Leonard, himself, was in top form, sprinting out on stage after his band and they started right into “Dance me to the end of love”, the number that typically starts off his shows. He showed a gratitude that’s beyond belief at our attendance, thanking us, his “friends”, for the very warm reception, to those who paid out of pocket for the seats on the floor and to those who went to the effort of climbing to the 300 levels to take in his performance. He also showed the self-deprecating and self-aware side that I was previously unaware of when, in the introduction to “Ain’t no cure for love”, he told the story about a particular morning when he stumbled out of bed, to the mirror, and looked at himself and said, “Lighten up, Leonard.” I really appreciated when he joked after the intermission that he was pleased that we didn’t go home and then thought better of it and said, “I’m pleased I didn’t go home because it’s just 2 hours down the road, from a good bagel.”

 

From Leonard Cohen: A night among “friends” (a review of the Dec 7, 2012 Ottawa concert) by jprobichaud posted December 9, 2012 at Music Insanity!

See Leonard (& Adam) Cohen And The Bagel – Montreal

Credit Due Department: Photo by jarlehm

I am republishing selected posts from my former Leonard Cohen site, Cohencentric, here on AllanShowalter.com (these posts can be found at Leonard Cohen). This entry was originally posted Dec 10, 2012 at DrHGuy.com, a predecessor of Cohencentric.