Yesterday, on Bay, south of Bloor, saw Leonard Cohen read poetry and sing. Worth the 45 minutes wait. That deep bass voice. But I have to admit I wouldn't have waited if I didn't have my friends Suzanne, Julia, and Yolande there chatting with me. The crowd thickened around us so tight that a fleeting sense of claustrophobia made me wonder how I would ever elbow and kick my way out of there, engulfed as we were in this sea of people.
When he appeared on stage, the crowd went wild. I love you, Leonard, a louder voice yelled above the roar. He took the microphone, an aged man with a stoop. He went right into a poem as if he was talking to us, his broody face defined by long bracket lines stretching from his nose down to his lips. The crowd couldn't have enough of this poet. And when he sang So Long Marianne with Barenaked Ladies and Anjani Thomas, a smile creeped onto his serious face, then exploded into youthful vigour, buoyed by the crowd's enthusiasm. You held on to me like I was a crucifix, he belted out. A flash of passion, an intensity, an enlightened feeling passed on to his fans. How superficial the physical decay of aging when exposed to such spirit. I love this man.
3 comments:
i was there too!! so many people, i'm not surprised i didn't see you. i felt so swoony afterwards. leonard cohen is the oldest man i'll admit to having impure thoughts about. i'm going to write about it on my site as well!
also, did you take those photos? you were so close!!! andrew and i were further into the crowd. however, we got a bit bored during anjani's set, and went to the side, so when he walked offstage, he was just a few feet away. oh, leonard.
Yeah, aren't we women suckers for a man who can string such beautiful words together? And yes, I'd overlook the wrinkled, sagging, 72-year-old skin, and let his charisma inject impure thoughts any time. I was hoping for that infinitesimal chance that I'd get a photo of my friends and I with him. But we weren''t that close. About 30 feet away. Had to crank the zoom to maximum capacity and then enlarge the photos. That's why they don't look that sharp. Oh well, it was still amazing to feel his presence from that distance. Hope Andrew got some better photos with his fancy gadgets.
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