Tuesday, September 11, 2012

77 years young .. Mr Leonard Cohen delights

On Sunday we went to Wembley Arena to see one of the top troubadours of our time an ageing Canadian  poet and singer who delights in the name of Leonard Cohen.
The warmth that greeted his arrival on stage was palpable and the love was tangible, gracious in the extreme he gave a concert ranging across the decades  he's been active in and included the tremendous Going Home from the recent Old Ideas album.
He's our Man
How can a man of 77 who has lived a 'full life' defy the laws of gravity and decorum with such abandon, what is the secret he should share with us (in his secret life)?
Both the Times and the Daily Telegraph reviews awarded him and his concert a 5 out of 5 and they were not over selling the occasion.
Interestingly the final encore was a song made famous by The Drifters performed excellently by his brilliant band, if you take the time to find out about 'Save the last dance for me' I'm sure you'll be touched too. Tangentially I have a connection when I worked in France, Richard a colleague at Euronews shared some of the tunes that had been written by him and  Mort Schuman for a musical about Hong Kong, Mort co-wrote  'Save the last dance for me' and many other smash hits with Doc Pomus who was inspired to write the earlier mentioned song when he revisited notes on the wedding reception where he'd watched  his brother dancing with his new wife from his wheelchair.