Leonard Cohen to Gig at the Nokia a Week Before Coachella

Leonard Cohen just announced an extended spring tour, and will hit the Nokia Theater on Friday, April 10 -- a week prior to his Coachella appearance. Which is great for those of us who were a little worried about seeing one of our favorite songwriters surrounded by a bunch of drunken/tripping/coked-up youngsters uninterested in/unwilling to enjoy the subtle nuances of Cohen's work. (OK, we're being a little harsh, but it's not far from the truth.)

That said, one of the iron-clad rules of Coachella, seldom broken, is that any artist playing the festival can't gig in the LA area within a month of their polo field performance. Cohen, it turns out, is an exception to the rule, which is smart. Certain performers get a pass, it turns out, and Cohen, of course, is among them.

LEONARD COHEN'S 2009 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

April 2: Austin, Texas (Long Center)
April 3: Grand Prairie, Texas (Nokia Theatre)
April 5: Phoenix (Dodge Theatre)
April 7: San Diego (Copley Hall)
April 10: Los Angeles (Nokia Theatre)
April 13: Oakland, Calif. (Paramount Theatre)
April 17: Indio, Calif. (Coachella Festival)
April 19: Vancouver (GM Place)
April 21: Victoria, B.C. (Save-On Foods Memorial Centre)
April 23: Seattle (WaMu Theatre)
April 25: Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Place)
April 26: Calgary, Alberta (Jack Singer Hall)
April 28: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Credit Union Centre)
April 30: Winnipeg, Manitoba (MTS Centre)
May 3: Minneapolis (Orpheum Theatre)
May 5: Chicago (Chicago Theatre)
May 9: Detroit (Fox Theatre)
May 11: Columbia, Md. (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
May 12: Philadelphia (Academy of Music)
May 14: Waterbury, Conn. (Palace Theatre)
May 16: New York (Radio City Music Hall)
May 19: Hamilton, Ontario (Copps Coliseum)
May 21: Quebec City, Quebec (Pavillon de la Jeunesse)
May 22: Kingston, Ontario (K-Rock Centre)
May 24: London, Ontario (Labatt Centre)
May 25: Ottawa, Ontario (National Arts Centre)
May 29: Boston (Wang Theatre)
June 2: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks)