Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen, our city’s international star-studded tribute to the revered poet and musician, began in grand fashion, Monday night at the Bell Centre.

Well they didn’t waste any time in getting down to business.

Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen, our city’s international star-studded tribute to the revered poet and musician, began in grand fashion, Monday night at the Bell Centre, as perhaps the biggest name of the night took the stage just moments into the show.

Sting emerged at precisely 7:45 p.m., eliciting a wave of excitement in the crowd of 15,672.

The occasion was the first anniversary of the death of the Montreal icon, who died a year ago Tuesday at the age of 82. Cohen’s son Adam had rounded up the evening’s illustrious guests, who came in from far and wide to pay homage to his dad’s life’s work.

Sting sauntered out to Dance Me to the End of Love, which the former Police frontman sang with à-propos rasp, if not Cohen’s baritone timbre.

Backed by a full orchestra and a pair of female backup singers, he paused between verses, clapping to the beat as he broke into a casual shuffle. He put his imprint on the song in the coda, ad libbing in his instantly recognizable upper range.

Then came Feist. Alone on acoustic guitar, the Canadian indie-pop star delivered a sombre, heartfelt rendition of Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.

So this was how it was going to go – no drawn-out build-up to the heavy hitters, nor the usual few songs each that are the norm for these kinds of events, but a fast-paced jaunt through the evening’s impressive roster.

Backed by a full orchestra and a pair of female backup singers, he paused between verses, clapping to the beat as he broke into a casual shuffle. He put his imprint on the song in the coda, ad libbing in his instantly recognizable upper range.

Then came Feist. Alone on acoustic guitar, the Canadian indie-pop star delivered a sombre, heartfelt rendition of Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.

So this was how it was going to go – no drawn-out build-up to the heavy hitters, nor the usual few songs each that are the norm for these kinds of events, but a fast-paced jaunt through the evening’s impressive roster.

Beloved Montrealer Patrick Watson’s elastic falsetto made Who By Fire a spooky delight as he built to a thrilling climax. Former Cohen cowriter and backup vocalist Sharon Robinson lent a Motown vibe and a gender-bending twist to I’m Your Man.

And Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites of the Lumineers imbued the politically-tinged Democracy with an underpinning of solemnly anthemic roots-rock.

The stars weren’t merely musical. Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau’s arrival elicited a scattered standing ovation.

“Leonard was an extraordinary Canadian, mais il était un grand Montréalais,” the Prime Minister noted.

“Le grand gentleman charismatique qui nous séduisait,” added his wife.

Cohen himself appeared in virtual form, throughout the night, including in a video of him performing the reverential ode A Thousand Kisses Deep.

“For me, poetry is the evidence of a life and not life itself,” he remarked, in an audio recording, a little later.

Ron Sexsmith’s mesmerizing interpretation of Suzanne resonated with wistful languor. Elvis Costello drew rowdy cheers for his bluesy take on the socio-politically charged The Future.

Damien Rice nearly won the night with a captivating version of Famous Blue Raincoat, singing the stirring waltz like an intimate confession.

“Bonsoir tout le monde,” Adam Cohen said by way of greeting, as he arrived with the Webb Sisters to perform a passionate So Long, Marianne. In a nice touch, he recited his father’s much-publicized farewell letter to his muse Marianne Ihlene following her death in July of last year, to close out the song.

Canadian singer-songwriter k.d. lang played her famous take on Cohen’s endlessly covered hymn, Hallelujah, providing the piece with the requisite reverence and just the right dose of mischief, her powerhouse voice soaring through the arena.

Things picked up where they left off, after intermission.

A cameo-filled video brought delight as Willie Nelson, Céline Dion, Peter Gabriel, Chris Martin and Cohen himself traded verses on Tower of Song.

“Tonight the great mysteries have unravelled and I’ve penetrated to the very core of things,” Cohen said, from the screen.

As Sting returned for a swaying-then-stomping Sisters of Mercy, Lana Del Rey and Adam Cohen teamed up for a duet of Chelsea Hotel No. 2 and Courtney Love tackled Everybody Knows, Cohen’s mysteries continued to cast their spell.

Costello came back for a rousing Bird On the Wire; and Sting, one more time, for Anthem, with its oft-quoted lyric, “There is a crack in everything / That is how the light gets in.”

And lest we thought they be left out of the fun, Westmount’s Congregation Shaar Hashomayim Choir joined Cohen’s recorded voice for You Want It Darker.

Just when you thought it was over, Adam Cohen walked back onto the stage, sporting a black T-shirt and red bandana. He played the first song of his father’s he learned, Coming Back to You, accompanied by Basia Bulat, who stuck around for a lively Closing Time.

And with that, he, she, and we, bid Leonard Cohen a final farewell, which under the circumstances felt more like “Au revoir.”

(c) Montreal Gazette by T'Cha Dunlevy