Leonard Cohen at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, 2013

“Avoid the flourish. Do not be afraid to be weak. Do not be ashamed to be tired. You look good when you’re tired. You look like you could go on forever. Now come into my arms. You are the image of my beauty.” ~Leonard Cohen, Death of a Lady’s Man.

What I witnessed for over three and a half hours was a man and his touring company hard at work to deliver the goods impeccably.

We sat close enough that we could see the guys waiting in the wings to hand off instruments, etc. to the musicians. As I follow the online journey of Leif Bodnarchuk, a backline tech, that was interesting to see.

Leonard himself has gone beyond the need of reviews. The man is a legend. He is, in a sense, a blue-collar worker. Just like a delivery man might come into a bar with a box of 24 glasses and say, “Here’s your delivery,” —thus did Leonard take center stage and humbly deliver his body of work. He’s your man. He’s Everyman.

Some were seeing Leonard for the first time. Others follow him as often as they can. No one could fault one moment of this show. When they took their last bows, they were well-deserved.

The crew begin tearing down and loading out the equipment as if in a race against time. My son and I stood at the stage door for ten minutes or so. We saw Javier Mas talking to Rafael Gayol, who was holding a styrofoam box of food. Shortly, Alexandru Bublitchi could be seen joining them. Then it began to rain and we scurried hurriedly back to our car.

Our night on the town finished, I sat in my own kitchen again. We are all alike, folks. As Leonard says we are “the brief elaboration of a tube.” And so to bed, having had a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie or two. The Master had held class and I was privileged to be one of his students for “one night only.” Leonard fed us on the loaves and fishes with baskets left over. Now that is a miracle…no waiting required.

Vicki Woodyard
Author, Life With A Hole In It: That’s How The Light Gets In