Lenny!

Saw Leonard Cohen last night. The tickets were not particularly cheap and I bought them right after my paycut, but if I had to do it over again I totally would.

Leonard is in his mid-70s. He is not a young man. And, well, I’ve tortured most of you with listening to my Leonard Cohen CDs with me, so you may recall that even the early stuff from the ’60s had a froggy voice. So.

He played last night for 3 freaking hours. OMFG. I wish I could put into words the three hours of joy we experienced. All the great songs (that no one but me cares about 😉 ) – Suzanne, So Long Marianne, Bird on the Wire, Hallelujah. My beloved Eagles can suck it, by the way, with their 3 encores topped off with Desperado. Leonard left the stage and – surprise! – came back for an encore that lasted at least 5 songs and 30 minutes. The last song was Closing Time (from his 1991 album The Future – and my first Leonard Cohen exposure).

But wait! It wasn’t the last song – although with that title, it was apropos. The last song:  I Tried To Leave You (from one of the older albums).

The night blew my mind – I went into the venue with exactly zero expectations. I didn’t read the fan forums (YES there is one :P) to check out the set list or anything. If the witty asides, jokes and cartwheels (from the backup singers – YES, female backup singers, love it!) were part of every show (like when Glen Frey calls “Take it to the Limit” the ‘credit card song’), I do not know. Or care.

Basically, he could have walked out, performed the current Top 40 or his favorite Lady GaGa song and I would have been totally cool with it. But that’s not what he did. He sang, he recited a little spoken word poetry (just a tiny bit), he let his band shine (did I mention they all wore hats?? YES, hats!).

In the end, it was the realization of an almost 20 year dream. Been there, have the t-shirt. (Two, actually. A tour t-shirt and one that just says “Beautiful Losers”).

(And I take back what I said about the ticket prices – apparently we got a crazy bargain because identical tickets for the show later this week would have been $534 for two…WOW).