Music

By Kasia Pilat

FOR THE POST

Despite the small, intimate setting of Adam Cohen’s performance at Divadlo U Hasičů on Tuesday night, the distance between the dressing rooms and the stage (a steep two-floor climb) also set up room for some distance between the performers and their audience, at least initially.

Adorable California-girl and guitarist-cum-cellist in Adam Cohen’s backing band, Mai Bloomfield opened the show with a set of gentle solo songs about gravity and being apart from the one you love.

All live photos by Kasia Pilat

Unfortunately, the cheery air left by Bloomfield’s earnest set slowly drained and the audience grew restless as more time passed. Not even a slow clap could entice the performers onto the Spartan stage, and by the time Cohen and company did appear, the gentle swing of opener “Sweet Dominique” was met with veritable sighs of relief. As tour manager Mike explained later on in the show, “it’s two floors up.”

Luckily, the night’s music was the real focus in the small auditorium on Tuesday, as Cohen’s attempts at small talk mostly met by tight-lipped faces – until, that is, he broke the ice by talking about a certain well-known parent of his.

“I don’t know if any of you know this, but I – am – the son…” he started, as the audience erupted with laughter. Cohen continued to tell the story of a gentleman met outside of a gig in Ireland, a country more than familiar with the work of the elder Cohen. The somewhat burly man, arms crossed across his chest, told Cohen in his thick brogue, “We came to see Daddy’s Boy.” Similar characters Cohen recognized in Prague’s audience prompted him to dedicate the next song, “So Long, Marianne,” his favorite of his father’s repertoire, to them.

Cohen’s set included several highlights – he introduced members of his tour family, performed fan favorites like “Hey Jane” and “Eleanor,” included a fantastic, acoustic cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On,” and a closing encore, but the true high point was, inescapably, “So Long, Marianne,” a charming folky ballad whose true beauty was revealed during one point in the song when Cohen and his band mates stopped playing: The deep, baritone voices of those same audience members with crossed arms could be heard audibly singing along with the chorus, “To laugh, and cry, and cry, and laugh, about it all again…”