On a balmy 2009 Australia Day evening, I was one of the fortunate multitude who attended the Leconfield Winery for a Leonard Cohen concert that was so joyful and moving that it felt like a spiritual experience, a musical Sermon on the Mount. I got a second dose of that spiritual hit at another Cohen concert at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in November 2010.

Stewart D’Arietta. Photograph supplied

When the great man died in July 2017, it felt like God had died and that everlasting life was a myth. Cohen can’t be replaced, but he can be remembered and Stewart D’Arietta and his collaborators are doing a fine job on that front.

“Welcome to the Church of Leonard” was D’Arietta’s greeting as he and his band consisting of Michael Kluger (accordion), Victor Rounds (bass), Marty Hailey (guitar), Emily Kelly (backing vocals), and Kelvin Sugar (drums) launched into the perfect Cohen opening number Everybody Knows. Fans of Cohen would have been sated with the set that had most, but not all of the favourites including Bird on a Wire, Suzanne, Tower of Song, Chelsea Hotel#2, Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye, and Closing...