Orange County Register

It’s a shame Leonard Cohen is so, well, Leonard Cohen that next week’s first local appearances in 15 years don’t require an opening act –- for having now attempted to hear J.J. Cale’s subdued show Monday night at the Coach House, his first O.C. performance in at least five years, I can think of no better tourmate for the Bard of Montreal than the King of the Tulsa Sound.

That mix, Cohen’s ambient folk poetry preceded by Cale’s amalgam of blues, country and jazz, might not make sense on paper. But longtime fans of both legends surely spot the similarity: these reclusive 70-somethings are masters of quiet, rarely permitting the volume of their music to rise above a gentle hum.

In Cohen’s case, it keeps the focus squarely on his picture-painting words; with Cale, whose earthier lyrics sometimes come out so mumbled they can be hard to decipher, the constant hush helps his laid-back guitar work come to the fore.

Such a pairing would be a riveting experience for those of us who take to out-of-the-norm styles –- especially at Nokia Theatre, which, despite its instantly deserved reputation for zero warmth and sonic muddiness, is actually a fine place for acts with a more low-key feel. Neil Young in Harvest Moon-y mode sounded quite rich there not long after the venue opened.

At the Coach House, however, where the clanging of glasses and chatter from drunks at the bar can be constant, Cale was a victim of his own approach. (The pic, by the way, is from his appearance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004, two years before the two guitar-slingers would cut their Grammy-winning album The Road to Escondido.)

I doubt people who made dinner reservations to ensure they’d be as close to the stage as possible encountered any noticeable problem, but further back in the roadhouse it was often impossible to make out what Cale was singing in his distinctive drawl (as much an influence on Mark Knopfler, for starters, as Cale’s fluid yet seemingly lackadaisical six-string plucking).

All a waitress had to do was take an order nearby and he’d get drowned out. He plays so deliberately softly, as if straining to not wake a crib full of babies upstairs in his dressing room, that Cale can make Cowboy Junkies seem as loud as Megadeth.

I’ve seen the Junkies in this very venue more than once over the years, not to mention solo-piano performances from Tori Amos and Randy Newman and a gripping murmur from jazz chanteuse Holly Cole –- and the difference between all of them and Cale’s sleepy set is that they all had proper PA amplification. Adding volume and presence to something intentionally pianissimo isn’t about turning a whisper into a scream –- it’s about making that whisper audible and dramatic to a large room of people. Just as would happen if Cale were tossed into a place as large as Nokia with Cohen.

Under the circumstances, Cale kinda flat-lined for me –- everything he played, from simmering classics like “Crazy Mama” and “After Midnight” to more revealing material from his new album Roll On, quickly grew monotone and often imperceptible.

Mind you, he’s as compelling a craftsman as ever; I have no fault with his performance, which was first-rate, only the production, which was regrettable. I envy fans who saw one of his two shows last weekend at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, especially those who were there the night Tom Petty and Mike Campbell joined in for half the set. With room enough for only 150 people or so, that space had to feel like the perfect living-room environment to settle in and savor Cale’s calmatives.

In San Juan Capistrano, however, there was only disconnectedness. Seeing him, finally and for the first time, only made me want to head home, turn the lights low, burn some incense and dig out vinyl copies of Naturally (1971, opening with his original version of the Lynyrd Skynyrd staple “Call Me the Breeze”) or Really (1972, opening with “Lies,” a standout among the murk Monday night) … so I could lay back on the couch and drift.

Also:

• U2’s 360 Tour coming to the Rose Bowl in October
• Is Green Day’s American Idiot bound for Broadway?
• Elton John & Billy Joel predictably entertaining at Honda Center
• Prince falls flat, suffers technical glitches at Nokia Theatre
• Blender magazine shutting down after April issue
• The Prodigy returns to O.C. for the first time in a decade
• Second leg of Metallica tour to wind down in Anaheim

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