional song to cover — has been forced back on the road after his business manager lost his retirement savings. The 74-year-old Canadian icon will play his first U.S. concert in more than 15 years when he plays the Beacon Theater in New York City on February 19. Tickets for the show at the 2,800-seat venue will go on sale on this Friday [January 23].

According to Yahoo via Reuters, a spokeswoman said she could not yet provide details of any additional shows, but Cohen has been on tour since May, playing shows across Canada and Europe. He is about to begin a trek through New Zealand and Australia.

Cohen rose to fame in the late 1960s with his poems, songs and novels steeped in detached romance. After his previous tour in the early 1990s, he retreated to a mountain near Los Angeles to become a Buddhist monk.

He resurfaced in 2005, claiming that his former manager and lover Kelley Lynch misappropriated more than $5 million, reducing his retirement account to $150,000. A Los Angeles court awarded him a $9 million civil judgment, but he has reportedly not been able to collect from Lynch.