When Leonard Cohen climbed to the stage of Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on the night of Thursday, March 7, a packed arena of fans stood as one and wrapped him in a roar. Cohen opened with “Dance Me to the End of Love” and sealed his connection with us by dropping to his knees while he sang, eyes closed, holding the air around the mic as if embracing a lover. A perfect night where lovers meet, prepared to be romanced.
Cohen laid each song at our feet, beginning with a breathless promise to us spoken deep into the mic: “I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again, no one can ever know, but I can promise you tonight we will give you everything we’ve got.”
Two characters vied for centre stage. Cohen’s hat played with us. He spoke with it. It was removed at times and held it against his heart, or pinched between two fingers and held out towards us in a sign of respect. And the lighting vamped with a lush backdrop and wings, from floor to rafters, of elegantly rippled panels, and just a touch of mist. A speakeasy palette bathed the drapery from blood velvet reds to glass-tinkling turquoise, golds, and magentas.
The set was swank-classy. Persian rugs, red upholstered chairs, a bluesy costume design all in black and white. The female backup singers sexy in tailored suits, slacks, and heads of artfully piled hair. Roadies sported fedoras every bit as provocative as the performers. He took care to introduce us to the band, his friends, to get to know each other.
Song after song, each flowed seamlessly into the next; Cohen wooed us into letting go. I relaxed by degrees, with deep satisfied sighs, pleasured by that signature sustained growl, incomparable poetry, and sage humour.
Cohen spoke his famous “Thousand Kisses Deep” instead of singing it, teaching us a new form of communication, as is his special gift. A famous song, reworked; it was ballsy and fresh.
Sharon Robinson, Cohen’s long-time collaborator, took the stage alone for “Alexandra’s Leaving.” A majestic, imposing woman, by the time she was finished she’d reduced me to tears of sadness for half-forgotten first commitments.
The experience, despite being over three hours, ended too soon. “Well, I tried to leave you,” Cohen joked after three encores, and we laughed. He acknowledged our longing to put off the inevitable, by saying “You know, they outta hand this night a ticket for speeding.”
Cohen finished with “I Closed the Book on You a Hundred Times,” and with a last wave he was gone. In the glare of the overhead lights we shrugged and accepted that it was closing time, sustained by knowing when next the sun sets, and the lights go down, the magic will begin again.
Tomorrow night, Chicago theatre!!’n
I listened to Leonard Cohen (and Tori Amos) every day when I was pregnant, back in 1997. The only LC lyrics my baby ever sang was when she was around 3. We were eating dinner and she just blurted out: “everybody knows…” I will never forget that.
She is now 15, and sings ALL day long…she is in a bunch of musical groups…she plays piano and guitar…she is even an assistant music director for a middle school play (Annie).
I don’t really care if she ever becomes a professional musician, or not….I am just SO happy to know that music is her passion.
She’s kind of a hipster.
Gee, I wonder why!
(She tells me that’s a bad thing, so, I don’t know if she is a full fledged one, or NOT! She does appreciate LC, of course…).